Just let those sleeping dogs of cliches lie

Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2007 | 7:25 a.m.

After just months and months of driving long, quaint, death-tempting New Hampshire roads and eating in small, quaint, death-tempting Iowa diners, the political media are ready for a break. And so they holler, "Vegas, baby, Vegas!"

Well, most of them do.

The wet blankets at the Columbia Journalism Review (an industry magazine edited by semi-scolds) warn reporters to stay away from Sin City cliches about boxing, gambling and the advertising slogan that has so often come back to haunt us. Says the magazine's Liz Cox Barrett: "'What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas' once had a certain appeal that other state tourism taglines lack. But it is no longer clever. It is cringe-inducing. Leave it out."

It's all a little harsh. Sure, it'd be nice to be taken seriously. Sure, talk of rolling the dice until all bets are off but you can still double down under the neon lights when the gloves come off and everyone's got a ringside seat to the fear and loathing and just when you think a candidate's down for the count, it's viva Las Vegas, baby - well, yeah. It's about as fresh as Rich Little doing his Dick Nixon.

But darn it, cliches are important when you've got to bang out a story so you can go have some fun before it is, once again, Nashua time.

However, there is no excuse for using up your cliches before you get here, as in these examples:

Cliche: "Pay attention to those polls but don't bet the farm."

Offender: CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider

Comment: People still bet farms?

Cliche: "Not such a good time to double down."

Offender: Schneider

Comment: So they shouldn't bet the farm twice?

Cliche: Weird clothes

Offender: Schneider

Comment: While riding CNN's brightly colored "Election Express" to Las Vegas, Schneider stopped to give a roadside report wearing a floppy-hatted suit that crossed the styles of a 1970s pimp with those of a 1920s caddie. Bill, we say this as a friend: Even the tourists know better. Well, some of them.

Cliche: "What happens in Vegas, won't stay in Vegas."

Offender: Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Karen Heller

Comment: Unless you work for R&R Partners, this is really beneath your dignity. Come on, you don't see us going around making jokes about the city of Brotherly Aggh Aggh I've Been Shot, do you?

Cliche: But what do the bookies think?

Offender: Washington Post blogger Peter Baker

Comment: This is so very tacky because Baker talks about "Las Vegas bookies" and then quotes the odds from online casinos headquartered in places like Antigua and Malta, neither of which is on the Strip.

Cliche: Any shot of the Strip

Offender: Mostly CNN so far (it's hosting the debate)

Comment: Why's it always B-roll of bright lights, showgirls and neon signs? Come on, there's plenty of interesting architecture in the rest of ... OK, fine.