Nevada political roundup: Obama begins Yucca ad in Nevada (UPDATED)

By Lisa Mascaro

Monday, Aug. 11, 2008 | 1:43 p.m.

Updated at 1:43 p.m.

-- The Republican National Committee is sending its No. 2 official to Las Vegas this afternoon to chat with local party leaders on the strategy for fall. RNC Deputy Chairman Frank Donatelli, along with Rich Beeson, the RNC's political director, will be discussing voter registration, fundraising, phone banking and get-out-the-vote efforts at party headquarters. The visit is part of the RNC's “Victory 2008 Tour,” which is hitting states nationwide.

-- Republicans in Washington are continuing their efforts to control the energy debate, with mixed results. Fifteen Senate Republicans posted a YouTube video with a shout out to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, asking him for a vote on their energy proposal. House Republicans are again holding court in the darkened chamber in an effort to push Democrats back to work -- Week Two of the protest they promise to continue through August. Will Nevada's Republicans again join?

Nevada's inmates are protesting a ban on typewriters, AP says via the Reno Gazette-Journal. Corrections officials say the parts can be used as weapons. The ACLU says a middle ground should be found so some typewriters remain available.

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Originally posted at 11:01 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Good Monday morning, Early Liners. Here are highlights from the weekend papers and a bit of what to expect today in Nevada political news:

Reminding us that Yucca Mountain is not dead, Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign today begins running television ads in Reno and Las Vegas against the planned nuclear waste repository in the desert.

The ad plays on the stark difference between the two presumed presidential candidates on this issue. Obama opposes the dump and has said he would withdraw the federal application, if elected. Sen. John McCain supports the repository. Here’s a bit from the ad:

“Imagine trucks hauling the nation’s nuclear waste on our highways to Yucca Mountain ... Barack Obama opposes opening Yucca. He’ll protect our families.”

The Republican National Committee quickly fired back trying to make the case that Obama had voted in favor of Yucca Mountain twice in 2005. But as the R-J’s Molly Ball rightly notes in Sunday’s paper, even opponents of Yucca Mountain did not consider those funding votes critical -- even the Nevada delegation voted yes on those.

I wrote in Sunday’s Letter from Washington about the choice facing voters as the nation and state decide a future energy path.

-- If you didn’t read it Sunday, pour that mid-morning coffee and settle in to read the political roundtable with five of the state’s leading political analysts.

A who’s who of the Nevada political scene sat down with the Sun’s political team at a local pub and you can imagine the rest. On tap: Mike Sloan, Billy Vassiliadas, Dan Hart, Steve Wark and Pete Ernaut. As far as the transcript shows, only a bleep or two for the words we can’t print (though somehow, there must have been more).

Lots of interesting analysis about the political climate, both in Nevada and nationally.

Some of the session’s gems: Predictions of Republican Rep. Dean Heller taking Democratic challenger Jill Derby by as much as 10 points (Ernaut). Sloan’s son returning from the congressional page program in Washington with the news that all the teen Republicans are going for Obama. And a passionate speech from Billy V. at the end. Good times all around.

Other interesting finds:

Vets aren’t a sure thing for McCain, the Sun finds after conducting post-game interviews following the presumed Republican candidate’s speech to a national veterans group meeting in Las Vegas.

The R-J recaps the ongoing revolt on the House floor in Washington by Republican lawmakers, including Porter and Heller, demanding Democrats return to work to solve the energy crises. Porter is quoted as saying “the lights are starting to dim” in Las Vegas. Democrats continue mocking the stunt.

Today:

-- Derby this morning is announcing her energy agenda -- what her campaign is calling an “Apollo Project-style” investment in renewable energy. She’s up north at UNR’s renewable energy lab.

-- Nevada NOW’s political action committee announces its support for Democratic state Sen. Dina Titus in the race against Republican Rep. Jon Porter for the Henderson congressional seat.

Check the Sun’s political blog later today for updates.