By Phoebe Sweet
Republicans Rooting for Failure Offer Radio Silence Following Positive Jobs Data
LAS VEGAS – When bad economic news hits, no one is faster to hit send on a press release blaming Sen. Harry Reid than the GOP primary contenders for US Senate.
In response to today’s news that the economy gained 160,000 jobs in the month of March, candidates Sue Lowden, Danny Tarkanian, and John Chachas issued the following joint statement:
“Chirp, chirp, chirp.”
Ironically, Lowden had even promoted a radio interview this morning on the Heidi Harris show on her Twitter page, urging supporters to tune in:
sue_lowden: Tune into KDWN at 8:05am tomorrow morning to hear me discuss the campaign and March unemployment numbers on The Heidi Harris Show. -Sue
But over the course of the interview, what one issue did Lowden and Harris fail to discuss entirely?
March’s unemployment numbers.
When the news is good, the same Republicans who crow each time jobs are lost fall strangely quiet. In the words of GOP Senate candidate John Chachas, a bad economy is “good Republican politics.”
“Republican candidates for US Senate have plenty to say when the economic news is bad and continue to root for our economy to fail,” said Phoebe Sweet, communications director for the Nevada State Democratic Party. “But when the news is good – not a peep. But that’s understandable. It would be impossible to talk about job growth and pulling our economy back from a cliff without crediting Sen. Harry Reid.
“While Sen. Harry Reid continues to demonstrate that no one can do more for Nevada in these tough economic times, the Republicans have shown their true colors – with nothing to offer, all they can do is root against the economic recovery that Americans so desperately need.”
LOWDEN AND CHACHAS HAVE BOTH STATED ECONOMIC FAILURE IS GOOD FOR THEIR CAMPAIGNS
LOWDEN: [Burns] And as Bob Beers likes to say most people aren’t focused in on this right now, but that said if you were to look at one key issue, two key issues that you would run a race against Harry Reid on, what would those issues be?
[Lowden] I would look at the national state of the economy and show what’s going on nationally. Who knows in a year? I think it’s not going to be better, frankly, and I would bring it home and show what’s happening in Nevada. Who knows what our unemployment rate will be at that, our foreclosure rate, our bankruptcy rates? I don’t see it getting any better, and I think that I would absolutely bring that home. [KNPR, July 13, 2009]
CHACHAS: “As we go into the first part of 2010, there are some very large construction projects that will roll to conclusion,” Chachas said. “I don’t know how many thousands of jobs will be closed, but there’s really no place for those gentlemen to go. There’s nothing behind it in the pipe. So as you look to the beginning of 2010, I think unemployment in Nevada will spike even higher. “I think this is bad for the country but good for Republican politics. We are in for a lousy 2010. As an economy, we are going to continue to see job losses,” he added.
