Opinion Columns

The first debate in Nevada’s U.S. Senate race is in the books, and it wasn’t exactly Lincoln-Douglas. In fact, it wasn’t much of anything beyond a live-action political ad mercilessly drawn out over an hour.

Democratic state Senate District 9 candidate Justin Jones, a lawyer, found himself in a quandary last year.

President Barack Obama is winning, going away! No, wait, he’s winning, but by a slimmer margin. No, hold on, he’s tied with Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

Well, now Mitt Romney’s done it: He’s lost U.S. Sen. Dean Heller.

In 1987, when longtime Las Vegas Councilman Ron Lurie took over as mayor, he inherited a City Hall with scattered initiatives, where people were pulling in different directions and not always telling each other what they were doing.

In 2009, even before President Barack Obama took office, he met with leaders of the House and Senate to discuss a massive stimulus package to rescue the economy from a devastating recession. The package would include tax cuts, but also spending on infrastructure.

The fact that there’s tension between U.S. Sens. Harry Reid and Dean Heller on the issue of Internet gambling has been clear for some time. But it was brought into stark relief during a fundraiser Reid held in Las Vegas recently for former Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey, who’s looking to return to Washington.