Jon Ralston - Las Vegas Sun

The speech that Gov. Jim Gibbons ought to be giving: By Jon Ralston; The speech a leader would give Monday night as the State of the State — here’s Jim Gibbons as he should be:

Republican winners and losers in a debate on ‘Face to Face’: By Jon Ralston; Beyond the strangeness of Danny Tarkanian arriving late and the obviousness of Sue Lowden’s avoidance, this week’s inaugural televised debate in the GOP Senate scrum had its illuminating moments.

Short-term memory loss surely led to Obama’s remarks: By Jon Ralston; My reaction when I saw President Barack Obama’s remarks about Las Vegas was simple: Shock.

What Harry Reid may face after June’s primary: By Jon Ralston; Two Nevada institutions were pronounced dead last week — Harry Reid and Yucca Mountain.

Recapping a week of state political repeats: By Jon Ralston; Sometimes the déjà vu in Nevada politics is striking: The governor and lawmakers pretend they might work together. Dina Titus says something she shouldn’t have. Oscar Goodman jilts the ingenuous masses. Where have I heard all of this before? Catching up with the Friday Flash of the week’s events:

What the Gibbons-Ozmen relationship tells us about Nevada politics: By Jon Ralston; The long, sweet, cozy story of the Gibbons and Ozmen families, where campaign cash and government contracts have been the currency of friendship, has so many “only in Nevada” answers.

Why last place isn’t the last step down for this state: By Jon Ralston; Nevada, as we have known it the past quarter-century, is over. Welcome to the new Nevada, the almost-state (there are really 49 and a half of them) where we are about to find out how we can be at the bottom of all the good lists and still, somehow, fall further.

Jon Ralston wonders if Nevada’s top three pols have time to rebound: By Jon Ralston; With 102 days until the primary and 284 days until the general election, an unusual amount of activity is occurring in the only state with its three highest-ranking politicians possessing upside-down approval ratings, with the most-watched U.S. Senate race in the country still attracting possible candidates and with Democrats whom voters swooned over in 2008 wondering where the love went.

Democrats’ fear can be smelt all the way from Massachusetts: By Jon Ralston; As the Scott Brown/Martha Coakley psychodrama played out Tuesday in Massachusetts, turning a sure win for Ted Kennedy’s party into a Campaign 2010 metaphor, many Nevada Democrats surely were seeking therapy — or asking Oscar Goodman for a few of those sapphire-colored bottles.

Jon Ralston envisions a snippy special session: By Jon Ralston; Judging by the events of the past week or so, with Gov. Jim Gibbons’ dramatic/radical reform proposals and the ongoing war between the branches, the upcoming special session could look like this in the Assembly:

Political antics you might have missed: By Jon Ralston; Another busy week early in the 2010 cycle, so big that Mayor Oscar Goodman’s State of the City speech was relegated to oblivion by other stories. But His Honor’s thin skin and thug dialect should not be forgotten, nor should more evidence (as if we need any) of John Ensign’s hypocrisy and a post-mortem on Rory Reid’s “Let’s have a community conversation and then ignore it” committee (I think that’s the official name):

How the context behind Reid’s gaffe was missed: Jon Ralston:; By Jon Ralston; If ever there were a better example of a Kinsleyian gaffe, it was Harry Reid’s exposed in “Game Change.”

Jon Ralston on uninspiring campaign strategies: By Jon Ralston; Gov. Jim Gibbons’ strategy to win the GOP nomination is clear: Pander to the tea partyers, pretend he is running against Reid the Elder and use Democratic legislators as foils.

First week of Election ’10 marked by heavy politicking: By Jon Ralston; The first few days of Campaign 2010 were busy — can they keep up this pace? — so here’s the Friday Flash of the week’s events:

Jon Ralston makes 2010 predictions, since ’09 went so well: By Jon Ralston; I am honored today to accept induction into the Pundits Hall of Fame.

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Horsford: No taxes now, but tax reform later (14 Comments): That was the gist of Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford's response to Gov. Jim Gibbons' State of the State: Good evening and thank you for ...; 22 hours, 5 minutes ago

Gibbons: Cutting the budget can help me raise money (11 Comments): Or so he must think: Gov. Jim Gibbons waited about 90 minutes to try to raise money off his State of the State speech. And ...; 22 hours, 19 minutes ago

Updates from executive producer Dana Gentry

Toto, I don't think we're in Utah (8 Comments): Why can't Nevadans be more like Utahns and less like the people in D.C.? That's what Governor Gibbons wants to know and why he's decided ...; 1 month, 3 days ago

Marijuana petition flawed (17 Comments): Legalizing marijuana may be a positive step toward concentrating law enforcement and detention efforts where they are needed most, but even proponents of legalizing marijuana ...; 1 month, 3 days ago