LAS VEGAS-Mike Duncan, chairman of the Republican National Committee, was in Las Vegas this weekend to help kick-off a voter registration drive and attend the Clark County GOP's annual Lincoln Day Dinner.  PolitickerNV.com caught up with Duncan Saturday before the dinner, where he was wooing the party faithful, and received a rosy picture of the Republican outlook for the November election.

PolitickerNV: How do you see Republicans' electoral prospects in Nevada this fall?

Duncan: Obviously, Nevada's going to be a key state for us.  This is the second time that I've been here in three months, and I hope to get back again.  It's going to be a battleground state, and I think we're going to win.  It was a very close state in 2004, and things haven't changed a substantial amount in that time.  We have a great candidate who's a westerner, a warrior, someone who understands the people of the west.  He's lived the values of the west, understands water issues and air issues, so I'm very optimistic.

P: Sen. McCain has gone against the grain of public opinion in Nevada on a couple of issues, specifically by supporting a ban on amateur sports betting and Yucca Mountain.  Will those issues hurt him and Republicans' chances in the state?

D: Well, he was here yesterday and talked about those, so I'll let his words stand for themselves, because I really think this election will come down to the great issues of the day.  Those are going to be the things; lower taxes and less government, individual responsibility, who we appoint to the federal bench and a strong national defense.  I think at the end of the day, those are the things that voters are going to focus on.  With smaller government, the choice on healthcare, for example.  The Democrats are proposing a mandatory healthcare $110 billion proposal that Sen. Clinton has.  Sen. Obama's is nearly the same.  John McCain believes in choice in health care, doctors and patients being very involved in that, and we can go down all the issues in that way.  In my lifetime, I've never seen a starker contrast between the two candidates and the two parties, so I think that's what people will make their minds up about here in Nevada and also in the west and the rest of the country.

P: Referring to that contrast, much of the national media have viewed the primary process until now as a call for change after seven years of the Bush administration.  Do you expect that urge for change to motivate people to vote against Republicans this fall?

D: When I took this job, President Bush and I had the conversation that at some point the political spotlight would go off him and go on the nominee of the Republican Party.  That's happening.  He's going to continue to sprint to the finish as president of the United States, but this is about the future.  It's not about the past eight years or the past two decades or the past hundred years and that's what people are interested in; their future, their economic future, their personal security, the future of their families.  Those are the issues that will be discussed.

P: Congressman Porter's district is expected to be one of the hottest-contested in the country.  What will the RNC be doing to support Congressman Porter this cycle?

D: Well, I was here today.  I didn't get to see the congressman this morning; I'm going to talk to him tonight about the results.  We kicked off a voter registration drive today.  It's earlier than what we've normally done.  We were using some new technology today that was very interesting.  I was out there to see that and encourage the troops on.  He's had a lot of tough races, but you know, he's been a public servant and a community leader for thirty years and he does very well when he has tough opponents.  They're always coming up with that dream opponent to run against him and he manages to win.  I think that's what's going to happen to him again this time.