Editorial: Straight talk not in sight

Thursday, March 30, 2000 | 9:27 a.m.

You have to give Sen. John McCain his due. While the Arizona Republican failed to capture his party's presidential nomination, he proved to be a master at generating a torrent of media attention, a skill that nearly upended George W. Bush's candidacy. McCain showed Wednesday that he hasn't lost this deft touch, only this time it was at Nevada's expense as he held hearings on a bill that would ban college sports betting in Nevada.

The bill originally was under the jurisdiction of the Senate Judiciary Committee but McCain, the chairman of the Commerce Committee, decided to hold hearings of his own. It wasn't a coincidence they were held this week, during the height of college basketball's men's championship, a tournament that generates a huge amount of wagering -- both legal and illegal. Although this admittedly was a beautiful public relations move by McCain, it can't hide the fact that this legislation is worthless. It wouldn't do anything to reduce sports betting in the 49 states where it already is illegal. Besides, a crackdown elsewhere will never happen because there never would be enough prison space to house all of those Americans who illegally gamble on sports. All a prohibition would do here is drive legal wagering underground, instead of having it done aboveboard where it now is overseen strictly by Nevada state regulators.

Although McCain has been able to generate considerable media coverage, the odds aren't good the bill will win passage because of the gaming industry's influence in Congress. Now if we could just get the casinos to expend half the energy they have on turning aside a sports betting ban and use it toward defeating legislation that would send nuclear waste to Nevada ...