Carville says Nevada districts are in play

Saturday, June 10, 2006 | 7:18 a.m.

His bald head glistening like a raw oyster, pugnacious former political consultant James Carville says Democrats could pick up two congressional seats in Nevada and that he bets both Al Gore and Hillary Clinton will run for president.

Appearing on "Face to Face With Jon Ralston," Carville said Nevada's 2nd and 3rd congressional districts are in play, but that he couldn't say Democratic candidate Jill Derby would win in the traditionally more Republican 2nd District.

As for the 3rd District race between incumbent Republican Jon Porter and Tessa Hafen, former press secretary to Sen. Harry Reid, Carville tried to tie Porter to the Bush administration, referring to a "Porter-Bush-Cheney" leadership. He also said Porter would be rewarded by Republican donors for his "slavish loyalty to Tom DeLay."

"The K Street guys will come down," Carville said, "and you'll see money pouring into Nevada the likes of which you've never seen."

Later in the program, Carville, saying it's "an even-money bet," predicted both former Vice President Al Gore and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., will run for president in 2008.

"Everybody who has run for president would like to run again," he said.

Carville worked with Gore and the former first lady as an adviser in the administration of former President Bill Clinton.

Carville said Nevada is "a huge player" in presidential elections because it's a swing state. Democrats can win nationally and locally, Carville said, but they need to fear Republican fundraising advantages.

"I am not one of those Democrats who say, 'There's a tide, this tsunami that's going to race across the nation,' " Carville said. "These Republicans have been very, very good to power, and power is going to be very, very good to them in this election."

As for the debate over illegal immigration, Carville said it might be the only issue on which he agrees with President Bush and that he was contemptuous of those who were exploiting anti-immigration sentiment.

He mockingly said illegal immigration could be ended "overnight" if there was a law that would jail any CEO whose company or subcontractors hired illegal immigrants. He said casino tycoons might be incarcerated under such a law.

"The Strip would dry up," Carville said. "You wouldn't have any illegal immigration because you wouldn't have any jobs."