John McCain once debated Oscar Goodman (and his showgirls)

It was the rare public-policy debate where one of the adversaries was flanked by showgirls.

Oscar Goodman, then the mayor of Las Vegas, was that participant in a barbed discussion with Arizona Sen. John McCain. The two met in the convention center hallway at Paris Las Vegas during the U.S. Conference of Mayors in June 2006.

Goodman recalled the moment as McCain’s casket was displayed and he was honored in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Friday. McCain died Saturday of brain cancer at age 81.

Goodman said in a phone conversation the two engaged in an impromptu argument over legalized sports betting.

You can probably discern who was for, and who was against, legalized sports betting.

“Senator McCain was vociferously against open sports betting, very much against it,” said Goodman, who often refers to himself as a “degenerate” gambler who would wager on cockroaches crossing a wood floor. “Of course, I was about the biggest supporter of any mayor in the country of legalized sports betting. It was a great point-counterpoint.”

Goodman added, “It was pretty tense there in the hallway, but then we started making cracks about it. I think the reason Senator McCain was so opposed was co-Senator from Arizona at the time, John Kyl, was the most outspoken senator in the country against sports betting.”

Goodman couldn’t recall any specific comments, but did unearth two photos of the event. “I love looking at us there, and how the senator is talking to me, angry one moment, laughing the next. He was really quite a man.”

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John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.