Friday, Aug. 18, 2006 | 9:10 a.m.
If Campaign '06 accomplishes nothing else, the primary season indicates that it will be remembered for adding new phrases to the Nevada political lexicon.
Here are some terms to remember:
The new McCarthyism: The attempts by several contenders to piggyback onto the G-Sting convictions were shameless - and intermittently effective. The corruption hangover surely hurt County Commissioner Myrna Williams when her opponent, Chris Giunchigliani, tarred her with that broad brush.
And it undoubtedly played a role in Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson's problems and gave more resonance to state Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus' campaign. But the exploitation of the public's cynicism, most typified by respected attorney Frank Cremen's attempt to smear District Attorney David Roger, will not abate anytime soon.
Pay to play: Titus' rhyming, succinct description of what she said was Gibson's governing philosophy - give me campaign money to receive favorable treatment - was like a knife in the mayor's heart.
From now on, every local government official must worry that an opponent will use that phrase because too many of them will have similar records of taking campaign money and then voting for the donor. There may not be the serial nexuses the Titus campaign uncovered, but there will be enough. And the phrase is memorable and almost onomatopoetic, whether or not it is uttered with a Georgia twang.
The name's the thing: A guy named Bob Beers who was not running for governor won an Assembly primary by doing nothing and running against candidates who did. Were voters in Assembly District 21 that ignorant? Yes. And you know who you are - all 1,236 of you.
The same phenomenon can be seen in Robert "Bob" Goodman garnering 24,792 votes in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor and almost defeating Bob Unger. Unger spent serious money on television while Goodman did virtually nothing. Did people actually think Goodman was the Las Vegas mayor? Say it ain't so.
Pulling a Bill Young: The image of the sheriff, his nostrils flaring and anger rising in his voice, deconstructing Jerry Airola is indelible. Thus began the moneyed candidate's descent and almost cost him a slot in the runoff. Airola may now be a Dead Man Walking because of what Young did - now there's a lame duck who was far from lame.
Pulling the Woollen over your eyes: Voters soundly rejected Barbara Lee Woollen's attempt to make illegal immigration relevant in the lieutenant governor's race. But it's too much to think other candidates won't try to fan the flames of the burning issue of the moment. Demagoguery will work once in awhile - and there's not always a sheriff around to call out the offender.
Pulling an Augustine: Something tells me the late Controller Kathy Augustine would not have approved of the pathetic and failed effort to win the treasurer's race over her dead body.
The message here is simple: If you're dead, stay dead. And this admonition goes out to supposedly live contenders who constantly attempt self-resurrection such as ex-Assembly folks Lou Toomin and Merle Berman, ex-Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren and others in the future who don't understand that the voters have spoken: They don't want you in office anymore.
Predictions post-mortem: Did I mention this might have been the toughest primary election to call in all the years I have been publicly foretelling outcomes? And that makes the results - a near-perfect record - even more impressive. I called every contest correctly, with the only slip-up flipping the order of the Doug Gillespie-Airola finish. I didn't have all the margins dead-on - that would be nearly impossible, but I did accurately predict the blowouts in the governor's and lieutenant governor's races, Secretary of State Dean Heller's narrow victory, and Giunchigliani's County Commission win (and no one saw that landslide coming, even her). I also picked winners in several other constitutional and local races.
Just check last Sunday's paper. Kudos welcome. Contact information is below.
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