#NVSen Update: Serious Questions About Embattled Congresswomen Shelley Berkley’s Viability

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In Nevada, Jon Ralston at the Las Vegas Sun writes that he has serious questions about embattled Congresswomen Shelley Berkley’s viability and that she’ll need a new strategy.  The pain of being buried alive must be excruciating, but there are those who have long considered Berkley a Dead Woman Walking. Even if she were still viable — and I now have serious questions about whether she can win this race — Berkley’s campaign, which has all but cocooned her for much of this race and foolishly not bivouacked in critical Washoe County, needs a new strategy. And fast. … Berkley takes it as an article of faith that people know her husband is a doctor, that they know she would never, ever behave unethically, that she loves her work in D.C. too much to compromise herself. But many, many don’t.  She is relatively unknown, especially in the key battleground of Washoe, and this will be how she is defined, thanks to Heller and Crossroads, Americans for Prosperity and other ill-wishers.

 

 

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  • Additionally, the Las Vegas Sun reports that Berkley’s ethics woes creates even a bigger obstacle for her in Washoe County.  Berkley’s defense picks up on an image that she has long tried to portray in Southern Nevada: that she is a congresswoman whose first concern, always, is constituent service.  Unfortunately for Berkley, the message may not carry as well in the parts of the state she needs to win this Senate election.  “I don’t think anybody in the north’s going to buy this,” Eric Herzik said. “In rural Nevada, there’s an automatic bias against her … and now this is the key point of information about her. I just think that makes an uphill climb even harder.”

 

  • Finally, Steve Sebelius at the Las Vegas Review-Journal writes that Berkley’s response to her ethics investigation was comically untrue.  The fact that – rather than dismiss the matter as unfounded – the bipartisan committee decided to investigate a Republican-filed complaint that Berkley took actions to benefit her husband’s medical practice shows some members may believe there’s fire under all that smoke. … The first line of the Berkley campaign’s prepared statement in response to the action was almost comically untrue: “We are pleased with the committee’s decision to conduct a full and fair investigation, which will ensure all the facts are reviewed,” said campaign manager Jessica Mackler.
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