John L. Smith was at both the Republican and Democratic conventions in 2012.
He saw Gov. Brian Sandoval speak in support of Mitt Romney. And other state Republicans were active on the floor. This year, Gov. Sandoval didn't even show up in Cleveland. And Smith wonders if the party has given up on our state.
On the other side, local activist and DREAMer Astrid Silva gave a speech last night and was greeted warmly. Clilnton has already started campaigning here. And the state Democratic party leaders are all at the convention.
So how important will Nevada be in these elections?
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS:
On Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald gaffe at Republican National Convention:
Michael McDonald is many things and we can talk about that but clearly he was excited. He got a little tongue tied. I think he deserves a mulligan for this one. There are many things however I would judge him differently about.
He was involved in ethics dustups that resulted in a lot of embarrassing press. He essentially got pushed out of office (McDonald is a former Las Vegas City Councilman). But the one thing about McDonald that is fascinating is that he didn’t quit there. A lot of folks maybe had a blush quotient they might have hidden out but he didn’t. He kept on plugging away with the Republican Party. He kept on working. And he pushed himself into the role of state chairman.
After following his career for the last 25 years or so, I think this might be the least of his concerns.
On the Republican National Convention:
Covering a convention is great... It’s like getting a pass to the circus but you don’t get to go home. So after a while, the elephants start to smell and so do the donkeys.
But one thing I noticed back in 2012 is the Republican Party nationally – the big ticket Republicans – they knew Nevada. The appreciated Nevada’s role in the party. And they also appreciated the fact, that there was a challenge for the GOP and that was to brown the party a little bit. To make it more appealing to the Hispanic community, to the black community, to the communities that haven’t always felt warm and fuzzy about the GOP.
I think about that and then I see what happened here. Here was this past week was a lot of preening. A lot of friends of Donald Trump. Where’s the cross section of America? Where are all the folks of political background holding hands, saying: ‘We stand united as a party.’ You didn’t see a lot of that.
Where was Brian Sandoval? I think he was playing canasta somewhere in Carson City.
On the Democratic National Convention:
This is something that the Republicans ought to have learned from, in my opinion. Now, it’s whether it’s because of Harry Reid’s influence. Whether it’s because the Latino demographic is so large, around 30 percent or so… or whatever it is… The Democrats have captured it.
They’re bringing into the tent different folks from the Hispanic and Latino community, who are speakers, but they are symbolic. There’s Astrid Silva, who is just the dream defined really… There are all kinds of players, including someone I wasn’t familiar with until this past week, young Carla Ortiz and her mother Francisca. I look at those folks as really as symbolic and clearly that’s what they’re there for. They’re there to say that we reach out to this immigrant community and to the community in the gray area between the legal and the illegal, the documented and the undocumented. This is the party that is looking at this as well, as well as the economy.
Although, we’re only a handful of electoral votes there is clearly a lot of stage craft that Nevada is helping with this week in Philadelphia.
If Nevada can demonstrate that there is Latino support here, what does that say to the rest of the country?
I think there is a lot of potential reverberation, because there are a lot of swing states this year. And after the usual bumps that happen after the convention, states are much closer. This is an active block of voters for the Democrats. They certainly weren’t as active in the last election cycle and it showed. I think to be more inclusive. A Democratic goal is to push across immigration reform at some point. I think that’s where the Latino community can really come through for the Democrats and perhaps be repaid for it with real immigration reform.
John L. Smith, contributor
