Thursday, January 22, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

CAMPAIGN 2004: A Goliath challenge

After a close call in '98, Harry Reid isn't taking anything for granted

By Heidi Walters

Richard Ziser is known best as the man who pushed a ban on gay marriage into the psyche of Nevadans and, lo, they voted for it. And perhaps such backing could help push Ziser--the main Republican challenger to Democratic Sen. Harry Reid--successfully onto the national scene to help promote a union-wide corseting of the marriage institution.

That is, if only Reid hadn't voted for Question 2, Ziser's gay marriage ban (kinda steals Ziser's edge). And if only Ziser hadn't said that if they're going to force nuclear waste on us, then we'd better be ready and we'd better make sure we get compensation. (Reid's people interpret this as a willingness to negotiate for the stuff. Ziser says he's just being realistic.) And if only Reid weren't so goldanged popular. Sure, Ziser's got lots of the rurals wrapped up with his traditional, conservative, family values bent. But Reid's got the bigshots and the rest of us, says his campaign manager, Sean Sinclair.

"We've received strong bipartisan support, from Clark County Sheriff Bill Young to Mayor Bob Cashell in Reno to Terry Lanni of the MGM Mirage. And also Frank Fahrenkopf, former chairman of the Republican National Committee."

Even so, Reid isn't resting on his laurels like last time. In 1998, he squeaked past Republican challenger John Ensign by a scant 400 votes. "I think the baseline is, Sen. Reid is not taking anything for granted. For the past year, he's been very aggressive" in gathering support, says Sinclair. Pivotal debates will revolve, he says, around "standing up for Nevada, and fighting to lower health care costs." Money-wise, Reid's holding strong: "We're right on track for our funding goals of $10 million at this time," says Sinclair.

Ziser says raising funds has been difficult for him. He primed his campaign with $250,000, and is now struggling to keep the pump running strongly. "A lot of people are simply afraid to give to a campaign," he said. But he thinks the support is out there from people who believe in "a constitutionally limited government, free enterprise, tax cuts, strong national defense and traditional family values." Ziser also intends to capitalize on the "general ethical problems with the politicians in this state." "And there's no denying that Harry Reid supported Dario Herrera, and that he supported Erin Kenny."

So, is Ziser a serious challenger to the all-powerful Reid? Paul Brown, Southern Nevada director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, says many people may be tempted to write off the one-issue Ziser (sure, his campaign's "broad-based," but we all know him from Question 2). But one-issue guys sometimes surprise us. "I'd say keep an eye on him," says Brown.