Like many a Las Vegas transplant, David Damore figured his time in the desert would be brief when he arrived here from Sacramento, California, in the summer of 2000. Then he settled into his job as a 51吃瓜黑料 political science professor, his then-girlfriend followed him, they married, had two sons, and his father eventually joined them here.
Sixteen years later, Damore is now entrenched in Las Vegas and has become somewhat of an institution as a go-to source for local, national, and international media seeking comment on Nevada鈥檚 hot-button political issues.
Whether it鈥檚 a local television reporter wanting someone to analyze policy discussions in Carson City or a scribe from The New York Times looking to gauge which way the Silver State is leaning in a presidential race, Damore has become a Nevada political expert of record.
Damore 鈥 who teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in American Politics and Research Methods, and also serves as graduate coordinator for the political science department 鈥 said reporters began lighting up his phone prior to the 2004 presidential election, and he estimates he鈥檚 fielded a couple of thousand media calls since then. With each interview, Damore and other professors like him help 51吃瓜黑料 gain positive publicity and raise its profile both here and abroad.
As 51吃瓜黑料 prepares to host the final presidential debate at the Thomas & Mack Center on Oct. 19, Damore is in particularly high demand. But he recently carved out some time to share his thoughts on his experiences with the media, the 21st century political process, and the one question he would ask this year鈥檚 candidates if given the opportunity.
The media inquiries ebb and flow depending on what鈥檚 going on. There are some days 鈥 like a campaign visit or a debate or the caucuses 鈥 when it seems like talking to the media is what I do all day. And then sometimes I鈥檒l go a week or two when I don鈥檛 hear from any reporters.
I鈥檝e always spoken with the local media. But then as Nevada got more important nationally, I received a lot of national and international inquiries, and it just kind of snowballed from there. One of the things I quickly learned is, once you give reporters your cellphone number, they keep it forever. And they share it with their friends.
I鈥檝e had a few reporters and producers tell me that they come to me because I can condense a lot of information into succinct sound bites. Conciseness 鈥 that鈥檚 really what they鈥檙e looking for.
There鈥檚 obviously variation across the different mediums. Television interviews take lots of time; you have to get dressed up and they typically cut you down to like a five-second sound bite.
What I enjoy the most is radio, because it鈥檚 unedited. I can say what I want to say. It鈥檚 usually live, and I get the time to develop my thoughts.
I didn鈥檛 have any formal training in media relations. It was really learn-as-you-go. And I learned some hard lessons.
There have been times when I鈥檝e given an interview where you give a writer essentially the whole story and all the research, but they don鈥檛 credit you with the information. I鈥檝e had times when I鈥檝e been paraphrased or my words are presented without the context and nuance around it so the bottom-line meaning is lost. I used to let those things bother me, not anymore.
It鈥檚 exciting to see the journalists who have moved on, like [former Las Vegas Review-Journal and Las Vegas Sun reporter] Molly Ball going to The Atlantic and some other folks going to national papers. But it鈥檚 also meant having to develop new relationships with their replacements 鈥 and their replacements鈥 replacements. These days it seems the reporters are even younger. They get thrown into it and often need help navigating the terrain.
Some of my most memorable interactions with the media were during the Sharron Angle-Harry Reid U.S. Senate race in 2010. It was pretty clear early on that Reid was going to win, but a lot of reporters wouldn鈥檛 believe me. Even up to the final day, I had people telling me, 鈥淣o, you鈥檙e wrong!鈥 I was like, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e calling me as an expert.鈥
According to the polling, the race was close or Angle was ahead, but I suspected otherwise. So I got criticized for being a homer for the Democrats. I鈥檓 registered as non-partisan. I鈥檓 just telling you what I think.
People assume polls are accurate. But Nevada is a really difficult place to poll, mostly because of the changing demography. The electorate here always churns. And the parts of the electorate that are growing the fastest are the most difficult to poll: those with just cell phones, non-English speakers, and lower socio-economic status. Then you have the fact that people work crazy hours, so if you鈥檙e not calling around the clock, then you鈥檙e missing a significant segment of the population here.
But the media loves polling. Because a poll, any poll, is a story.
It鈥檚 clich茅, but Nevada really does have an incestuous political environment. There are very few people who have a lot of influence, not just in local and state politics, but nationally.
That鈥檚 one thing I took from that Reid-Angle race. It was amazing to see how the establishment from both sides coalesced behind Reid. We saw something similar during the last legislative session, when you had a Republican governor in Brian Sandoval and establishment Republican and Democratic legislators working together to move policy.
