Ralston marvels at Democrats’ ability to revive Gibbons

By Jon Ralston

Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009 | 2:01 a.m.

Jim Gibbons, to his credit, had accomplished the impossible.

In a state with one of the strongest executive branches in the country, The Man Formerly Known as Governor had turned supreme power into Ø power. He submitted a budget that was so laughable that state lawmakers built one from scratch. He developed Ø relationships with lawmakers, even those of his own party. And thanks to his own breathtakingly consistent governing ineptitude and catastrophically flawed political sense, he essentially rendered the executive branch invisible in a state where lawmakers are normally in session only four months every 24.

Now that is talent.

And now, Democratic legislators, to their credit, have similarly accomplished the impossible. They have reinvigorated not just the power of the executive branch but given Gibbons his mojo back by trying to assert the supremacy of a legislative creation that may not even be legal — something called the Interim Finance Committee that most Nevadans don’t even know exists. By whining for all to hear that Gibbons needed IFC ratification to spend stimulus money, lawmakers have given Gibbons new life and inadvertently have raised questions that could make the executive branch even stronger. Now that is even greater talent.

Where did Gibbons have to go? What did they hope to accomplish? Ø from Ø leaves Ø. He had nowhere to go but up, and even if his polling numbers don’t yet show it, Gibbons, thanks to the Democrats and some new, aggressive senior staffers, suddenly seems almost — dare I even write it? — gubernatorial.

The Democrats have turned a bleeder into a leader, reanimating a political corpse who had so many self-inflicted wounds that he was the lamest of lame ducks. Now, if he can tune in the voices in his head, Gibbons probably is being told that he actually can win a GOP primary — and who knows what might happen in the general election?

How embarrassing, too, for the Democrats for the attorney general, Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto, to ratify what the governor had done with the stimulus money, putting out an opinion that left little room for interpretation: The executive branch has sole discretion under state law to declare an emergency and spend stimulus money as he sees fit. The only recourse for lawmakers: Pass a new law or sue him.

And by raising the specter of legal action, the squealing Democrats foolishly raised the possibility that everything they do at IFC is extra-constitutional. If Gibbons really believed in the principle — cue the laugh track — and turned the tables and sued lawmakers over the IFC being unconstitutional, it probably couldn’t survive.

When I asked Cortez Masto on “Face to Face” why she thought IFC’s legality had never been tested, she said: “I think we all know why it hasn’t been challenged. I think there are concerns that the Legislature thinks that what they have done with IFC is not constitutional. So, they are not willing to test it.”

Indeed they aren’t, even if, as Cortez Masto would add, their counsel believes it could be upheld because they technically are not taking new action but moving around existing funds. But that is the thinnest of reeds and they know it.

But what they didn’t know was that Gibbons, energized by new Chief of Staff Robin Reedy and her two deputies, Stacy Woodbury and Lynn Hettrick, would be willing to play smashmouth politics over the issue and reassert the existence of the executive branch of government.

We will soon see how far Gibbons is willing to take his rediscovered power and it could give us an inkling if he really intends to seek reelection. One other aspect of unfettered executive power is the governor’s ability to call special sessions. Even though lawmakers continue to say it’s premature to talk about returning to the capital for more cuts, my guess is in Gibbonsworld, it’s Topic Numero Uno.

And if Ø really wants to put lawmakers in a bad spot and elevate himself, he will call them back, whether or not there are alternatives, to force them to make cuts while he makes his “no new taxes” speeches.

If it’s clear-cut that the state must take action and Gibbons calls a special session, maybe no conclusions can be drawn. But if it’s murky and you hear lawmakers presenting administrative ways to fill budget gaps and Gibbons forces them to abandon their campaigns and return to Carson City, he is running for reelection.

The executive branch, invisible for a time in Nevada, has reappeared. The only silver lining for Democratic legislators and their allies: If anyone has the talent to squander even the most smashing victory, his name is Jim Gibbons.