Columnist Jon Ralston: Halfhearted endorsement of son

Friday, Nov. 4, 2005 | 9:39 a.m.

Jimmy Carter doesn't exactly lavish love on his son, the Nevada parties love to hate each other's leaders and the mayor who loves his son actually loves everyone ...

With Dads like this: With everyone except die-hard, energizer Democrats dismissing any chance Jack Carter has to defeat Sen. John Ensign, surely the former president's son could expect the requisite gushing from his father.

Or, maybe not.

As The Hotline reported under the headline, "Jimmy Carter Unsure of His Son's Chances and His Own Appeal," the 39th president gushed little to the gush-giving Larry King:

"Jack makes up his own mind and always has ever since he's been a child. But I would be glad to see him run. I don't know if he has a chance to win. I think he has a certain chance. And my guess is that if he runs he'll have a good chance to win. And if he's elected he'll be an outstanding senator."

Asked if he'll campaign for him: "If he asks me to. I don't know if I'd be an asset or a liability in Nevada. In some parts of Nevada, maybe in the southern part, I'd be an asset."

I'm sure Rep. Shelley Berkley would agree to appear with him in the southern part, right, congresswoman?

The GOP barf bag: Nevada Republicans finally have updated their Web page that until recently still had Ray Rawson as a state senator and Harriet Miers as a Supreme Court nominee. The site -- nevadagop.org -- has a link to another recently erected Web page that contains "Reid's retchings" -- and you don't see that verb used as a noun too often.

It's part of the national GOP campaign to show how many Democrats were on board the anti-Saddam, pro-war mindset that Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid et al. now disdain.

The Democratic Party Web site -- nvdems.com -- also is all over the controversy, highlighting Reid's Senate closure maneuver and a letter he wrote to the administration with his House counterpart, Nancy Pelosi, about the CIA leak case.

Raw meat for the faithful only a click away.

Making news indeed: Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman did more this week than tell "Nevada Newsmakers" host Sam Shad that teen punks who deface public displays should be de-thumbed. He also informed his interviewer, who has not seen him in action very much, "I only have nice things to say about people." Goodman also showed his love for various gubernatorial candidates when Shad raised their names. To wit:

Dina Titus: "Nice lady, bright lady."

Jim Gibson: "Good guy, very conservative."

Bob Beers: "Very committed person as far as his beliefs on taxes. I don't necessarily agree with him."

Goodman also praised Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt for her economic development efforts. But he expressed disappointment that Rep. Jim Gibbons had not stood up for him after he did a national interview and used figures His Honor said were provided by the congressman's office, but later proved to be erroneous.

But, Goodman insisted, "If I ever threw my hat into the race, I wouldn't call him names, I wouldn't say he'd be bad for the state." Good to know.

As the show began, Shad actually asked Goodman if he were in the governor's race and the mayor responded with a clipped, "Absolutely not," before turning that absolute into mush with all kinds of equivocation. Some have said that the mayor, who can only be taken seriously when his lips don't move, has been whispering that his wife, Carolyn, has given him the green light to run.

Oh, it is devoutly to be wished.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman Quote of the Week: You might think choosing His Honor's best lip-flapping would be a no-brainer during a week that saw him compare himself to Jonathan Swift with his "off with their thumbs" proposal.

But I thought the best mayoral discourse came at the Las Vegas City Council meeting when Goodman was talking about Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian's obvious hesitation to give city land to the Golden Nugget.

"The councilwoman, she's an interesting piece of work." Goodman began.

"On Sunday morning she called me at home and doesn't realize I start drinking about noon on Sunday and I really didn't want to meet with her."

Ah, mayoral priorities.