Columnist Jeff German: Outcasts no match for Guinn

Friday, Feb. 14, 2003 | 11:25 a.m.

As if the task of bringing the state out of its budget crunch isn't difficult enough, Republican Party outcasts now are looking to muddy up the tax debate in Carson City.

The latest to surface is Tony Dane, a well-known GOP dissident who said Thursday he's chairing an "exploratory committee" to recall Gov. Kenny Guinn over his push to raise $1.1 billion in new taxes.

On his website seeking support for the recall, Dane calls himself a small businessman who has been watching his taxes growing out of control.

What Dane doesn't acknowledge is that Nevada is growing too. It's still the fastest-growing state in the country, and new taxes are needed to widen the roads and freeways, pay for the education of 27,000 new students over the next two years, provide more police and fire services and keep up with health insurance for those who can't afford it.

When Nevadans understand that more taxes will mean a better quality of life for everyone, Dane's so-called campaign to recall Guinn, who received 68 percent of the vote in his re-election last year, will fall by the wayside like every other political cause Dane has pushed.

Last year Dane was linked to a failed bid to unseat Assemblyman David Parks, D-Las Vegas, the Legislature's first openly gay lawmaker. Dane was accused of encouraging a man with the same name as David Parks to challenge the assemblyman in the Democratic primary. At the time Dane's father was running against Parks on the Republican ticket.

Dane also has come out on the losing end when taking on Guinn in the past.

In 1998 he backed maverick Hollywood producer Aaron Russo, who ran against Guinn and the GOP establishment in the Republican primary for governor.

After Russo lost to Guinn, Dane and another Republican dissident, George Harris, mounted campaigns to recall the state and county Republican chairmen who had been loyal to Guinn. But both campaigns failed.

Harris, who later was deposed by the Guinn forces as the state party's finance chairman, had come off a poor showing in 1998 as a political consultant for Venetian owner Sheldon Adelson. Though Adelson gave him $2 million to pour into radio and television ads, Harris was unable to accomplish Adelson's goal of defeating three county commission candidates.

Since then Harris has remained on the outs with the Guinn-dominated GOP and has become one of the governor's harshest public critics. His anti-tax and anti-Guinn website is linked to Dane's recall site.

As the tax debate presses ahead in Carson City, it's sure to remain contentious, and Guinn is likely to take more hits from people who abhor raising taxes no matter what the social cost.

We can be sure, however, of one thing.

Outcasts like Dane and Harris will never get the best of Guinn.