Goodman protecting his legacy, but not his wife

Once again, and for the third time, Oscar Goodman isn't a candidate for governor.

Despite toying with it, he didn't run in 2002, 2006, and now in 2010. (In 2006, he also passed on the U.S. Senate.)

Each time before, he cited his enjoyment of his job as mayor as his reason not to run. Until last week. That's when he pulled out of the governor's race he never entered, this time blaming his wife, Carolyn.

In the fall of 2008, we were supposed to jump for joy because Carolyn no longer opposed him running for governor. As recently as Jan. 9, she was quoted in the Las Vegas Sun, saying: "Whatever Oscar does, wherever he goes, I'll be there."

But Monday, Goodman said he wouldn't run because his wife refused to leave Las Vegas, where her children and grandchildren live. "She would not have moved to Carson City," her husband said. And he would not go without her. What a love story.

Now, Carolyn Goodman is a smart lady. It's hard to believe she didn't know that if her husband ran for governor, they'd have to move to Carson City. This is a revelation? Not a chance.

But that's his story, and he's sticking to it, even if it reflects on his wife when she supposedly is considering a run for mayor in 2011, when he is term-limited.

The real reason Goodman won't run is pretty obvious: vanity.

The conventional wisdom -- one his longtime campaign consultant Jim Ferrence says is true -- is Goodman would have loved the campaigning, but, "I don't think he has an interest in actually serving."

The will-I-or-won't-I was a game to see how many stories could he wring from the media. (Too many.) He's entitled to do that, but don't blame Hell-No-I-Won't-Go Carolyn when the time to get off the pot draws near.

Here's the vanity part.

No matter how much Goodman denies he wasn't concerned about a rough gubernatorial campaign, Goodman wants to leave his 12 years as mayor at the top of his game with his popularity unscathed.

By not running, he won't be tainted by ugly political ads.

By not running, he preserves his popularity.

There's no way, even if he had won (and he might have) he would have retained the adoration he now enjoys. Ferrence warned the mayor how negative the campaign would become. "I said, 'You can kiss your popularity rating goodbye.'"

The truth is Goodman has never been in a really rough campaign. When he first ran for mayor in 1999, he wasn't hit hard. Maybe $200,000 was spent in attack ads against the "mob lawyer," Ferrence estimated.

This time the Democratic and the Republican nominees combined would have spent millions to knock Goodman into the gutter. His more outrageous comments would have been used in the politics of destruction.

Video of Goodman insulting a woman by calling her a "short, fat Bette Midler" at a fundraiser for Congregation Ner Tamid was also going to be hard to deflect. He can't take back the cruel words meant in jest. "If I offended anybody, I wish they'd call me and let me apologize," Goodman said. From what I'm told, he'd be apologizing to a roomful of people, not just one woman.

Goodman can say in all honesty downtown is better now than it was when he was elected in 1999. No one can take that away from him. Anyone driving around downtown can see improvements.

Oscar Goodman was smart enough to protect his legacy by not running for governor. But he did it at the expense of making his wife look foolish.

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.