About 4,000 people attended the Morning in Nevada Basque Fry last Saturday. Can this GOP enthusiasm translate into statewide victories?

By Sherman Frederick/Battle Born Media

As promised in last week’s column, here’s my report from the big Morning in Nevada Basque Fry GOP fundraiser at the Corley Ranch in Gardnerville: Republicans continue to put on one the best-attended and happiest political events in the state.

The cookout chow is the best you’ll ever eat. There’s even lamb fries, for those so inclined. (Count me out.) People come from around the state dressed in Nevada formal wear — white button down shirts, pressed jeans, boots and hats — to retiree-casual — shorts, t-shirts and socks n’ crocs. A fair amount of people come dressed in various styles of patriotic gear. I even saw two women dressed as Lady Liberty and one guy who wore a full-on Uncle Sam outfit. It was a beautiful thing.

I was especially impressed with how happy and enthused the people were. A lot of hugging and laughing going on. I never heard a discouraging word. (Well, there was a lusty booo when former President Obama’s name was mentioned by Sen. Tom Cotton, but other than that ….)Yet, despite all the good vibes exhibited at this big fundraiser, Republicans keep getting their heads handed to them in statewide races. Go figure.

Morning in Nevada is the brainchild of Adam Laxalt, the grandson of the legendary Paul Laxalt and former Nevada Attorney General. He lost in 2018 to Steve Sisolak and is preparing to run against Sen. Catherine Cortez Mastos in 2022.

We’ll litigate that race when we come to it. For now, I’ll only say that Laxalt — or any Republican that is currently sitting on the much depleted Nevada GOP bench — will need all the luck they can get to win a statewide race. Democrats own the state now thanks to big union support out of Las Vegas and the influx of Californians to the state’s urban centers. Democrats, thanks especially to those Californians who now identify as Nevadans, will be tough to beat.

But, never count out the national Democratic Party. They almost always overplay their hand. If they continue to fumble with national issues like the open southern border, the Afghanistan retreat, gas prices, inflation, stupid COVID rules, 2021 and 2022 could be bad years.

National speakers at the Corley Ranch hammered home those points, saying “woke” Democrats spread the cultural virus of critical race theory, defunding the police, and the notion of a systemically racist America. But the best line came from  Nevada U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei who said that in Nevada, BLM still stands for Bureau of Land Management.

It’s a good line. But Mark doesn’t run statewide. He runs in a rural district. And that, ladies and gentlemen, endeth the lesson.

ONE MORE THING

— Don’t tell me about your childhood problems. I was forced to watch Lawrence Welk as a kid.

— Law of Probability Dispersal: Whatever it is that hits the fan will not be evenly distributed.

— By replacing your morning coffee with tea, you can lose 87% of what little joy you still have left in life.

— Everyone has heard of Karl Marx. But no one has heard of his sister, Onya, who invented the starter pistol.

— I regret nothing!

OK, that’s enough. As always we appreciate you tuning into a Battle Born Media newspaper. We hope it’s been an informative and joyful experience. Until next time, live free, exhibit kindness in all that you do, and always question authority.

(Sherman Frederick is a longtime Nevada journalist and co-founder of Battle Born Media. You can reach him by email at shermfrederick@gmail.com.