GOP at Mandalay Bay: Give me shelter

Desire for safety, security seals GOP zeal

By Andrew Kiraly

Go ahead, pundits, analyze, dissect and pontificate on the Republicans' Tuesday night slow-motion coup until your neckties catch fire. But you'll learn reams more about the GOP mindset by hanging out with a gaggle of 'em after they've pounded a few celebratory Heinekens. Tuesday night was the perfect opportunity. As flat-screen TVs tuned to Fox News blare away with talking heads and news scrolls in Mandalay Bay's Ballroom L--site of the Clark County Republican Party's election night party--it's easy to peek under the machine's hood as the topic of conversation turns to national security.

Security, security, security--one factor these diehards cite repeatedly in explaining why they put George W. Bush back in the White House.

"This country needs to continue fighting the war on terror," says 19-year-old Crystal Boyd, a freshman at UNLV; she's been in Las Vegas for six months. "I feel that with Bush in the White House for another four years, I'm much more secure than with John Kerry."

Through the course of the night--from the party's peak around 10 p.m. (shortly after Fox projected Bush taking Florida) to well after midnight (with beery stragglers still frozen in front of the television sets)--the consistency and security offered by Bush remained paramount.

But maybe it's not what they believe that accounts for how these Republicans tick. It's how they act on those beliefs. Chalk it up to brewski-fueled bravado or curiosity at the lefty journalist scribbling in their midst ("Hey, come over here, this guy's a reporter" was heard more than once), but an interview with a single Republican quickly turns into a verbal powwow. Others quickly deploy for backup. A crowd forms beneath the visage of Fox's Brit Hume. You sense tribal vibe, group protectiveness and solid true believerhood. How ironic that they embody the principle that it takes a village...to win an election.

"I feel a lot more secure with George Bush," says Lisa Sandifer, the crowd erupting into yet another cheer as Fox newsheads award Bush more projected electoral votes. "That's the main thing. We need a man who's not afraid to take action. We don't need any flip-flops." She ranks Bush's record on education as a close second on her list.

Dan Freedburg, compulsively camcording the party, lumbers up. "What about the 1.8 million jobs [he's created] in the last eight months?"

"Or the fact that I get to keep thousands of more dollars of what I earn?" says David McGowan.

"What about education? What about our kids who are going to grow up and be in our spot? I mean, our kids are going to rule the world someday," Lisa Sandifer says. "If they don't have an education, what good are they?"

"We love our president," Freedburg says.

The conviction in his voice is echoed by others. "See, the polls were stacked in a way so you'd have a nice horse race," says McGowan, explaining how the race wasn't as close as many pollsters predicted. "All the polls had said the Iowa caucuses were going to go for Dean, and he got slaughtered. I was skeptical about the polls going in. About the president? Never."

A glimpse into the efficient hive mind of the Republican machine? Perhaps. Though on this night, sometimes the Heinekens amplified convictions. A question about the quandary posed by North Korea's pursuit of a nuclear program inspires a rant or two from Gabriel Raviv, 31.

"Because of Ronald Reagan and George Bush completing SDI [Strategic Defense Initiative, the troubled missile program that grew out of Reagan's 'Star Wars' program], we have a chance to keep those missiles down," Raviv says. "The leader of North Korea is a lunatic. You oughta be hating on him and not George Bush. SDI is online, and it sure as hell better get online, because of lunatics, and it takes a strong leader to defend us. Someone who knows who the enemy is. Kerry's not the enemy. Bush is not the enemy. Hilary's not the enemy. It's people who are killing Americans who are the enemy. It's about time people started recognizing Osama is an enemy. Islamic fascism is an enemy. The leadership of Iran is an enemy. The leadership of North Korea is an enemy. We need to be supporting American efforts to defend our own country."

A man steps in to, hopefully, defuse the growing tirade. "I believe the expression is `Axis of Evil.'"

"Well, we'll be the Axis of Good right here," Raviv continues. "You want to know the Axis of Good? California. Nevada. New Jersey. Arizona. We're the Axis of Good." The passionate partisan begins to draw stares even from his brethren. "I'm not gonna relax. This is life and death for America. There is a large contingent of people who think we need to sit around and allow people to fly planes into the MGM, have people come in and blow up restaurants, go to schools and shoot kids in the face. But I ain't taking it."

Yeah, maybe security is a good idea.

"Security was my overriding concern [in voting for Bush]," says Mike Librizzi, 48. "And I actually do think the more aggressive we get in the Middle East, the more recruitment there is gonna be for terrorists to stand up and fight against us. I think it fuels their fire. By the same token, you have to be on the offense. We weren't on the offense, and our towers came down."

But Bush isn't all about having a big security blanket. Supporters have other expectations of the president-elect.

Says Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt: "I want him and Congress to assist us in Nevada in our alternative energy endeavors. We have the greatest resources in the United States with our solar, geothermal, wind and other things."

Richard Ziser, who made an unsuccessful run at ousting Sen. Harry Reid, said there are other perks to having Bush in office for another term.

"We want some good judicial nominees we can get put in place, and it looks like we're going to have a couple opportunities for U.S. Supreme Court justices that will probably be nominated in this next four years. That'll be really critical."

And even for pouty Dems who thought they'd had the game locked up election night, there's the faint hope, this time, that Bush really will be a uniter and not a divider.

What would Lt. Hunt tell a Kerry camp crybaby? "I would tell them that this is America, the American people have had their voice, we've elected a new president, we are Americans, and let's get behind our president, united, strong and don't let our enemies laugh at us because we're beating each other up. They love it. Let's put a stop to that."

Feeling secure yet?