(Chuck Muth) – OK, I’m back in the saddle, so let’s roll…
Former Obama official Rahm Emanuel once famously said, “Never let a crisis go to waste.” So it’s not surprising that politicians and candidates are trying to use the Israel-Hamas war for political gain.
That includes Republican congressional candidate Drew Johnson in Las Vegas.
Johnson and Assemblywoman Heidi Kasama are running in the Republican primary next year to see who will face off against incumbent Democrat Rep. Susie Lee in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District – which has a strong Democrat registration advantage.
Johnson is a think-tank policy conservative. Kasama has a moderate voting record.
So the question for thoughtful conservative Republicans isn’t who the most conservative candidate is, but who the most conservative candidate who can WIN is.
Because majorities get to lead (though House Republicans in DC right now are putting that maxim to test) and you get majorities in general elections by addition, not subtraction.
Still, you have to win your primary first – where GOP voters tend to be more conservative than Republican voters who only vote in general elections.
And that’s the challenge for many Republican candidates running in Democrat districts. You need to be conservative enough to win the primary, but not so extreme that you turn off independent voters in the general and go down in flames.
See: Sigal Chattah for Attorney General in 2022.
Johnson is running as the most conservative candidate. Kasama is running as the most conservative candidate who can win.
Of course, the conservative position in the Israel-Hamas war is to back Israel. So yesterday Johnson wrote on Twitter…
“My challenger in the Republican primary for Congress, Heidi Kasama, oversaw $35k in donations to antisemitic HAMAS sympathizers Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar.”
He then linked to a press release in which he further wrote…
“Today, Republican congressional candidate Drew Johnson called on Heidi Kasama, his GOP primary challenger in Nevada’s 3rd congressional district, to formally apologize for approving $35,000 in donations to Congressional HAMAS sympathizers Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar.
“Kasama has served on the finance committee for the National Association of Realtors since 2017, according to her official legislative website. Under Kasama’s direction, the National Realtors Association PAC directed $21,000 in contributions to Rep. Rashida Tlaib and another $14,000 to Rep. Ilham Omar, both of whom are members of a small leftist extremist faction in the U.S. House known as ‘the Squad.’”
Explosive stuff, right?
Well, yes. If it was true.
But it’s not.
In fact, Kasama tweeted the following two weeks ago…
“Today’s heinous attack by the terrorist group Hamas was horrific. America will always stand with Israel and its right to defend itself. I strongly condemn the atrocities committed this morning and pray for Israel.”
And then there’s this…
Yes, Kasama – a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) by trade – serves on the Realtor PAC’s Finance Committee.
But the Finance Committee does NOT oversee and direct political contribution decisions. It only handles the PAC’s bookkeeping.
And even if it did, just because a committee voted to take a particular action doesn’t mean each and every individual member of the committee did so.
So to claim Kasama approved “$35,000 in donations to Congressional HAMAS sympathizers” is total bullsch*tt.
No…she didn’t.
And the political reality is that PACs often give token money to incumbents because those incumbents have the power to vote on bills that can harm the organization.
It’s “protection money.” Tony Soprano and Vito Corleone would be proud.
Either way, Kasama had nothing to do with those contributions. And the only person who owes anyone an apology is Johnson for making such as absurd “fake news” allegation that Kasama is a “Hamas sympathizer.”
Don’t hold your breath.
But hang on. It gets worse.
Nevada’s Republican National Committeewoman – Sigal “Hang ‘em from a Crane” Chattah – decided to weigh in on Johnson’s accusation, tweeting this reply…
“What a disgrace it is to @NVGOP to have a ‘member’ of our own team bankroll homegrown terrorists Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. This is not disappointing- it is downright nauseating. The US doesn’t need to expand the Jihad Squad with any candidate that sympathizes with them. Thank you @DrewForNevada for shedding light on this.”
This deranged lunatic is a menace to the Republican Party and is going to cost the GOP races up and down the ballot next year if someone doesn’t stick a sock in her big fat mouth.
The Nevada Republican Party has not endorsed a candidate in this race. Yet one of its top-three party officials is out there, not only attacking a sitting Republican elected official running for a critically important congressional seat, but attacking her with a FALSE accusation.
If you don’t think Susie Lee’s campaign is going to use Chattah’s words against Kasama in next year’s general election if Kasama wins the Republican nomination, you don’t know politics. The ads write themselves…
“Susie Lee is the only candidate who supports Israel. Even Nevada’s Republican National Committeewoman says Kasama is a terrorist sympathizer!”
It’s Chattah, not Kasama, who is a disgrace to the Nevada GOP and downright nauseating.
Are there no party officials anywhere in the state with the balls to call her out and demand her resignation before she does any further damage to both the party’s brand – especially among independent voters – and its chances to win seats next year?
Sadly…no.
7 Worst Habits of Highly Unelectable People
- Picking the wrong race
- Picking the wrong district
- Picking the wrong issues
- Picking the wrong time
- Picking the wrong consultants
- Picking unnecessary fights with the media
- Picking door-knocking over fundraising
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
“This guy should be hanging from a (expletive) crane. He’s like the leader of Hamas – making tons of money while the People in Gaza are starving.” – Sigal Chattah in a 2022 text about Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford
Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, publisher of Nevada News & Views, and founder of CampaignDoctor.com. You can sign up for his conservative, Nevada-focused e-newsletter at MuthsTruths.com. His views are his own.
