Let’s hope Lowden finds a way around fear of flying

High-flying Sue Lowden cuts a formidable image in her U.S. Senate race.

The former TV news anchor, state senator, and chairwoman of the Nevada Republican Party also is an experienced businesswoman. She can be charming and isn't afraid to level criticism at U.S. Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, the man she hopes to send into retirement in November.

The latest Review-Journal-sponsored Mason-Dixon Polling & Research survey has Lowden in the spotlight, competitive with fellow Republican primary challengers Danny Tarkanian and Sharron Angle and beating Reid, 50-40 percent, in a head-to-head matchup. That's good news for Lowden, who is gaining a national profile.

The bad news is, this past week at an R-J editorial board meeting Lowden stunned me when she admitted to being frightened to fly despite the extremely distant possibility of a terrorist incident on a commercial airline flight.

Billions are spent on airline security in this country. In many ways, airports and airliners are more secure now than at any time in history. Although attempts at terrorism have increased, so have the security measures taken to assure passenger safety.

But when the issue was broached, Lowden said, "It's frightening right now to be on a plane. It is frightening, and I look over my shoulder myself. But this is the nature of the world we live in right now. Security is a huge issue."

Well straighten my seat back and return my tray table to its full, upright, and locked position.

Did she say the state of commercial airline safety made her afraid?

The logical and more politically astute answer, it seemed to me, would have been to say it's essential we continue to improve airline safety while doing our best to respect the privacy rights of passengers.

Lowden didn't say that.

In an attempt to keep my jaw from hitting the floor, I asked Lowden to clarify.

"I think we need to do whatever it takes to make it safe," she said.

"You're saying it's not safe now?" I asked.

"Well, I don't think it's safe," Lowden said. "There's a lot of people who are very frightened, like we were talking about, who will not get on a plane right now because they are frightened of what's going on and the possibility of people slipping through the cracks. It's frightening."

Yes, and there's also a difference between facts and fear.

Just imagine the reaction from Nevada's political right if Reid, instead of Lowden, had uttered such nonsense in front of reporters.

Here's a little insight from travel safety Web site AirSafe.com:

"In the last fifteen years or so, the fatal accident rate for passenger aircraft has not significantly changed. What has changed is the number of flights performed around the world, more than doubling during that same time. If one measures safety by the accident rate, things have not changed much. If one measures safety by the number of accidents, media coverage, and public concern, then flying may seem either more or less safe depending on how much attention is paid by the world media."

When President Barack Obama logically said it was inappropriate for major corporations to accept billions in government bailout money and then take party junkets to Las Vegas and the Super Bowl, he was vilified for months for being anti-Las Vegas.

Is Lowden saying, "Don't fly to Las Vegas; go Greyhound instead?"

I'm not suggesting Lowden's comment should be turned into a critical sound bite. I'm merely illustrating that this supposedly experienced communicator is rough around the edges. Although it's hard to be less rhetorically graceful than Reid, public speaking supposedly is Lowden's strong suit.

A few more gaffes like that, and her 10-point lead will melt like the wax wings of Icarus.

If she wants to land in the U.S. Senate, Sue Lowden will have to conquer her irrational fear of flying.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.