U.S. Senate candidate sure about issues, less sure about Las Vegas

Until I met John Chachas, I never realized Ely had a ruling business class.

But as Chachas explained that his family had owned the town's Safeway store, an auto dealership, and built a housing development, and that his father had served not only as the city attorney but also as White Pine County's district attorney, I had to smile.

When Chachas candidly added that his family also owned the sprawling Cleveland Ranch from 1939-1982, and his father also purchased large amounts of real estate and valuable gold mining claims, a picture came into focus.

After our conversation ended, I came away with three observations:

First, anyone who spends a lot of time and money attempting to label Chachas a carpetbagger will waste their effort. He clearly has Nevada roots despite having lived out of the state much of his life as a successful New York investment banker. He possesses enough snappy comebacks -- "In 1979 when Sue Lowden was on the Jersey Shore, I was castrating (cattle) in White Pine County" -- to turn the tables on anyone who questions his Silver State bona fides.

Second, if the campaign ever veers toward the issues, Chachas may be the best hope the Republicans have to unseat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Chachas possesses unabashed confidence, grasps the major economic questions, and has no shortage of intellectual gravity.

Although the Review-Journal's latest statewide survey shows Republican primary challengers Sue Lowden, Danny Tarkanian, and Sharron Angle ahead of Reid, that may be as much a matter of the senator's own polarizing personality and basic name recognition as a ringing endorsement. Boxcar Willie would poll well against Searchlight Harry.

Where Lowden is undeniably charming, Tarkanian is intensely earnest, and Angle is rock-solid philosophically, Chachas excels at discussing the state of the economy and education. He's more than glib, peppers a conversation with emotion and an occasional epithet, and shows you a multifaceted character and formidable intellect.

Anyone who can tell you he killed his first mule deer at age 11, owns five guns, and also traveled to Greece at age 12 and was a ball boy at the U.S. Open before attending Columbia University and Harvard Business School, is a certified study in contrasts.

Chachas isn't a carpetbagger. He's a son of privilege who took advantage of his family's ability to send him to the Ivy League. That's no sin.

His family owned a ranch, but he didn't spend a lot of time baling hay. He got his hands dirty, but I'll wager it was more out of a sense of character building than earning a living. Chachas admits he had no trouble adjusting to life in New York.

He's anything but scripted. When the conversation turned to moving his family to Nevada from New York, he uttered the prickly political gaffe, "I don't really aspire to raise my children in Las Vegas."

Interesting. Representing Las Vegas in the Senate is one thing; living here is something else?

With that, a final observation.

The challenge for Chachas isn't whether he's labeled a carpetbagger or a local boy made good. It's whether, as a wealthy and well-educated guy, he can communicate with plain folks without being perceived as pandering to the unwashed masses starving for his brilliance. It's one thing to be the smartest guy in the room. It's another to win elections.

With 14 GOP candidates in the June primary, 40,000 votes could win the day. The Chachas advertising campaign is in motion. His Ivy League degrees and successful career will be balanced with his Nevada biography.

"There is an undeniable dichotomy in my existence, and I think I'm the better for it," Chachas said.

Now all he has to do is make his case to Nevada.

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.