Las Vegas Sands-backed mayoral candidate Victor Chaltiel rolled out the following prank ad today … I’m not sure that there’s any percentage in going after the grandmotherly (but hopelessly vague) Carolyn Goodman in the snide fashion that is quickly becoming Chaltiel’s trademark. (The cosmopolitan Chaltiel is almost never heard in his myriad TV spots, probably because of his dense French accent.) In the course of fisking Chaltiel’s and Goodman’s campaign reports, Jon Ralston found “george” donations from Station Casinos flowing Mrs. Goodman’s way. Unlike Sands, Station has properties inside Las Vegas city limits, so it actually has a vested interest in the outcome of the race. Given Station’s acrimonious relationship — if you can call it that — with the Culinary Union, it’d be a cold day in Hades if it donated to County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani, who’s regarded as the most labor-friendly of the major candidates.
No word yet on whether other casino interests have taken sides in the 18-candidate mayoral scrumdown. City Council member (and ethical problem child and deadpan performance artist) Steve Ross has managed to blow off the Latino vote, while County Commissioner Larry Brown did the same for the gay constituency. I guess Brown needn’t bother campaigning in the historic John S. Park Neighborhood now. Since Ross is tight with the unions, he probably won’t have to check the mailbox for Station contributions either. As for the other 13 registered candidates, both the mainstream media and the blogosphere have already consigned them to oblivion, which in several cases is unfortunate. For instance, George Harris was well-known in Nevada as a stone conservative years and years before anybody heard the name “Chaltiel.” Too bad he can’t pull a casino boss out of his back pocket.
At least some Religious Right leaders are willing to tolerate Adelson as an ally of convenience on a national level. However, Sands China‘s apparently loose adherence toward the letter of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act could create problems for his favorite presidential candidate. Could Adelson have been the mystery donor who channeled $150,000 into an anti-gay-marriage jihad in Iowa? Adelson, after all, is known for a public posture of faux gay-friendliness, given the lie by his subsidy of stridently anti-gay politicians like Newt Gingrich and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), and indirectly, Sharron Angle. Since Sheldon hopes to juice himself into big-budget casino projects deep in the Bible Belt, it’s can’t be bad for business to play footsie with the “family values” crowd.
Adelson’s hope that he can pull the rest of the casino industry onto the Gingrich bandwagon seems delusional: Steve Wynn has already committed to Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS) who, post-Hurricane Katrina, stuck out his neck for Gulf Coast casinos and thus holds several markers he can call in, starting at MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment before working his way downward.
Fans of Sue Lowden will be happy to know that while the foxy Archon Corp. treasurer may have returned to her day job of denying workmen’s-comp claims at the Pioneer Gambling Hall in lovely downtown Laughlin, she’s keeping her options open. One hopes so. Since she dropped out of the public eye, things just haven’t been the same around here.
I was confident you would link to that MSNBC article on Adelson, it was shocking even to someone like me who remembers Shellies cheap shot attacks on John Kerry. Investing in liar/cheater Newt with the cash he fleeces from suckers who don’t look at the pay scales of machines is true irony at work. Newt and Michelle Bachmann attract folks who have suspended critical thinking on purpose. Someday I hope to amass enough wealth to be tempted to back an idealogue like Newt or Michelle to protect my own interests, it will be a nice test of my fortitude.