Jon Ralston explains why Tessa Hafen is not going to be one of the pushovers that Rep. Jon Porter has grown accustomed to facing from past elections

Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2006 | 7:27 a.m.

"He seems like such a nice guy."

How many times has that sentence been uttered about Rep. Jon Porter since he entered politics a quarter-century ago?

Indeed, I would venture to guess that no other Nevada pol has been the recipient of that encomium more than the former Boulder City mayor, state senator and now congressman. He has perfected that mien as he has burnished his image as a bipartisan consensus-builder - he sold himself as a compassionate conservative long before George W. Bush made it popular.

And yet, as he has smiled his way through two congressional elections, Mr. Nice Guy has ruthlessly and relentlessly sliced and diced two opponents, leaving them as Cuisinarted remains for the scrap heap of Nevada political history.

In case you don't recall, Dario Herrera, Opponent No. 1, is about to go to federal prison, and Tom Gallagher, Opponent No. 2, is now a partisan blogger. Not sure which purgatory is worse.

And now Tessa Hafen, Opponent No. 3, is discovering that Porter is going to do to her what he did to Herrera and Gallagher. Or at least he is going to try.

But unlike the first two opponents, Hafen has signaled early - seven weeks before the election - that if Porter wants to play not-so-nice, she will reciprocate. This week, one day after Porter's campaign began airing an ad that attempted to morph Hafen, a native Nevadan, into Gallagher, who moved into the district to run last cycle, the Democratic challenger's campaign responded with one of the most brutal press releases I have seen in my two decades covering campaigns.

The release dripped with anger and venom - I am almost surprised that the raging document made it to my in box, but I think it may have frightened my e-mail filter into letting it pass.

It would be easy to characterize this as the reflexive, precipitous, disproportionate response of a first-time candidate whose campaign is being run by similarly youthful friends and associates. But that would miss the point.

And that is that Hafen is saying to Porter, in the wake of the ad (the subject of a Reality Check later this week), that she may seem like an ingenue but she is not naive, that she may seem to be green but she won't be intimidated by his green. More bluntly: Hafen may be a young woman, but she is not going to behave like the men who came before her as Democratic challengers to Porter.

There is something to be said, though, for combating a TV ad with a missive - it is akin to, in the inimitable words of Sean Connery in "The Untouchables," bringing a knife to a gun fight. But this is one sharp knife - and sooner or later, with a little help, Hafen will have enough money to return fire on TV.

If you don't believe me about the release's seething nature, consider the first paragraph:

"Iowa-born millionaire insurance salesman and embattled Bush 'Yes Man' Jon Porter today launched a sleazy new personal attack ad on challenger Tessa Hafen. The spot was funded by donations to Porter's campaign from Tom DeLay, big oil, his friends in the insurance and drug industries, and other special interests with a financial stake in continuing the Republican culture of corruption."

In one paragraph, we get that Porter is not from Nevada, is rich, sells insurance, is a Bush yes-man, is close to disgraced Tom DeLay, is in the pockets of various corporations and is invested in a corrupt GOP culture. Take a breath now, folks. And that's just the first paragraph.

The rest goes on - I am distilling - to call Porter a liar, a failure and a mudslinger. But what Hafen really is saying to Porter is: Bring it on.

Come to think of it, though, I have heard said about her what I have heard about him: Tessa Hafen seems like such a nice woman. But as we found out this week, well before the election and perhaps just in time, maybe not too nice for this crucible.