Goodman can’t meet President Obama, he’s already booked with Mr. Las Vegas

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman won't be meeting President Barack Obama during Obama's Las Vegas visit.

It's not because the Mayor is still mad about Obama's anti-Las Vegas statements of a year ago.

It's because he already had a meeting scheduled with Mr. Las Vegas Wayne Newton.

"I checked my schedule, it was full," Goodman said Thursday when asked if he would be meeting with Obama, who touched down at McCarran International Airport just before 5 p.m. "I'm meeting with Wayne Newton at 5, that has been set up for over a week."

Goodman insisted it wasn't a snub over a previous spat that dates back to February, 2009, when Obama told an audience in Elkhart, Ind., "You can't get corporate jets, you can't go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayer's dime."

Goodman interpreted it as a dig at Las Vegas and refused to meet with Obama during a visit earlier this year.

Obama made sure to make some pro-Las Vegas remarks during his visit this year which, while not the apology Goodman had demanded, was good enough to soothe the Mayor's hurt feelings.

"I'd like to see like a declaration of support, but I think last time he was here he did the right thing by us," he said. "I don't hold any grudges."

The Obama visit wasn't the only political matter Goodman covered during his weekly chat with reporters.

He also said a speech planned tomorrow at the Nevada State Republican Convention in Henderson is about welcoming a convention to town, not taking a political stand.

Goodman, who considered running for governor as a non-partisan, said he won't be endorsing or criticizing any candidates.

"I think I'll talk about the mob," said the former mob lawyer who has been a Democrat and Republican in the past. "I'll talk about downtown redevelopment. I'll talk about what is best for the state as far as consolidation and home rule."

He added: "I don't intend to make this into a political speech. I don't take my own personal political agenda to the public."