Oscar Goodman was Donald Trump before it was cool

For residents of Las Vegas, the Donald Trump phenomenon might seem somehow familiar.

A candidate with absolutely no experience in government service and a controversial reputation, running against an establishment candidate taken entirely off guard by an utterly unconventional campaign style?

Las Vegas, we’ve been there, done that and got the T-shirt.

Oscar Goodman was Donald Trump before it was cool, minus the anti-immigrant, anti-woman, anti-choice rhetoric. He admitted years after being elected that he didn’t know the address of City Hall or the duties of mayor before he boldly filed for that office in 1999.

But he sure learned. And in 12 years fueled by bombast and Bombay, Goodman turned out to be a pretty good mayor. Like Trump, he had his battles with the media and his not-in-a-good-way headline-grabbing moments. For instance, he suggested that perhaps homeless people could be sheltered in a shuttered prison in Jean or that graffiti taggers ought to have their thumbs cut off as punishment.

To this day, Goodman stands by his remark to a class of fourth graders that — if stranded on a desert island — he’d take along a bottle of his favorite gin.

Like Trump, people loved Goodman’s outsized persona, outsized martini glass and omnipresent showgirls. Like Trump, he could say almost anything — even things that would wound a mortal politician — and only add to his own legend.

But Goodman also showed he could turn his unique personal brand into a benefit for his city, all to fulfill the one real pledge he’d made when running: to breathe life into the dead zone that was downtown Las Vegas. Goodman didn’t just pitch himself, he pitched downtown, with all the fervor of a tent-revival preacher.

And it worked: Today, downtown is thriving, new restaurants and shops are opening, a major online retailer occupies the old City Hall and the new one sits across the street from a soaring performing arts center, a Frank Gehry-designed medical building and a busy outlet mall. Before Goodman, it was just dirt.

Both Trump and Goodman started with deficits. Trump’s favorable ratings are the lowest of any candidate in the race. Goodman had a controversial past as a criminal defense attorney to prominent mobsters, most of whom avoided prison time thanks to his courtroom acumen. But Goodman found a way to turn that to his advantage from the start, when he literally announced for office standing behind a copy of the U.S. Constitution.

But Goodman, unlike Trump, never chased votes, and certainly not with ugly nativist rhetoric.He let voters come to him, attracted by his larger-than-life persona. And they came in droves.

Goodman did struggle to address the homeless population, a group of people he saw as a barrier to downtown redevelopment. He reserved his sympathy for the disabled and mentally ill among them, but accused the rest of shiftlessness.

The similarities between Goodman and Trump — as well as their differences — make a political pundit long for a campaign pitting the two against each other, a battle of egos akin to matching Godzilla up against King Ghidora. I’m guessing Goodman, would inevitably yell louder, scream longer and pound harder than The Donald, all the while embracing two-fisted drinking, gambling and the other vices that made Las Vegas famous. In fact, that campaign would fit in perfectly with Goodman’s post-mayoral job at the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, where he promotes his favorite city.

Too bad. That’s a campaign longtime Las Vegans might like to see.

Steve Sebelius is a Review-Journal political columnist and co-host of “PoliticsNOW,” airing at 5:30 p.m. Sundays on 8NewsNow. Follow him on Twitter (@SteveSebelius) or reach him at 702-387-5276 or SSebelius@reviewjournal.com.