Think Sanford is bizarre? Look closely at Gibbons

By Jon Ralston

Sunday, July 5, 2009 | 2:01 a.m.

As I watch the tragicomic Mark Sanford soon-to-be-a-Lifetime-movie story unfold in South Carolina, complete with brave and opportunistic calls for the governor to resign, I cannot help but think of the contrast with our own chief executive’s equally cable-movie-worthy tale and the noticeable and damning silence of the political class in Nevada.

Yes, Sanford has the sexier Argentina angle and ready-made theme music — “So I chose freedom, running around ... all through my mad days, my wild existence …” He also has made “I’ll be out hiking the Appalachian Trail” a comical replacement for “I’m working late at the office, honey.” And he has that emotional AP interview — “I will be able to die knowing I met my soul mate,” although he also averred he wants to try to fall back in love with his wife.

This is jaw-dropping, head-shaking stuff. And yet it needs to be said: Mark Sanford, you are no Jim Gibbons.

You may be the sensation of the moment, Gov. Sanford. But here in Nevada, we have been treated to a never-ending theater of the bizarre since before Ø was even elected, a nearly three-year, three-ring circus with a clown act that makes Sanford look like a serious man. It’s also worth noting: At least Sanford was considered an effective governor, a potential president and a national leader; Gibbons is perhaps the worst governor in Nevada history and a national joke.

One column contains not nearly enough space to catalog the stranger-than-fiction happenings in Gibbonsworld, which started before he became governor with an alleged assault, reports of a nanny hidden in the basement and questions about whether he was Trepping the light fantastic on a fun-filled cruise with a donor/federal contractor.

Sanford has his Argentine tryst; Gibbons has at least three women he has been seen with publicly, including a married ex-Playboy model. Sanford wants to fall in love again with his wife; Gibbons likened Nevada’s first lady to a ferret. Sanford has his love notes; Gibbons had 867 texts in six weeks to his married “friend,” which he later claimed were colloquies about the dog and his policies.

This is no contest. Jim Gibbons makes Mark Sanford look boring.

And although no single interview or news conference may match those Sanford has given, Gibbons has uttered many disturbing statements, including his infamous allegation that he had heard the Democrats were paying Wall Street Journal reporters to write about him. Gibbons also began his tenure with a spectacular lie, saying he needed to be secretly sworn in at midnight in his living room for state security reasons when it was really a ploy to cover a personnel move. He also has made all manner of ludicrous appointments, some of which were rescinded, and has not forged any relationships with legislators, creating a vacuum in the executive branch that has impeded policy on various levels.

I have only scratched the surface of the horrors of Gibbonsworld, so I say again: Mark Sanford, you are no Jim Gibbons.

And not once during this cavalcade of idiocy, arrogance and lunacy has any prominent member of the political world called for The Man Formerly Known as Governor to step down. Sen. John Ensign (perhaps we now know why) was silent, as were Rep. Dean Heller and every GOP member of the Legislature. But the Democrats also have been struck dumb.

In South Carolina the GOP chairwoman, four county Republican chairmen and seven GOP senators have all but called for Sanford to leave. And the statements emanating from South Carolina should sound eerie to Nevadans.

“South Carolina can’t afford to be at a standstill for the next 18 months with a governor who ignores his job responsibilities while pursuing personal interests,” South Carolina Democratic Chairwoman Carol Fowler said in a statement.

Folks, Sanford didn’t show up for a few days. Gibbons consistently has been absent from his office since he was elected, living and cavorting in Reno.

Sanford has “acted like a heartsick schoolboy, and he’s revealed facts that clearly demonstrate he is capable of exceptional deception, arrogance and narcissism,” The Greeneville News editorialized recently. Sound familiar?

“I just don’t think he’s being very rational,” GOP state Sen. Larry Martin said of Sanford to ABC News. “I think it’s indicative of some serious issues on his part, emotional (and) mental health-wise.”

How many people in Nevada have said that about Ø?

Perhaps Sanford should resign, and he may have by the time you read this. But he is the flavor of the month for the national press corps. Jim Gibbons, with his more than 1,000 days of nonstop embarrassment and incompetence, is no Mark Sanford.

Jon Ralston hosts the news discussion program “Face to Face With Jon Ralston” on Las Vegas ONE and publishes the daily e-mail newsletter “RalstonFlash.com.” His column for the Las Vegas Sun appears Sunday, Wednesday and Friday.