Columnist Jeff German: Conservatives claim victory in battle over fed gaming czar

CASINO FOES ARE pushing hard to install their bidder at the helm of the federal commission that will study gambling.

And they may get their way.

The likely chairwoman was unveiled this week in William Safire's New York Times column.

She is Kay Cole James, dean of the School of Government at Pat Robertson's Regent University in Virginia, the home state of gaming's biggest adversary, Rep. Frank Wolf.

Safire reports that James, an anti-gambling advocate tied to the Christian Coalition, is the choice of House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss.

President Clinton, who also is playing a role in the selection, has yet to commit to James. But Safire predicts the president will go along with the conservative gameplan to make amends for stacking the commission in gaming's favor.

You might think casino bosses would be unhappy about the prospects of seeing James in charge.

Truth is, they aren't.

James, though she's not a gambling fan, is regarded by the industry as someone who would bend over backward to be fair despite her personal views.

That's not to say the industry hasn't been pushing for a more moderate or neutral chairman, such as Mississippi radiologist Paul Moore, former California Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy or ex-New Jersey Treasurer Richard Leone.

All three clearly would be preferred by gaming, which has indicated all along that it does not oppose a fair investigation.

What the industry opposes is the religious right's relentless attempts to use the commission as a national forum to attack gaming on moral grounds.

Casino leaders, it turns out, don't even regard the selection of the chairman as a major battleground.

All the commission's key decision-making -- what records to subpoena, what issues to study and which witnesses to call -- can't be accomplished without a majority vote of its nine members.

Gaming already has an advantage in that area.

Three of the nine panelists -- MGM Grand Inc. Chairman Terry Lanni, State Gaming Control Board Chairman Bill Bible and international Culinary Union boss John Wilhelm -- all are regarded as friends of the industry.

Safire calls them the "Vegas Three."

Though Safire and the religious zealots have been fond of calling the trio nastier names, many regard them as stalwarts in their professions and gentleman of the finest stock.

Four others -- Moore, McCarthy, Leone and Robert Loescher, the Native American panelist -- can be counted on by the industry as being reasonable.

They'll come in handy in the crucial fight over the selection of the executive director to run the panel's daily affairs.

Since a majority of commission members must make that decision too, the chances are good that the industry will get its choice.

The religious right may be able to claim a small victory with the naming of James as chairwoman. But in the long haul, the chairwoman probably won't have a great impact on the outcome of the study.

Some masterful lobbying by gaming bosses, you see, already has managed to persuade Congress to steer the study in a light most favorable to the industry.

Everyone knows the odds always favor the house.

* Metro's high command dodged a bullet with the murder conviction of former Officer Ron Mortensen.

Inside the police department, many feared a jury would acquit Mortensen in the drive-by shooting death of 21-year-old Daniel Mendoza.

Even the top brass was on edge, making the rounds to remind the troops to be prepared for civil unrest if an acquittal was handed down.

In the end, however, Mortensen and his lawyer, Frank Cremen, were unable to persuade the jury to see things their way.

The guilty verdict brought more than a few sighs of relief at the sheriff's office.

* There are rumblings that the Federal Election Commission is about to levy a hefty fine against the Nevada Republican Party for sloppy accounting procedures.

The shoddy record-keeping, which came at a time when the party was taking in large sums of money, has been an embarrassment to Republicans, causing much internal strife.

The GOP's financial troubles, pooh-poohed by party leaders, have been documented in this space the past two years.

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