Columnist Jeff German: Adelson's blitz caps mud-filled campaign

NEVADANS have only nine more days to live through this year's mean-spirited campaign season, probably the worst ever.

Only nine more days to listen to Harry Reid and John Ensign berate each other over the television airwaves. Nine more days of watching Kenny Guinn and Jan Laverty Jones distort each other's records. And only nine more days to see whether Shelley Berkley or Don Chairez will produce the best 30-second smear spot.

And now, courtesy of gaming mogul Sheldon Adelson, we have only nine more days to watch below-the-belt commercials attacking three County Commission candidates, incumbents Myrna Williams and Erin Kenny and newcomer Dario Herrera.

If you're not already sick to your stomach from this bombardment of negative television campaigning, surely you will be when Election Day comes around.

To Nevada's political establishment, Adelson's $2 million television blitz, conducted under the guise of his Committee for Fairness, is anything but fair.

Last week, some began to speak out against his offensive. Longtime Republican County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury attacked Adelson for spreading lies about his colleagues over the airwaves.

Then Gov. Bob Miller, in an unprecedented news conference, charged that Adelson's blistering campaign "flies in the face of all the efforts we've made to open up the political process."

The governor, a Democrat who's not running for re-election, said what many movers and shakers wanted to say, but didn't out of fear of retribution from the wealthy Adelson.

The establishment clearly is shaken by Adelson's efforts. It has created its own group, the Committee for Common Decency, to counter his blistering barrage.

Led by the Culinary Union, the committee raised more than $400,000 to run its own television ads ripping Adelson.

As the election draws near, Adelson has become the No. 1 enemy of the Culinary Union, which has been flexing its own political muscles the past several years.

There's a belief, not entirely disputed by Adelson, that the casino boss is pouring money into the political process to buy himself a majority on the seven-member County Commission. The theory is that he wants to be able to grease through the licensing of his $2 billion Venetian megaresort when it's completed, while keeping up his fight with the union.

Two years ago, Adelson created an uproar by donating heavily to the County Commission campaign of a little-known Metro Police officer. That officer, Lance Malone, ended up defeating veteran County Commissioner Paul Christensen.

Though some describe Adelson's efforts as un-American, Adelson contends he's merely exercising his constitutional right of free political speech, just like his Culinary foes or any other special-interest group.

His top man at the Venetian, William Weidner, was quoted last week as saying that Adelson's campaign should serve as a "wake-up call" to the movers and shakers.

Consider them awakened.

No one, however, has ever stretched that right of free speech during a political campaign as far as Adelson. No one has spent this much money trying to buy an election.

And that's what has the establishment scared.

Adelson's rivals in the casino industry, people like Mirage Resorts Chairman Steve Wynn, have been a dominant force in politics here for years. They've been so successful at spreading money around that they've been criticized for wielding too much influence in state and local government.

But at least they've been willing to play by the rules of the system.

If Adelson's campaign of terror prevails on Nov. 3, the political process as we know it in Nevada will be changed forever. It will send out a message that money can indeed corrupt the process.

Whether Adelson is successful remains to be seen. The odds are he won't. This kind of show of force generally backfires once the average voter understands what's taking place.

But in Southern Nevada lately, elected officials have developed a lousy reputation. There's a perception, deserved or not, that the County Commission has been conducting business in an unethical manner.

For all we know, the voters may have a desire to send their elected leaders packing next week.

That should be their decision, however. Not Adelson's.

In the meantime, we've got just nine more days of agony before the madness ends. Let's hope the time passes quickly.

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