* In my campaign training workshops, I feature three Muth’s Truths. The third one goes like this: “There is more incompetence in the field of political consulting than in any field other that TV psychiatry.”
* Unfortunately, many candidates – especially first-time candidates – don’t know enough about running a campaign to know which consultants/campaign managers are actually competent (very few) and which ones are just anything-for-a-buck snake-oil salesmen/hacks.
* You know, like shakedown artist Woody Johnston.
* Woody is the campaign “brains” for Republican congressional candidate David Flippo, who is running in the June 11 GOP primary against former North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee.
* Last week, Woody and Flippo decided to try to raise a little money by accusing Lee of being insufficiently supportive of President Trump.
* To “prove” their point, they featured an interview from months ago in which Lee didn’t rise to the bait and answer a hypothetical question from a liberal host about supporting Trump if he were to be convicted in the New York criminal trial.
* The trial hadn’t even started yet.
* The pair tried to mislead voters into thinking the interview happened after the rigged trial in which Trump was found guilty of 34 felony charges. At best, the ham-handed fundraising pitch was dishonest.
* But not only didn’t that dog hunt, it came back to bite the pair in the butt on Monday when Trump officially endorsed Lee in the primary contest!
* With Flippo and his Inspector Clouseau-like campaign manager running on a pro-Trump platform, now that Trump has endorsed Lee Flippo should drop out and support the former president’s pick, right?
* Don’t hold your breath waiting.
* And then there’s Drew Johnson – the candidate who loaned his county commission campaign $100,000 in 2022 and then lost by just 336 votes because he used his donors’ money to pay himself back the $100,000 instead of spending it in the campaign.
* Johnson’s now running for Congress and has been text-spamming voters with schoolyard taunts of “liberal” and “RINO” and such against his conservative opponent in the primary, Marty O’Donnell.
* In his latest spam-text, Johnson claims that O’Donnell, “took a $1.1 million taxpayer funded government bailout during COVID” and “never paid it back.”
* Good grief. That loan was a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan to keep employees on the payroll while the government was banning them from working. And the loans were never expected to be paid back. From the Small Business Administration…
“Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) borrowers may be eligible for loan forgiveness if the funds were used for eligible payroll costs, payments on business mortgage interest payments, rent, or utilities during either the 8- or 24-week period after disbursement.”
* There’s simply no indication that O’Donnell used that loan for anything other than its intended purpose. He used it to pay some three dozen employees who were put out of work because of the government shutdown so they could continue putting food on the table for their families.
* I’m guessing Drew might not have known about this because he doesn’t have any employees?
* And by the way, you know who else took out PPP loans that were forgiven? Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (GA), Republican Rep. Vern Buchanan (FL), Republican Rep. Mike Kelly (PA), Republican Rep. Markwayne Mullin (OK), and Republican Rep. Kevin Hern (OK).
* Is Johnson saying they’re all RINO’s, too?
* His spam-text also links to a “RINO” website in which O’Donnell is referred to as a “rabid Never Trumper” – which simply isn’t true. O’Donnell stated long ago that he voted for Trump in both 2016 and 2020 and is supporting him again now in 2024.
* On the other hand, a Johnson tweet from November 6, 2020, was unearthed in which Johnson wrote…
“Congrats to Joe Biden! He will be our next president. Biden’s victory is NOT an endorsement of socialism, big government, job-killing regulations, or costly energy schemes. His victory is an endorsement of humanity, restraint and kindness.”
* Gushing over Biden while Trump’s election was still being contested? What’s that old saying about stones and glass houses?
* And then there’s Jon Petrick.
* Petrick ran for the state Assembly in 2022 and lost. Now he’s running for the same seat again this year against April Arndt – a retired Henderson police detective who worked in the Special Victims Unit – in the GOP primary.
* Petrick is another text-spammer. And in a spam-text a week ago, he referenced a bill during the last session in which health insurance companies would be required to obtain parental permission before covering any sex-change operations for minors.
* “Liberal April Arndt’s Carson City allies backed” the bill, he spam-texted. But why does he object to requiring parental consent before a surgical procedure is done on kids?
* Petrick went on to photo-shop a photo of Arndt and Joe Biden with the absurd headline: “The Biden/Arndt Agenda.” Seriously?
* Around the same time, he sent out a recorded robo-call message accusing April’s “biggest backers in Carson City” of supporting the Culinary Union’s efforts to re-elect Biden. It’s a total lie.
* And in a new spam-text this week, Petrick wrote that “April Arndt’s liberal backers teamed up with Planned Parenthood to expand abortion access up until the very moment of birth.” Another bald-faced lie.
* And rather hypocritical since the Nevada Independent reported just last week that Petrick “is changing his messaging on abortion as polls show a majority of Nevadans describe themselves as pro-choice.”
* So who exactly are April’s alleged “liberal backers” that Petrick keeps referring to? Well, they include…
- Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo
- Conservative Assembly Assistant Minority Leader Danielle Gallant
- Conservative former gubernatorial candidate Joey Gilbert
- The Assembly Republican Caucus
- Adam Laxalt’s Morning in Nevada PAC
- Republican Women of Northern Nevada PAC
- The Nevada Firearms Coalition PAC
- The Las Vegas Police Protective Association
- Associated Builders & Contractors (non-union)
* These are “liberal backers”? Gimme a break.
* Here’s the bottom line: Petrick is out there attacking Gov. Lombardo almost on a daily basis. April supports the governor and has been endorsed by him. The choice in this primary race is pretty clear.
* The real problem for Republicans in Nevada isn’t a lack of good candidates. It’s bad campaign managers who can’t develop an effective messaging strategy on issues voters actually care about without stretching the truth or lying outright.
* You know, like the incompetent Woody Johnston.
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
“Every man with a pair of testicles is voting for Donald Trump in 2024. Every woman with a pair of testicles is voting for Joe Biden in 2024.”
– Meme seen on Twitter/X
Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, publisher of Nevada News & Views and blogs at MuthsTruths.com. His views are his own.
