"Jill Derby Is Making History"

"Jill Derby is making history" writes Michael H. Mishak of the Las Vegas Sun in an article on Derby's awesome campaign (so awesome, that AMERICAblog chose her as a featured candidate and has so far raised more than $16,ooo in just two days in valuable last minute contributions).

A few excerpts:

With a little more than a week to go before Election Day, the Democrat running for U.S. Rep. Jim Gibbons' seat in Nevada's 2nd Congressional District remains competitive, a first in the reliably Republican stronghold.

Recent polls have shown the race either in a statistical dead heat or Derby within striking distance of Republican Dean Heller.

Political experts attribute the unprecedented competitiveness not only to the anti-Republican mood across the country but also to Heller's toothless campaign following a primary that essentially bankrupted his campaign coffers.

Clearly, Jill has run the better campaign as pretty much everyone agress:

"They're some of the best ads I've seen this cycle," said Amy Walter, who analyzes House races for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. "She's successfully defined herself as an outsider. She fits the district."

So, Heller chose to campaign the Republican way:

In recent weeks, Heller has been trying to make up for lost time, with plenty of help from the National Republican Campaign Committee, which recently started running an attack ad that bills Derby as - you guessed it - "too liberal."

The negative ad, along with two others produced in part by Heller's campaign, stands in stark contrast to Derby's folksy, friendly tone.

"Heller had to go with a much harder edge right away because he was late," said Eric Herzik, a UNR political scientist. "That has caused problems."

How close is this race? Well, W. is coming back to town:

In another sign of just how competitive this race has become, the national parties are on track to spend more than $400,000 each for advertisements in Nevada's 2nd District.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent $177,400 on a media buy this week just to slam Heller. And Republicans are pushing back. For the second time in as many months, President Bush is set to campaign for Heller, this time on Thursday in Elko.

So, this time they chose Elko for Bush? They must be thinking that there are no Democrats willing to protest in the rural parts of Nevada. Man, they're desperate.

Read the entire article here.

Help Jill Derby win!