Vucanovich: Tough road for Ensign, Reid's GOP foes

[discocrisco01]

Source:Associated Press

Painting a bleak outlook for Nevada Republicans in general, former U.S. Rep. Barbara Vucanovich, R-Reno, said Tuesday she's "extremely disappointed" that U.S. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., had an affair and thinks it "is going to be tough" for him to win re-election in 2012.

She also said a host of GOP challengers face an "uphill" battle in their bid to unseat U.S Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. That's primarily because his huge campaign war chest keeps growing thanks in part to help from GOP business leaders who argue Nevada needs his clout in Congress, she said.

"I think it is going to be very difficult for Republicans," Vucanovich said in describing the overall outlook for her party in the coming elections during an appearance Tuesday on KRNV-TV's "Nevada Newsmakers."

The former seven-term U.S. representative said she's especially disappointed in Ensign's scandal because she personally helped recruit him as a candidate in Las Vegas in the early 1990s when he first ran for the U.S. House.

"I met with his family. I thought he would be a wonderful candidate," said Vucanovich, who served in 1983-97.

Read more at http://www.rgj.com/article/20091126/NEWS/911260327/1321/Vucanovich-Tough-road-for-Ensign-Reid-s-GOP-foes

[tularetom]

1. I hope she is right

Much as I am disappointed in Harry Reid as majority leader, I would hate to see his seat go repub. And as for Ensign, you van pretty much stick a fork in him.

[struggle4progress]

2. Doug Hampton Details Ensign Affair in 'Nightline' Interview

Doug Hampton, the husband of the aide who carried on an extended extramarital relationship with Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), told ABC's "Nightline" that he discovered the affair in a 2007 text message between his wife and Ensign, the Associated Press reports. Most of the details Hampton covers have gradually come out since Ensign admitted the affair in June, but Hampton gave a more intimate look at how Ensign reacted when he was confronted about his relationship with Cynthia Hampton.

Hampton said he confronted Ensign, a longtime friend, when both families were gathered for Christmas Eve. "John cries like a kid. Puts his head in his hands, cries like a little boy," Hampton said, adding that he now believes Ensign's initial remorse was disingenuous. During a trip to Iraq in February 2008, Hampton, who worked for the senator, said he borrowed Ensign's cell phone to make a call and realized the affair was still going on.

Hampton also believes that Ensign violated the law when he tried to land Hampton a consulting job outside of Washington to keep the affair quiet, a charge examined in an October New York Times story. Hampton took several lobbying jobs and, in alleged violation of Senate rules, immediately returned to Washington to lobby with the full knowledge of Ensign's office. Ensign also paid the Hampton family nearly $100,000 when both of them lost their jobs because of the affair ...

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/11/24/doug-hampton-details-ensign-affair-in-nightline-interview/

[struggle4progress]

3. Scandal haiku: Ensign affair revealed by love note

... Hampton said he found out about Ensign’s affair with his wife by intercepting a text message the senator had sent to Cynthia Hampton.

How wonderful it is.
Can’t believe, it’s like a kid.
Scared but excited.

It’s one syllable from being a haiku, a poem with five syllables in the first and third lines and seven in the second. May we suggest another – with the proper amount of syllables – in anticipation of Ensign’s 2012 reelection bid?

Dreading my next race.
Can’t believe all the damage.
Scared but … yeah, still scared.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/11/john-ensign-affair-scandal.html

[struggle4progress]

4. Ethics Probers Still Haven't Talked To Hampton On Ensign Matter

TPMMuckraker
Ethics Probers Still Haven't Talked To Hampton On Ensign Matter
Zachary Roth | November 24, 2009, 9:48AM

... Hampton said he hasn't been contacted by the Senate Ethics committee, which over a month and a half ago confirmed that it's probing the matter. Since Hampton is so central to the charges against Ensign, that news would suggest the Ethics committee isn't exactly moving swiftly. A spokesman for the committee did not immediately respond to TPMmuckraker's request for comment. (Hampton added that he also has not been contacted by criminal investigators, who may or may not be conducting their own investigation ...

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/ethics_probers_still_havent_talked_to_hampton_on_e.php

[struggle4progress]

5. The Secret Political Reach Of 'The Family'

You may recognize these names from recent headlines: Sen. John Ensign, Rep. Bart Stupak and Rep. Joe Pitts. Stupak and Pitts have become familiar names through the media's health care overhaul coverage; their abortion funding amendment introduced an 11th-hour twist as the House of Representatives approached a vote on a landmark health care bill.

Ensign was the focus of media attention over his affair with a campaign staffer ...

The common factor among these political players is their involvement with the Family, a secretive fellowship of powerful Christian politicians that centers on a Washington, D.C., townhouse ...

http://www.wbur.org/npr/120746516

[Cha]

6. It wasn't just "an affaire"..ensign's

parents were giving money to the mistress' family..

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/07/ensign_still_bringing_dirty_laundry_home_to_be_was.php

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jul/10/nation/na-ensign10

[bluestateguy]

7. Vucanovich? Wasn't he a pitcher for the Brewers back in the 80's?

nt

[tonysam]

9. I doubt it. BARBARA Vucanovich is known not only for her right-wing politics,

but she is the first person to have become representative in Nevada's second congressional district. She had been an aide to then-Senator Paul Laxalt when she ran for Congress.

I met her and her daughter, Patty Cafferata, who also had a political career before becoming a district attorney for Esmeralda County, I believe. Although I disagree with their politics, they seem to be nice people.

[msongs]

8. any progressive/liberal dems running in Nevada? nt