GOP Figure Shuns Media Mainstream

RENO —  Campaigning for President Bush, the former head of the Christian Coalition told Nevada Republicans he could not remember the last time he watched a television newscast on CBS, NBC or ABC.

Now a regional chairman for the Bush-Cheney campaign, Ralph Reed said he depended on the Internet, conservative talk show hosts and the Fox News Network to get his information about the world. And he urged Nevadans to do the same.

“Twenty-five years ago, most people got their news from ABC, CBS or NBC,” Reed said Friday in a speech to the Nevada Republican Party’s state convention. “Fortunately, that is no longer the case. The gatekeepers of dominant media have lost their monopoly on information.”

Reed told the crowd of about 250 Republicans that he had not watched a newscast of a major network in years.

“I get in the car in the morning and listen to Rush Limbaugh. On the way home, I listen to Sean Hannity. At night I watch Fox News,” he said.

Reed encouraged Nevada Republicans to rely more on the Internet to spread their message in a key swing state.

Reed’s background came under fire earlier in the week from Nevada Democrats, who said the state GOP’s decision to make him their keynote speaker was a slap in the face to moderate Republicans. State Democratic spokesman Jon Summers said Reed was a “right-wing, divisive speaker” who pushed the “ultraconservative agenda” of the religious right.

“The self-proclaimed ‘party of inclusion’ is sending a clear message: Moderates need not apply,” Summers said.

Nevada GOP Executive Director Chris Carr said it was the Democrats who were resorting to divisive tactics. “Our party is made up of proud conservatives, moderates and swing voters.... I think the Democratic Party in this state is out of step with mainstream Nevada and mainstream America,” Carr said.