The question I always get is, 鈥淲ell, isn鈥檛 Nevada a libertarian, anti-government state?鈥 Eh, sort of. But it鈥檚 also a state where party and ideology are often trumped by personal relationships and shared interests. One anecdote that captures this point is that in the same week Harry Reid received the endorsements of the Nevada Mining Association and the Sierra Club.
People outside the state wonder why Nevada has become so important in presidential elections 鈥 after all, we only have six Electoral College votes 鈥 but it鈥檚 a state that encapsulates a lot of what鈥檚 happening across the country.
All the issues play here: immigration, health care, wage equality, background checks, renewable energy. All these national issues are salient in Nevada. We鈥檙e in a new America. A changing America. An urban, diverse America that has a lot of policy challenges that Nevadans confront every day.
The voter disillusionment you hear a lot about during this election cycle is nothing new, sadly. Compared with other democracies, the U.S. has always had a less knowledgeable and less engaged electorate and a distrust of politics and politicians.
The rules of the game are such that, in a country of nearly 320 million people, we end up with so few choices.
Also not helping is the rise of the 24-hour partisan news outlets. We used to be able to agree on the facts; now we don鈥檛 even agree on the facts. It鈥檚 really difficult to have a debate about policy when pushing the narrative matters more than evidence.
If you don鈥檛 care for the presidential candidates, well, we do have a 鈥渘one-of-the-above鈥 option in Nevada! In fact, between 鈥渘one of the above鈥 and the minor party candidates who will be on the ballot, the chance of anyone getting 50 percent here is unlikely.
My grandfather got me into politics. He was always interested in it and he was involved locally. We always talked about it and, living in Sacramento, he was able to watch some shrewd politicians operate close-up 鈥 Pat and Jerry Brown, Ronald Reagan, and of course, Willie Brown. I remember as a kid seeing his autographed picture of JFK, which is now in my office. In high school, I read all the Watergate books and that kind of stuff. The study of politics and university life is a good fit for me. I definitely didn鈥檛 want to be a lawyer.
My pet peeve about Nevada is we operate like it鈥檚 the 1800s. We operate under institutions and governance structures that are a poor fit for a growing urban, diverse state. Most of our institutions were created for a small, homogenous, and rural state, and they haven鈥檛 changed much since.
We鈥檙e one of only four states with a part-time Legislature. We鈥檙e the only state where the governor picks road projects. We鈥檙e one of three or four states with an integrated higher education system for both community colleges and universities. And we鈥檙e still using a funding formula for K-12 that originated in the 1960s. The core of how our state runs is antiquated, and it has consequences in terms of policy. It has consequences for the people those policies serve.
It鈥檚 long past time for our Legislature to meet annually. This is the thing, though: This stuff is in the state constitution. And it鈥檚 tough to change the state鈥檚 constitution.
My opinion on the Electoral College and its usefulness in the 21st century has vacillated. I used to think it was horrible. Then I moved to a small, swing state.
The Electoral College undermines the basic notion of the equality of the vote. It also dictates that presidential candidates only compete in a handful of states. But if we didn鈥檛 have it, running for president would be even more expensive and the fights over ballot access would only intensify.
Nevada is a very accessible place to get involved in the political process, particularly at the local and state level. I鈥檓 amazed at the number of former students I encounter who are working in the Legislature and other areas of local and state government. This is a place where you can go meet your elected official and have relationships with them.
The other thing about Nevada is the influx of people from other states. A lot of people haven鈥檛 been here long enough to have learned the politics, and they鈥檙e generally more susceptible to short-term campaign effects.
I think Nevada is too small and too peculiar to ever put up a serious candidate for president. But if you look at the greats of Nevada politics, it is no surprise that they all served in the U.S. Senate. Across parties and over time, the Nevadans who have flourished on the national stage did so in a body where power accrues through longevity and political skill, where state size matters much less. As a consequence, Nevadans have put their stamp on some major pieces of federal legislation, from the mining act to the Affordable Care Act.
The fact Las Vegas and 51吃瓜黑料 were chosen as sites for the final presidential debate validates Nevada鈥檚 arrival on the national political stage. It鈥檚 a great opportunity to have the international media here for a week looking for our stories.
If I had the chance to address the candidates at the debate, I would ask them what they see as the limitations of the office. We鈥檙e supposed to be operating in a separated system, but because of our broken politics, the presidency has become more autonomous. So I would ask: How will you remain accountable and restrain yourself from carving out even more executive authority while still meeting the demands of the office?
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