Oh my Dear Lord ...

... please, no.

Rory Reid, the Clark County Commissioner, has announced he's running for governor of Nevada. And he'll probably cinch the Democrat nomination. If the name sounds familiar, let me just confirm every clear thinking American's (especially Nevadans) fear - it IS Harry Reid's son.

Could he have possibly picked a worse time to further his political career? His father is making that name synonymous with out of touch, bloated government inefficiency and just flat out ineptitude, yet he picks NOW to run? Well, here's why - Governor Gibbons (R) is toast. The "affair texting" scandal (texting his mistress during state business meetings) and a general dissatisfaction with the "in Party" means ANY challenger will beat him. Hopefully Gibbons (and its a real possibility) will be beat in the GOP primary and we can focus on the name "Reid" rather than "Gibbons."

Now, here's the wild card out here. Any aficionado of mob lore and Scorsesi films will undoubtedly recognize the mug of the Mayor of Las Vegas - Oscar Goodman. Yes he was an actual mafia lawyer. And yes he had a couple scenes with DeNeiro (playing a mob lawyer) in the movie Casino. But more than that this guy is a solid Scoop Jackson Democrat - tough on crime, lower taxes, and he arranged to air all town hall proceedings live on local TV so you can see what's going on as people petition zoning grievances etc, and all city business. Surprisingly the Mayor most known for being flanked by show girls on any given New Years Eve has a real knack for managing the minutia that is any large city's daily business. Now I mentioned he was a Democrat, but in a governor's race he has intimated he would run as an Independent. Given the description I just laid out of low taxes etc, he joins the ever growing list of of conservative Dems not welcome in their own Party.

As for me, I'd vote for Goodman. He'd be the second Democrat (at least till he announces as an Independent) I will have voted for, the other being Gene Taylor - which means I will have voted for 2 conservatives.

Let me put it this way. If my choices are between a "Reid" and a mob lawyer, I'll take the latter. It is true that Goodman proposed a city ordinance requiring all convicted graffiti artists to have their thumbs removed so they may never grip a spray can again. And it is also true that he answered "a bottle of gin" when a class of 5th graders asked him "If you could take only one thing to a deserted island, what would it be?", in a meet the mayor day at their school. But ALL OF THAT is preferable to yet another Reid in Nevada.