The View From Nevada: Senate Race Too Close for GOP Comfort
*By J.D. Durkin*
When Dean Heller first entered national politics in his native Nevada, the likelihood of Donald Trump — then a real estate mega personality and TV host — entering the world of politics seemed an impossible joke to many. Trump, after all, was featured in both WWE Raw and WrestleMania 23 in 2007, the first year that Heller first served in Congress as a member of the House of Representatives.
Heller fought for years to establish his conservative credentials in the purple battleground he represents, clinching a U.S. Senate seat four years later. But years of Republican experience mean little when an outsider TV Manhattanite bulldozes longtime party orthodoxy, and now Heller is one of the few forces of Trump antagonism who remain standing.
But soon — he too may fall.
The tensions between Heller and Trump were never on display so clearly as they were on July 20, 2017, at the White House. Heller and other Republican Senators were stalled on healthcare that particular Wednesday; the President used his head-of-the-table bully pulpit to deliver a searing message to Heller seated just inches away:
"This was the one we were worried about. You weren't there. But you're gonna be. You're gonna be. Look, he wants to remain a senator, doesn't he? And I think the people of your state, which I know very well, I think they're gonna appreciate what you hopefully will do. Any senator who votes against starting debate is really telling America that you're fine with Obamacare. But being fine with Obamacare isn't enough for another reason. Because it's gone. It's failed. It's not gonna be around."
The subtext of Trump's quip was clear: Listen pal, I’m gonna be funny about this for the cameras but don’t take this as a joke.
Healthcare last summer sharply divided the two men, though Heller eventually fell in line to vote through the President’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Trump’s choice of rhetoric, at times, was also a factor in Heller’s hesitancy to go full-MAGA. Forty-five percent of Nevada voters supported Trump in 2016, and the state’s ever-shifting demographics threaten Republican influence every year.
Now, in 2018 — with the healthcare fight long in the rearview and the rivalry between Heller and Trump (somewhat?) behind them, the uncertain political terrain could offer a sharp opportunity for Heller’s Democratic challenger, Rep. Jacky Rosen.
Rosen has been in Congress only two weeks longer than Trump has been President; but voters in the Silver State will have the opportunity in just weeks to decide between a household name they’ve known for decades versus a Congresswoman with momentum — and, perhaps most importantly for the moment, a clearly-defined and unequivocally vocal stance on the contentious confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Award-winning journalist, entrepreneur, and host Soledad O'Brien spoke to Cheddar about empowering women through her own podcast on financial literacy this Women's History Month.
Six House lawmakers are calling on Meta to stop paid ads from Chinese news companies that push Russian misinformation regarding the war in Ukraine. Matt Skibinski, General Manager, NewsGuard Technologies joins Cheddar to discuss the role of social media in this war.
Reva Shakkottai, Senior Vice President and financial advisor at RBC Wealth Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where she elaborates on factors besides Wednesday's Fed decision that led to gains across the major indexes on Thursday, including new home construction and jobless claims data.
Art Hogan, Chief Market Strategist at National Securities, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he breaks down Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech following the U.S. central bank's decision to raise rates and explains why Powell's comments move the markets more than the Fed decision itself.
Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif. 29th District) joined Cheddar News at South By Southwest to discuss the variety of sanctions that the United States has placed on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine began last month and the impacts they are having both domestically and abroad. With rising gas prices, especially in states like California, Schiff noted that the American people are willing to make sacrifices in order to uphold their values and suggested that crisis may be a warning to shift away from fossil fuels. "At the end of the day though, this ought to be a wake up call that we need to stop our reliance on this oil economy and move to renewable sources of energy," he said. Schiff also explained his remarks about the January 6 commission investigating those closest to former President Trump and touched on a disturbing case in San Francisco where the police department used rape kit samples to ID a murder suspect.
Markets opened lower as the Federal Reserve announces plans to hike interest rates by a quarter point, while signaling six additional rate hikes later this year. Gary Schlossberg, Global Strategist, Wells Fargo Investment Institute, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Apple's Racial Equity and Justice Initiative is a $100 million program aimed at combating systemic racism while working to advance racial equity across the country. Alisha Johnson, director of the initiative, joined Cheddar at SXSW to discuss the work being done. "We focused on three critical areas. The first is education. The second is criminal justice reform, and the third is economic empowerment, really looking first in our own supply chain, how can we really increase our spend with Latinx, Hispanic, and indigenous-owned businesses," she said. "And then how can we go further to empower entrepreneurs who have been cut out of access to funding and capital and really help them to get the funding."
What you Need to Know on Thursday, March 17. Updates from Ukraine, President Biden refers to Putin as a ‘war criminal’ for the first time, Walmart has ambitious hiring targets for Q1, and Netflix takes steps to crack down on password sharing.
