EDITORIAL: Ignore The Political Facts At Your Peril

The upcoming election is no trifling matter. The political stakes couldn’t be higher for the state of Nevada. The election of 2018 could well be the most crucial one in a generation. Thus, it is no time for voters to play games with their votes. Politics is best viewed through a realistic and pragmatic lens. While high ideals and firm principles are commendable and important, it’s the facts on the ground that will eat your lunch if you don’t heed them. And there are important facts, at play this year, that Nevada voters ought well to remember.

For example, in 2017 it was a fact that a Republican governor was the only barrier holding back a flood of liberal-activist bills issuing from the Democrat-controlled legislature. That was true, even though many conservatives in the state had already written off Governor Bryan Sandoval as a “Republican In Name Only” (RINO).

A RINO Mr. Sandoval may be, but he still proved useful that year. Sandoval killed a barrage of extreme left agenda items, vetoing no less than 41 bills in one session. These included leftist ideas like a Medicaid-for-all program, minimum wage hikes, a sweeping activist revision of sex ed curriculum in public schools, a major shift in Cooperative Extension funding from rural to urban centers, various expensive measures regarding prevailing wage and collective bargaining and much more. All of these were just a penstroke away from becoming state law. Thus, a governor widely considered a “RINO” was all that was there to stopped them. That is a fact!

Here is another fact to face. Barring some unlikely miracle at the polls this year, the Nevada State Legislature will probably remain under Democratic control. That puts the state in a situation eerily similar to 2017. The liberal activist floodgates are pent up and raging to open again in 2019. But this time, the Governor’s office is in play. The Democrats are unified behind their candidate: County Commissioner Steve Sisolak. With Sisolak as Governor, there would be nothing to hold back that liberal flood from inundating the state. If that should happen, US. Congressional candidate Cresent Hardy’s recent prediction would prove true that Nevada would quickly become “East California.”

On the Republican side of the ticket, there seems to be less unity. Many conservatives are lackluster about Republican gubernatorial candidate Adam Laxalt. They view him negatively as the “establishment” candidate and they cast him in the same mould as Sandoval. Therefore, some conservatives are looking towards Independent American Party candidate Ryan Bundy as an alternative.

These voters may consider Bundy more aligned with their values, beliefs and political philosophy.
Indeed that may be true; especially for some local folks. Bundy is a good ol’ boy from Bunkerville. There is a lot of common ground there. He comes from a strong family. He is respectable, hard working, honorable, deeply patriotic and a man of faith. Bundy has plenty of name recognition, too. He is renowned for his fearless part in his family’s struggle against federal overreach of authority. He led the peaceful charge against BLM agents under the I-15 Toquop Bridge in April of 2014. Therefore, some hold Ryan up as a hero. They believe he deserves their vote far more than Laxalt does.

Despite all of this, there are three facts that simply won’t go away in this election. Conservative voters will ignore them only at their peril.

FACT #1: Bundy will NOT be able to garner enough support statewide to win the Governor’s race. No amount of wanting it will make it so. Even if he carries all of the rurals (which he will not) he would still need significant urban support (which he won’t get) to win.

FACT #2: The margin in the race between Laxalt and Sisolak is already razor thin, almost a dead heat. There are no votes to spare!

FACT #3: Thus, a split in the conservative vote between Laxalt and Bundy (and/or anyone else) would only serve to elect Mr. Sisolak.

Those are just the cold, hard facts. Sure, there are all the standard idealist arguments out there about folks only voting for their ideals; about taking a stand and making a statement of protest. These all seem noble and virtuous. But, as we have already said, this is no time to play games with your votes. Too much is at stake.

The final fact is that a vote for Ryan Bundy amounts to a vote for unleashing a left-wing activist agenda, unchecked, like a flood through Nevada. That’s the fundamental truth, like it or not.

For that reason the Progress endorses Adam Laxalt in the race for Nevada Governor.