Buckley’s skipping governor’s race not surprising, but next step might be

Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley's announcement Friday that she isn't running for governor was as anticlimatic as the movie "Titantic."

Just as you knew the ship was going to sink, when Buckley didn't start raising money after the Legislature went home, you knew she was having serious reservations about a rough-and-tumble Democratic primary against Clark County Commissioner Rory Reid. And if she won, she probably would face a tough race with Republican Brian Sandoval, the likely GOP contender.

She was ahead of Reid in the polls, she had the legislative experience, she knew the issues, but Buckley said this isn't the right time for a run for governor because of the impact on her family, particularly 10-year-old son Aiden.

There is no Plan B. She's term-limited from the Legislature (one more reason I oppose term limits), and there's no other available political job she wants.

So she will sit out this cycle, continue the next 14 months as speaker, focus on her job as executive director of Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada ... and wait.

"This is probably not the end of my political life," she said. "When Aiden is a little older, there will be plenty of opportunities."

Buckley said she has been going back and forth since the end of the Legislature, and made the final decision Thursday evening.

"I've been talking to my family over the last several weeks about the impact of a tough campaign on my family and my son. It's been weighing on me, and we've been talking about how this isn't the best thing for my family. And that wasn't going to change."

Buckley envisioned herself coming home exhausted at 9 p.m. after another political event and barely seeing her son. "I am at peace with the decision," she said.

Buckley insisted she wasn't squeezed out by anyone, although there's an obvious parallel between Buckley and Dina Titus.

Titus was a state senator making noise about running for the County Commission in 2001 when Rory Reid, son of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, told her over coffee he was getting in the race.

About two months later, Titus stepped aside for Rory Reid and, lo and behold, when she decides to run for Congress, she has the support of the senator.

Buckley makes noises about running for governor. Rory Reid releases a poll in June 2008, showing he would beat Buckley in a Democratic primary 51 percent to 20 percent. (Polls now show her leading him 43-22.)

Like Titus, her decision clears the way for Rory Reid in a primary.

Buckley made it clear she couldn't be lured out of the race with a federal judgeship offer from Papa Reid because that's not a job she wants.

"No one really dangled anything, perhaps because there was nothing I really want," Buckley said.

Nor did any other political job up for grabs appeal to her. She didn't want to be lieutenant governor. "Who wants to go to Carson City for four months just to preside over the Senate and not be involved with policy?"

She'll continue working at Legal Aid, particularly on foreclosure mediation.

She never raised money for the governor's race, but has roughly $1 million left from her Assembly races and leadership political action committees, which she had anticipated using for a governor's race.

Buckley can hold onto that money for a future race as long as she likes under Nevada law, but can't convert it to personal use.

This probably is a wise political decision on her part. She keeps on the good side of Harry Reid, as Titus did. She waits for the economy to improve, avoiding campaign attacks that she is a tax-and-spend liberal.

If Rory Reid loses, nobody can blame her. If he wins, there's a grateful occupant in the Governor's Mansion.

If she shows she's a problem-solver even without holding any political office, that gives her a boost for another run for office, whatever that office might be.

The speculation began immediately. Perhaps If Rep. Shelley Berkley runs against U.S. Sen. John Ensign in 2012, then Buckley might run for Berkley's seat, a seat nestled in a nice, safe Democratic district. That wouldn't be so rough a campaign.

Besides, Aiden would be 13 then.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/morrison.