It's a good thing for Jim Gibbons that he's been AWOL this election year.

It took a late-afternoon editorial board meeting on the eve of a holiday for the Republican candidate for governor to share his views. And, during the course of the nearly 90-minute session July 3, it was clear Gibbons has good reason to avoid debating his two primary opponents or taking questions from voters on the radio or, generally, show his head in Clark County.

Although I lasted just 70 minutes of the session, almost every other sentence out of the congressman's mouth left me jotting down inaccuracies in my notebook. Gibbons, who has spent five terms in the House, was dead wrong on several facts when discussing state issues; misspoke several times and also didn't seem to have a decent handle on federal issues.

Asked why the federal government's debt has spiraled despite Republican control of Washington, Gibbons gave us a little history lesson on budgets. First, he said, the president presents a budget. Then, he said, it's the evil Senate that loads it up with all the pork. "The next thing you know, you have a road to nowhere."

Gee, didn't that come from Gibbons' friend in the House, Don Young of Alaska? Gibbons should know, he voted for it. That's where he stuck $225,000 to refurbish the Deer Park Pool in Sparks.

Fiscal conservative, indeed.

He also said it's hard to be in Congress because every little group will come begging for money and "The editorials in your paper will complain when we say no." Sorry, Jim. That's the line your mouth was supposed to say to the editorial boards of the Las Vegas Sun and Reno Gazette-Journal. You were preaching to the choir at the Review-Journal. You just sang all the wrong notes.

Asked about Iraq, Gibbons said, in as many words, that everything was hunky-dory. And, he added, with great detail, "We've found chemical weapons." The terrorists, he said, are fashioning Improvised Explosive Devices out of chemical weapons they've found. A soldier was even hurt.

The spin continued when he discussed prescription drugs. If only we had seen the testimony he did -- about a life-saving medication that turned out to be counterfeit, containing nothing but water. Can't have any unsafe drugs. Even if they're made in America and re-imported, they can't be safe.

But candidates are entitled to their spin. When they get facts plain wrong, that's a bit different.

Gibbons bemoaned all those taxes the Legislature raised in 2005. If only he'd paid attention to his wife's career, he'd know that the tax hike she supported was passed in 2003. Discussing water, Gibbons said we should not be basing a plan to draw water from rural counties on 1965 literature. He said a water survey is needed. After all, you don't want to dry up something like "Mono Lake."

I think he meant Owens, as Mono still has water.

Gibbons said he supported Gov. Kenny Guinn's plan to limit retirement benefits for future state hires as a way to get a handle on the Public Employees' Retirement System. But he couldn't remember the type of plan he favored. "De- ..." He paused. We waited. He struggled. "I can't think of the word."

"Defined benefits?" we reminded him.

Asked about the property tax cap approved by the Legislature last year, Gibbons said he believed the different rates for residential and commercial properties made the cap unconstitutional. "The people it hurts the most are the tenants," Gibbons said.

Weren't there exceptions to the 8 percent? No, he said.

Well, there are. There are specific exceptions for apartments rented at or below the low-income level, as defined by Housing and Urban Development. Those apartment owners get the 3 percent rate.

Gibbons said the cap still presents a real "economic hardship" for some people. Asked about relief for those with economic hardship, Gibbons said he has never heard of such a thing. Although he's fond of ballot initiatives, Gibbons must not have paid attention to the constitutional amendment passed by voters in both 2000 and 2002, when he was on the ballot. Question 8, which passed with 58.3 percent of the vote in 2002, allows anyone to apply to a county assessor to reduce their property taxes as a result of an economic hardship.

Details, details.

Because he does have that useless Education First initiative, Gibbons was asked whether he would be an education governor, and if so, how he feels about full-day kindergarten.

"We haven't seen the results of the trial," Gibbons said. "I guess the jury's out, in my mind."

He doesn't have enough data to know if the program works, because it's only in its first year of implementation in some at-risk schools in Nevada, he said. "The first tests are in third grade," he said. "We haven't tested those kids yet."

Never mind that the preponderance of educational studies prove the long-term benefits of full-day kindergarten. When will he know if it works? When his first term is ending?

Gibbons said he is a strong believer in merit pay for teachers, because he said it "shrinks the administrative filter and allows more dollars to get into the classroom." On average, he lamented, Nevada puts just 62 cents of every dollar into the classroom. Then he cited the national average, 65 cents. That was his three cents' worth on education.

He talked at great length about why he opposes the Tax and Spending Control initiative; why he supports collective bargaining for essential state employees and what to do with the state's general fund surplus.

After he declared that the surplus should not be used to "grow government," he was less specific. First he said it could be used to fill in the estimated transportation budget shortfall. Then he said he could support one-time expenditures.

Asked whether he would repeal any of the taxes increased or created in 2003, Gibbons said: "We can talk about the payroll and bank franchise fee."

Asked whether that meant he would repeal them, Gibbons clarified that he might be able to reduce them. Asked whether he would support a rebate for taxpayers, Gibbons said: "I wouldn't take a rebate off the table." There was also talk of "fully funding" the state's rainy day fund.

Hope you saw an answer in there, because I didn't.

And, how's this for a little Econ 101? The projected revenue surplus is $591 million. The highway trust's estimated budget shortfall through 2014 is $2.4 billion. That's with a B. What's left for one-shot funding? How do you reduce taxes? How can you offer a rebate when you can't even build roads?

Gibbons needs to stick to his sound bites; stay away from voters and hide from the press. It's the only real way he can bring his lack of details and understanding of state issues to the governor's mansion.

Erin Neff's column runs Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. She can be reached at 387-2906, or by e-mail at eneff@reviewjournal.com.