BRING ON THE HOPEFULS. WE’VE GOT ISSUES

By J. Patrick Coolican (contact)

Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2007 | 7:26 a.m.

Last year, the state controller was murdered by her husband, Clark County commissioners were convicted in a strip club bribery scandal and a candidate for governor was accused, although never charged, of getting grabby with a cocktail waitress after drinks at a seafood joint.

Really, it's not always like that.

But for all ye outsiders - national media, political hacks, the half of the state that recently moved to Nevada - now assembled on the eve of the Democratic candidates debate Thursday night, here's a quick primer on Nevada politics.

Nevada has long been the Wild West of U.S. politics, with a few powerful players, explosive growth and idiosyncratic libertarianism - brothels and gambling are OK, pot and taxes aren't.

The Strip casinos and the rest of the tourism industry, along with a few developers, dominate the economy. A small, collegial political class runs the political world. Although moving up quickly, Las Vegas only recently cracked the top 50 media markets.

Given Nevada's colorful past and present, why did the Democratic National Committee decree that the state should play a key role in the presidential selection process?

Party leaders sought an early caucus state that was Western and diverse and had a strong labor movement, and the finalists were Arizona and Nevada.

The Mountain West is all the rage in Democratic politics, and not without reason. As political scientist Thomas Schaller argued in his 2006 book, "Whistling Past Dixie," once the Democrats surrendered on gun control, they put the West back in play. There are fewer white evangelicals in the West than in the South, and traditional Western libertarians have rejected the Republican culture wars. With Republicans divided, Democrats such as Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer have captured the center.

The West is also growing and changing rapidly with the influx of Hispanic immigrants.

Nevada's population, now at 2.5 million, has more than doubled since 1990 and is 25 percent larger than after the 2000 census. Hispanics, Asian-Americans and blacks make up more than one-third of the state's population, according to 2004 census figures.

Unions, somewhat resurgent nationally, have serious clout here. Membership in the Culinary Union Local 226, which represents workers in Strip and downtown casinos, now stands at more than 60,000, up from 50,000 in 2005.

The Culinary recently completed contract negotiations with MGM Mirage and Harrah's Entertainment, among several other hotel companies, and was widely considered victorious at the bargaining table.

The Culinary is at the forefront of the national battle over union organizing rules and especially "card check" rights, allowing it to sign up workers by having them sign a card rather than engaging in what unions consider an an onerous election process.

The labor movement sees its future in organizing service industries, which are growing in Nevada, particularly in casinos and health care. Democrats hope to show the rest of the country the miracle of labor's rise in Nevada, where diligent recruitment, organization and cooperation with casino management have swelled union membership and produced higher wages.

With Nevada earning a spot on the Democrats' early 2008 nomination calendar, presidential candidates are learning the state's quirky political culture, which has not matured as fast as the state has grown economically.

One indication of Nevada's immature politics: Many of the people who matter were high school classmates.

Or to put it another way, Nevada politics is "perfectly understandable if you understand Kevin Bacon," said Michael Green, a Nevada historian, referring to the parlor game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, in which players try to connect Hollywood figures through the prolific character actor.

In other words, just a few players wield immense influence, and they're all connected somehow or other.

Nevada Democrats' Kevin Bacon is Billy Vassiliadis, chief executive of R&R Partners, the advertising, public relations and lobbying firm behind the "What happens here, stays here" campaign that's now ingrained in pop culture. He began as a political consultant and still advises on campaigns, and he's close to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. He's backing Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

(To give some idea of the state's one-party ("the Gaming Party") collegiality: Reid, known nationally as a liberal bomb-thrower, has long been close to Sig Rogich, a Republican consultant who was a senior aide to Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush and a fundraiser for the current President Bush.)

Although Obama has Vassiliadis, his chief rival, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, has won over nearly the entire Democratic establishment. Her campaign chairman is Reid's son, Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid. (But please, don't say Reid the elder is anything but neutral.)

The big get, though, is the Culinary, which is large, organized and politically effective.

Nevadans aren't as politically engaged as Iowans or granite-heads in New Hampshire. The state ranked 42nd in the country in turnout in the 2004 election, according to the Census Bureau. That means a union endorsement can be that much more important because labor is what drives turnout on the Democratic side.

What issues matter to Nevadans? The state is nearly unanimous in not wanting the rest of the country to ship us its nuclear waste. And the future of all depends on water in this desert state.

Also, Nevada leads the nation in foreclosures, and the economy here, which relies heavily on growth and development, has stalled with the housing slump.

But during the campaign so far, most Nevada voters say their key issues are the issues important to Democrats everywhere: the Iraq war, health care, education, wages.

Bottom line: We're not that different from everyone else.

J. Patrick Coolican can be reached at 259-8814 or at patrick.coolican@lasvegassun.com.