More politics of the macabre

For the third time in three weeks a candidate for public office in Nevada has conjured memories of gruesome criminal acts to vilify political opponents.

This time the purveyor of grim analogies was Barbara Lee Woolen, Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, and the bloody reference was to the double homicide by stabbing that California authorities attributed to former football player OJ Simpson in 1994.

Woolen called in Tuesday morning to "Heidi Harris in the Morning," a radio show on KDWN in Las Vegas. Harris had just completed an interview with incumbent Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, Woolen's opponent in the upcoming Republican primary, when Woolen called in.

Woolen wanted to talk about a criminal case against Krolicki that was dismissed in December. In the case Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto had accused Krolicki of mismanaging funds for a state college savings program that was under his management when he was state treasurer.

The case alleged Krolicki didn't properly report money in the program. Krolicki denied any wrongdoing. No money went missing and the charges were dismissed.

Krolicki has said repeatedly the outcome proved his innocence and indicated the prosecution was polticially motivated.

Woolen put a darker spin on it, accusing Krolicki of "taking a lot of money personally from the state of Nevada."

Harris reiterated that charges against Krolicki were dropped.

Woolen continued to press her case: "I'll give you an analogy, even though we know OJ got off for double murder everybody knows in their heart that OJ was guilty."

It is the third time in as many weeks a candidate has made rhetorical reference to atrocious acts of violence to denigrate people with whom they disagree.

Last week the campaign of Gov. Jim Gibbons compared Republican opponent Brian Sandoval to Germans who participated in the Jewish holocaust, an analogy Gibbons' campaign manager says the campaign now regrets.

The week before when criticizing a new state law in Arizona aimed at curbing illegal immigration, Democratic candidate for governor Rory Reid used the phrase "Gestapo-like tactics", a reference to holocaust-era secret police who rounded up Jews and killed them or transported them to concentration camps.

Here is a link to Woolen's interview with Heidi Harris.