Looking back, event wasn’t much of a party

With new allegations surfacing in recent weeks about questionable ties between Gov. Jim Gibbons and defense contractors, the former congressman has drawn some unflattering comparisons to former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, the San Diego congressman who admitted to taking millions in bribes from defense contractors.

It is thus newly delicious, if in no way proof of anything nefarious, to recall that Cunningham threw a fundraiser for first lady Dawn Gibbons' unsuccessful bid to replace her husband in Congress.

The fundraiser was held in a Washington restaurant on June 29, 2005. Just a few days before, allegations of misconduct by Cunningham began to emerge, and Dawn Gibbons' campaign had to decide on the fly whether to go ahead with the planned event.

At the time, Cunningham was insisting he was innocent. The campaign considered canceling the event but decided to go ahead with it because no legal action had yet been taken against Cunningham, Dawn Gibbons' political consultant at the time, Jim Denton, recalled.

"At that time, Cunningham was one of the most influential members of the House, and at that point all they were is allegations," Denton said.

Nonetheless, the allegations against Cunningham cast such a pall over the evening that the fundraiser was "not what you'd call a resounding success," Denton said: Cunningham himself didn't show up, and only three donors came, donating a total of $2,500 to Dawn Gibbons' campaign.

Denton said Dawn Gibbons became friendly with Cunningham and his wife while living in Washington when Jim Gibbons first went to Congress.

"He and Dawn were friends. They knew each other," Denton said.

AMONG THE BLOGS

Turning to another topic of irresponsible gubernatorial speculation, liberal bloggers have undertaken an effort to gauge support for a possible push to recall the governor.

As of Sunday night, nearly 600 people had signed an online petition calling for Gibbons' head. The petition is not legally binding; a real recall petition would have to be circulated in person and signed by registered Nevada voters who voted in the 2006 election.

Such a petition could not begin until July and would need more than 150,000 signatures to prompt a recall election. Experts have estimated such an effort would cost at least $500,000.

Many have signed the online petition by name, but it also can be signed anonymously. The petition, sponsored by a local woman named Donna West, is aimed at testing the amount of public support for an eventual true recall effort.

The anonymous blogger behind the Vote Gibbons Out Web site has been pushing the recall petition on his site. While 600 signatures is a tiny drop in the bucket compared with the number required for a recall, Nevada Scandalmonger sees it as an encouraging sign.

"Even if there never will be a recall, the petition sends the message to Carson City that the old-style politics of the past is dead, that stuffed-shirts supported by Nevada's corporate interests won't automatically be able to shove their candidate down our throats, again," the blogger wrote last week.

GIBBONS SAGA SET TO RHYME

Reno limericist John Sandler has a knack for distilling into five perfectly metered lines concepts that take journalists barrels of ink to explain.

Sandler got his start in the news limerick business as the official poet of Bob Beers' unsuccessful campaign for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. In that capacity, he nimbly laid out the principles of the Tax and Spending Control ballot initiative and other complicated topics in lilting rhyme.

Now Sandler has pithily summarized last week's gubernatorial brouhaha, with Gov. Jim Gibbons expounding on rumors his political opponents were paying off the Wall Street Journal to write damning articles about him.

With this effort, titled "Epistemology a la Gibbons," we are proud to crown Sandler the poet laureate of the Political Notebook. To wit:

A reporter asked Gibbons if he

"Heard the rumor, and do you agree

That the moon's made of these --

Pixie dust and green cheese?"

Said the Gov, "Without question, could be."

Contact political reporter Molly Ball at 387-2919 or MBall@reviewjournal.com.