Frank Donatelli

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Nevada is shaping up to be a close contest and the GOP’s ability to hold the state come November may ultimately come down to its ability to cut its losses in one key county, a top Republican Party official said today.

“It’s a very, very closely contested state,” Republican National Committee chair Frank Donatelli told PolitickerNV.com in an interview. “The basic book in Nevada is to hold your margin down in Clark County and win the rest of the state. In a nutshell that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Clark County, which includes the city of Las Vegas and its suburbs, has been at a steady uptick in voter registration – with Democrats on the benefitting end. In July, the county had about 800,000 registered voters with Democrats maintaining a 60,000 voter edge. One year later, there are over 900,000 voters on the rolls and Democrats had a plurality of about 110,000.

RNC Deputy Chair Frank DonatelliAs far as the RNC's Frank Donatelli is concerned, the votes are already there for presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain to take Nevada in November. Now, he said, it's up to the GOP to go out and take them.

Donatelli -- the deputy chairman of the Republican National Committee -- visited the Silver State Monday. He said McCain holds a substantive policy advantage over his presumptive Democratic opponent, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), on a number of issues Nevadans care about.

"As far as the message war, we think Sen. McCain has the advantage on taxes, increasing production of domestic energy sources, and being ready as commander-in-chief from day one," Donatelli told PolitickerNV.com.

Republican National Committee Deputy Chairman Frank Donatelli and RNC Political Director Rich Beeson will be at the offices of the Nevada Republican Party today at 5:15pm to tour the phone bank operations. They may also spend a few minutes
shrugging their shoulders and scratching their heads with a lack of
response for the latest ad from the Dems that bashes the pro-Yucca
stance of the McCain camp.