Columnist Erin Neff: James, Neal seen as threats to own parties

Erin Neff

Friday, May 24, 2002 | 4:10 a.m.

DEMOCRATS pride themselves on being the party of inclusion while Republicans believe their organization is filled with compassionate conservatives.

But two recent cases prove the two parties are respectively more about exclusion and Christian consensus.

You'd never know that Joe Neal, a Democrat running for governor, or Mark James, a Republican county commission candidate, have carried their party's ideals on their backs as state senators for years.

Somehow you don't hear anything about Neal's legendary battles for civil rights, abolition of the death penalty and improved schools. And lost in talk over James' moderation is mention of his fiscal conservativism and record of writing the state's truth-in-sentencing law.

Democrats are running from Neal faster than they have jumped on the Erin Kenny-for-lieutenant governor bandwagon because Neal remains true to some beliefs about Yucca Mountain that ruffle party feathers.

The Republicans have shut James out for his pro-choice and gay rights beliefs. So much for compassion for one of their standard bearers.

Neal and James are seen as threats to their individual parties because they don't fit neatly into the approved-platform mold that churned out dozens of other candidates.

There's supposedly no admission requirement to register as a Democrat or Republican, but you'd better be willing to pass a litmus test.

If you'd want to be a Democrat in Nevada today, you'd better be anti-Yucca Mountain and supportive of the gaming industry. If you'd want to be a Republican, you'd better slap a Respect Life sticker on your bumper and wear that Support Question 2 button with pride.

No sense in promoting ideas, and there's certainly no room for populists, centrists or moderates.

The so-called inclusive ones are so welcoming that they hyped their "strong slate" of statewide candidates by not even mentioning the man running for governor in a two-page press release issued this week.

"Among the candidates for statewide office who will wage vigorous campaigns against their Republican opponents is ..." not Joe Neal.

No mention of Neal, but there's hype about unnamed stewards of Democratic ideals.

"Several Democratic candidates will certainly take Governor Guinn and Republican officeholders to task about things Nevada voters are concerned about that happened during the governor's watch," the Democrats crowed with no mention of the man who's already been doing that.

James' sin is that he's just not good, er, conservative enough to be endorsed for re-election. Instead the Christian conservative candidate, Tom Christensen, got the nod amid the pro-life, anti-gay marriage support at the county GOP convention.

And you know it's bad when Neal generates warmer words from Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, who said "I have respect for him" than from Democrat leaders who don't even want to talk about him.

Raggio respects Neal for his years of public service and for advancing a dialogue of ideas that, although running counter to Raggio's, at least balance the legislative process. Democrats should be as thankful.

One Democratic leader actually claimed signal interference on his cell phone made him unable to properly hear the question: "Do you support Joe Neal?"

"Did you say something about Joe Neal, sorry I can't hear you," the leader said, before the call was lost.

Neal threatens the party elite because he supports Yucca Mountain and has been calling for an increase to the state's gaming tax for years. James scares his fellow Republicans because of his socially liberal stances and his penchant for occasionally endorsing Democrats.

James also scares Republicans because he's not afraid to condemn colleagues of his own party who "irresponsibly" ignore the state's funding needs.

"We have a constitutional responsibility to fund the schools," James said. "Those who ignore that aren't fiscal conservatives. They're irresponsible."

Democrats see James as a man of principled ideals who isn't afraid to "do the right thing."

"We would welcome him into our party," former Congressman Jim Bilbray said at the Nevada State Democratic Convention.

What about the man who is committed to his principal belief that gaming should pay more to help schools? Not welcome.

It's too bad the parties don't have a taste for dissent these days. If they did, Neal might be considered a viable candidate and James might not be facing a four-way Republican primary for county commission and GOP leaders who downgrade his chances because he's not conservative enough.

"I don't spend a lot of time worrying about that," James said. "I'm running on my record."

The parties could learn a lot by following suit.