The Little Brown Reader

And he believes the contrast with establishment candidates like former interim UNLV president Kenny Guinn, and Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa, will be clear.

"Think about this," he challenged the reporter interviewing him. "Think what would happen if Kenny Guinn went to the Pioneer Theater [in Reno] and said 'Come see me,' How many people would show up? There'd be five people in the audience.

"You think if Frankie Sue did it. And then watch what happens when I'm there.

"We're way ahead of anybody. We're not the underdog; we're the leader.

"That's what people have to realize," argues Russo. "I have thousands and thousands of supporters already. And those supporters all want to work, they all want to volunteer.

"So... I look at myself as the person who leads this campaign by miles. By miles. And they're going to have to catch me."

What will make that difficult for establishment candidates, he believes, is that the Russo campaign already has intensely loyal support at the grassroots.

"We have real people who want me to win," says Russo. "We have passion, we have compassion, we have people who are ready to put up money, people who are verbal about what they're doing with me, You know, we have people who are really totally supportive.

"It's like a whole new Perot thing happening -- but from a different point of view than Perot," he said.