Opinion: Nevada needs to take advantage of its stature
Publisher’s note: This editorial is from the March 23, 2011, Reno Gazette-Journal.
If there were any doubts that Nevadans would play an important role in the 2012 presidential race because of the state’s early caucuses (and its additional Electoral College vote), Tuesday’s visit to the Silver State by Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour should put them to rest.
Barbour is one of a handful of Republicans already testing the waters for a 2012 challenge to Democratic President Barack Obama and one of the first to take a swing through Northern Nevada. (Sarah Palin, the Republican former Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate, was in Reno for a speech at the Safari Club International convention.)
But he isn’t alone in seeing the value of starting to build relationships 11 months before the Republican caucuses, scheduled for Feb. 18, 2012. Already, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, radio talk-show host Herman Cain and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty all have touched down in Nevada.