Blaming the backers

Do political endorsements really matter?

The fact is, most probably don't. Sure, candidates (especially judges) seek out the backing of law enforcement, Democrats like to get the nod from organized labor, and what Republican this time around wouldn't want to be supported by Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson?

But by and large, most political endorsements aren't going to sway many people. However, they do make for fine, if sometimes confusing, political fodder.

Take Sen. Dean Heller, who was endorsed by former presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Friday. Given Santorum's fairly extreme social views, it's probably not the ideal get in a close race where independents are key.

But hey, Oprah Winfrey can't endorse everybody.

Democrats immediately linked Santorum - who has said rape victims should make the best of a bad situation - to Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock, who said getting pregnant by a rapist is "something God intended." (God should really consider suing for libel.) And let's not forget that Republican vice presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan also disfavors abortion in cases of rape, having said the method of concept does not change the definition of life.

Then Democrats tried to link Santorum-Mourdock to Heller, given that Heller was also endorsed by the Republication National Coalition for Life, which seeks out candidates with no-exception pro-life stances.

But Heller has specifically said he disagrees with Mourdock's remarks, and his own pro-life position does contain room for exceptions in cases of rape, incest or a threat to the mother's life. He may be pro-life and against funding Planned Parenthood, but he's no Mourdock.

And get this: Around the same time Santorum was giving Heller the nod, Heller also was garnering an endorsement from the group No Labels, a centrist coalition that aims for progress over partisanship. Heller joined No Labels in 2011, after his "No Budget, No Pay" bill attracted the group's attention. (That measure would hold up congressional pay if a budget wasn't written and passed by the start of the new fiscal year.)

No Labels has earned condemnation from the right: They're a favorite target of right-wing talker Rush Limbaugh, who consider them a front for the left, urging compromise at the expense of conservative principle.

So, Heller is either a radical extremist or a compromising squish, if you listen to the critics of his endorsers.

Sometimes, endorsements are all about timing: Gov. Brian Sandoval endorsed Texas Gov. Rick Perry for president, but Perry flamed out on the national stage long before Nevada Republicans got a chance to choose their candidate in party caucuses.

Sandoval held his tongue thereafter, until Mitt Romney was the inevitable GOP nominee. And that was going great right up until one of Sandoval's top advisers - R&R Partners' Pete Ernaut - said on a television interview that President Barack Obama was going to win in Nevada come Election Day. That remark apparently forced Sandoval last week to send out a tweet saying that Romney had his full support (true) and that the Republican was going to win Nevada on Election Day (not true).

If Romney does lose the race, it will be a rebuff to the Review-Journal and the Reno Gazette-Journal, the state's two largest newspapers, which both endorsed Romney over Obama. (But keep in mind that endorsements are recommendations of who the newspaper thinks you should vote for, not predictions of who's going to win.)

Rep. Shelley Berkley touted her Senate endorsement last week from former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman. It was tame for a Goodman endorsement: No martini, no showgirls, just Goodman speaking into the camera about Berkley's work ethic.

That's too bad: Berkley's Washington, D.C., office is filled with more Vegas kitsch than the World's Largest Gift Shop. If anybody could outflash the Happiest (Former) Mayor, it just might have been Berkley.

Steve Sebelius is a Review-Journal political columnist and author of the blog SlashPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter (@SteveSebelius) or reach him at (702) 387-5276 or ssebelius@reviewjournal.com.