The speaker of the Assembly will sleep a little easier tonight, and not just because of the haul from that Thursday fundraiser. It turns out that Republican activist Chuck Muth will not challenge Speaker Barbara Buckley this cycle.

(Kudos, by the way, to my colleague Anjeanette Damon who broke the news on her blog, Inside Nevada Politics.)

“There was far less interest in me taking on Buckley than I expected,” Muth told Damon. Muth asked readers of his own blog whether he should move from Carson City and take on Buckley in a bid that even he acknowledged was mathematically improbable.

We’re glad to see that Muth won’t be turned to ash by the Buckley Stare of Death, but we were curious to see if anybody would dare to donate to an opponent of the speaker and risk doom in Carson City. And since only Muth was crazy enough to mount a (long shot but still fun) bid against Buckley, we’ll never know.

We know you want to go home, but first, how about a few Quick Hits? Here we go!

• It’s not just a book title! The Bush administration really is worse than Watergate.
• And so it continues, the privatization of public space, the shirking of public responsibilities, the corporatization of public responsibilities, and our long, slow descent into a feudal fascism for the 21st century.
• My colleague Jon Ralston says getting rid of term limits will help Northern Nevada keep its political clout, by retaining long-serving committee chairs and state Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio. Northern politicians are usually united by party and their hatred for Las Vegas, after all.
• Easy solution: Shrink the size of the Legislature! Not only will we save money with fewer-but-larger districts, but if you apportion seats based on population, the north loses numerically. But don’t worry, north: Our Republicans and Democrats will never act in concert to screw you the way you’ve screwed us over the years.
• So Harrah’s Entertainment has changed its name, opting to go with “Caesars” as its primary brand. Based on the chain’s remodeling practices, allow us to suggest a new corporate slogan to go along with the new moniker: How about: “Good night and good luck”?
• Caption contest? Here’s our entry: “What is thy bidding, my master?” You know, like Lord Vader from The Empire Strikes Back. Only Vader was a Sith Lord with awesome powers and Gov. Jim Gibbons is a tool.
• Thousands of flights canceled, aircraft maintenance in question, lax oversight by the Federal Aviation Administration, airline bankruptcies, intrusive, shoe-less searches and long lines  and hundreds of thousands of people inconvenienced by an industry that people don’t even trust to fly a suitcase from Las Vegas to Reno. Boy, we’re sure glad we bailed those bastards out after Sept. 11. Otherwise, we could be facing some kind of crisis!
• Hurray for Rachel Maddow! We totally think she should be on TV more.
• Remember that one guy running against U.S. Rep. Jon Porter? Well, he’s having a news conference Monday to “…outline his tax priorities to benefit Nevada families.” We’re guessing he’s going to come out against corporations and special interests. Just a hunch.
• And can we please retire that damn “Nevada families” catchphrase? The Democrats have been using that one since Dario Herrera, and that one didn’t turn out too well,  as we recall.

Well, the day has (almost) finally arrived: Clark County Democrats will once again try to have a convention, express a presidential preference, elect 2,463 delegates to the state convention and approve a platform. As you may recall, the first convention ended in a disastrous clusterfuck. But, we have high hopes that Saturday’s event slated for the Thomas & Mack will be much better.

Why? First off, it will be overseen by state Sen. Terry Care, a neutral arbiter who will be available to mediate disputes. Last time, the convention was run by the chairman of the county party and his handpicked convention master, who were lucky to have escaped with their lives once it turned out they’d booked a room at Bally’s far smaller than the crowd they knew would be arriving. (We’d tell you who, but we’re told the chairman loves nothing more than seeing his name in print, so we’ve vowed never to write it again. Let’s just call him He Who Shall Not Be Named.)

Second, the county party is getting support from its big sister, the state party. A delegate list was published on the state party’s website, and some pre-convention publicity was handled by Kirsten Searer, the state party’s well-liked spokeswoman.

Third, the convention will run from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at a venue large enough to accommodate all the people who are expected to attend. This will also allow shift workers to attend and vote. Not only that, but the party has voting machines loaned from the Clark County elections office, which should ensure an accurate and speedy tally of votes.

So far, according to the county party, more than 7,300 people have registered to participate. Of that total, 4,088 delegates registered in support of U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton and 3,275 delegates registered in support of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama. But remember, delegates, there’s still time to change your mind! (Not that we’re suggestion you shouldn’t vote for Clinton, of course. Vote your conscience.)

Anyway, it seems to us that Clark County Democratic Convention II: Revenge of the Clusterfuck will go off without a hitch, provided that no county officials try to, you know, do anything. Others seem to agree. So good luck, Clark County Democrats!

Here it is, fellow international guest worker friends!