Big GOP names, lamb testicle stew at Nevada 'Basque Fry' Saturday
The lineup may not include front-runner Donald Trump, but one of the five Republican presidential candidates who will attend the “Basque Fry” barbeque in Gardnerville, Nev., on Saturday could end up winning the 2016 Nevada presidential caucus, some conservative consultants said.
The caucus will be won with a grassroots effort and, literally, you can’t get much more grassroots than the barbeque’s setting — a pasture of the Corley Ranch, which is just out of town.
“Absolutely this can help,” said Paul Enos, CEO of the Nevada Trucking Association. “People like to support people they have met. People are a lot more apt to support somebody if they have met them a couple of times, like Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson. This does nothing but help them.”
Carson — the gifted neurosurgeon known for his work separating conjoined twins — and Fiorina — the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive — are two of the five major candidates expect to attend.
Other major candidates include Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and former New York governor George Pataki.
“Do one of the people attending this have a chance to win the caucus? Absolutely,” said Republican consultant Nick Vander Poel. “It’s Nevada. People want to meet their candidates.”
Most of the candidates — including Fiorina, Cruz, Walker and Carson — come into the Basque Fry with momentum or jumps in the polls after last week’s first televised presidential debates. The field of candidates who will be in Gardnerville are gathering momentum, others said.
“I don’t discount any one of them could win the caucus,” said Las Vegas conservative activist Chuck Muth.
“Remember, it was roughly this time during the last cycle that everybody was talking about Herman Cain and then he completely disintegrated before we even got to the caucus,” Muth said.
Yet not everyone sees the Nevada caucus winner coming from the field at the Basque Fry. One political science professor sees the Nevada caucus going to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
The Nevada presidential caucuses, both GOP and Democratic, will be held next February and are among the first four state primary or caucus events of the presidential year, adding extra importance to each one.
Paul has made many trips to Nevada, including stops in rural Nevada towns such as Elko and Mesquite. He also has a network of grassroots supporters in Nevada that were originally cultivated by his father, former congressman Ron Paul, R-Texas, during his presidential campaigns.
“The prevailing wisdom is that this is Rand Paul’s caucus,” said Fred Lokken, a political science professor at Truckee Meadows Community College. “So they (five candidates) are here for things more than the caucus. They are here for the money. And they are here hoping that if they get the nomination in the regular process, people remember they came to Nevada at this time. But the (Nevada presidential) caucus right now kind of feels like it is still a lock for Rand Paul.”
The Basque Fry is sponsored by GOP Attorney General Adam Laxalt and his Morning In Nevada PAC. It is based on a tradition of “Basque Fry” events that were organized in the Washington, D.C.-area by Laxalt’s venerable grandfather, former U.S. senator and Nevada governor Paul Laxalt.
A Basque Fry, however, is a lamb testicle, which is one of the ingredients in a stew that is a main dish of the wing-ding, said Robert Uithoven, the head of the Cruz presidential campaign in Nevada who is helping organize the event.
“A fun part of your story might be, which of these candidates can muster up the courage to eat lamb fries?” Uithoven said.
Hagar reports for the Reno Gazette-Journal
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