With one-third of the legislative session completed, there has been no real movement on any issues in Carson City, with one notable exception.

Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons, who won November's election despite internal polling that showed a dismal 44 percent approval rating among voters, continues his free fall.

It's so easy to earn a honeymoon, even when you don't win a majority of votes for your office. But Gibbons embarked on his nuptials without consecrating the public's trust, and he hasn't done anything to earn it yet.

On this, his 72nd day in office, the media would typically be preparing a report on his first 100 days. But for Gibbons, it's nearly impossible to put a rising arrow anywhere on his chart.

Gibbons is broke in more ways than one. His illegal defense fund has reportedly been all but drained thanks to allegations that he assaulted a cocktail waitress weeks before the election. He jokingly said anything left would be donated to a fund for the families of fallen soldiers. It would take a truly blind GOP patriot to write a check to the Gibbons defense at this stage, with an ongoing federal investigation into whether as a congressman he accepted bribes to help his longtime friend gets upward of $30 billion in government contracts.

The governor's attorneys, Abbe Lowell and Don Campbell, don't come cheap.

And it's not as though anything Gibbons has proposed at the Legislature could get him out from under the stench of scandal.

He has already made John Kerry appear stable to GOP faithful. Gibbons has flip-flopped on fee increases. He's reversed course on a homestead exemption for second homes and changed his budget so often it appears his administration must now have it on an Etch A Sketch.

Gibbons has no idea what he wants to do with energy policy, initially proposing converting imported coal into liquid fuel, then deferring to a scientist on his staff. His hallmark education plan is a joke in progress. After proposing it, Gibbons had to go learn about it. Now he's tweaked it, but he still doesn't have the specifics to be able to sell it next door.

Governors have been blamed in the past for legislative failures and special sessions, but Gibbons is such a non-factor in Carson City it seems almost unfair to place any blame (and there will be blame) on him. This is only his 11th week, and even the capital press corps can't find him. When he does appear, staff quickly curtail any to-and-fro with the press -- even when it's about his education policy.

And it doesn't appear the situation will get any better anytime soon.

The federal probe will continue to distract him. And even if he scoffs at questions about whether his legal defense fund has violated state law, he can't get around the fact that the alternative would mean the fund should have been established at the federal level. And it's very clear he didn't follow those laws.

Gibbons is a prisoner to his own problems, from the cocktail waitress to his undocumented nanny to his relationship with software entrepreneur Warren Trepp.

It's like he's been reading "My Pet Goat" for months, but there's no one around him to pick up the slack and run the state for him.

The best alternative, for Republicans and for the state, is for Gibbons to resign.

It might actually be easier to raise money in Nevada today for a recall than for Gibbons' legal defense.

The recall effort is inevitable. Those hoping to oust Gibbons must wait until the governor has been in office for six months. Gibbons could do everyone a favor by stepping down before then. That way, Republicans would get to keep the top office in the state. Maybe Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki is a genius after all. It seemed odd he'd take a pay cut and leave the treasurer's office to pursue a part-time gig as lieutenant governor.

But that political decision may very well pay off for Krolicki. It seems unlikely that the recallers would offer a Republican as an alternative candidate to Gibbons.

So for the well-being of the 28 percent or so of Republicans who still support Gibbons, the governor might want to seriously consider stepping down.

Even in Massachusetts, where Deval Patrick has challenged Gibbons for the most gaffes, the governor knew better than to try to steer a ship amid distractions. Patrick, a Democrat who has drawn attention for upgrading his state car to a Cadillac Deville and installing $12,000 drapes in his office, turned most of the state's daily operations over to his lieutenant governor on Monday. This came after a weekend announcement that Patrick's wife is suffering from exhaustion and depression.

Wouldn't it be nice to be upset about curtains and a car?

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