Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2006 | 7:47 a.m.
Voters who attended the first forum of the general election season Monday evening received a rare window into three of the more important campaigns - a snapshot of where those races are and where they might go.
It's not what was said that mattered so much - nothing groundbreaking or revelatory came out of the mouths of candidates for governor, Congress and sheriff. But the styles of the contenders were revealing of the dynamics at play in their races as they took the Flamingo Library stage at an event sponsored by Congregation Ner Tamid.
Here are impressions gleaned from the moderator's vantage point 11 weeks from Election Day:
Titus can disgorge the patter as well as anyone and tick off her various "plans." But this is more of an exercise in platitudes than a presentation of platforms. It is, however, effective.
In response, Gibbons said ... nothing. He was not there.
And my guess is he won't be a lot of places Titus is during the next 11 weeks. She has asked for a debate essentially every other week, which would be a public service, illuminate the real differences and serve the voters quite well. And that's why it won't happen.
Gibbons figures he can win the race by debating a minimal number of times in the tightest of formats to diminish the advantages the dynamic Titus obviously has in such settings. All other things being unequal - his drawing power in the rurals and the north, his overwhelming financial advantage - he's probably right.
Porter was depressingly spectacular Monday , staying on his message with the focus of Andre Agassi in his prime and parrying Democrat Tessa Hafen's volleys with the retiring Vegas legend's deftness. Even the valiant moderator could not knock him off his game.
As for Hafen, she stayed on her message fairly well - Porter is for them, I'm for you . But she could not keep pace with his rhetoric and often seemed to cut herself short just as she was getting on a roll. She was crisp but tentative, intent but not expansive.
And to show the difference in experience, shameless as it was, Porter also presented the crowd with an "I love Israel" packet to show all the times he has supported the country. Do people see that as genuine or pandering? I wonder.
His problem, though, was that his opponent, Jerry Airola, was unflappable and facile with statistics as he pushed his mantra that Metro is not managed well. He was, I am sure to some folks there, convincing with his "time for a change" message as Gillespie was with his "we're not as bad as he makes us sound" theme.
Airola is slick and quick. And while I am not sure if those qualities are what voters seek in the top law enforcement job in the Las Vegas Valley, they have won campaigns before.
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