Private sector fine?

I asked Gov. Brian Sandoval about the jackboot of socialism on the neck of Nevada's economic recovery last week. He seemed to have a good sense of humor about it.

Sandoval is in something of a tight spot: He's not at all shy about touting Nevada's slowly improving economy, or his goal of adding 50,000 private-sector jobs in his first term.

According to the state economist, Sandoval is halfway there, with 25,000 new private sector jobs since he became governor in 2010. The state's unemployment rate is down (although it's still bad, at 11.6 percent).

Applications for public assistance are down. Inquiries from business seeking to move to Nevada are up. And sales tax collections have resulted in a small state surplus, Sandoval says.

But Sandoval is also a Republican, and a supporter of Republican Mitt Romney for president. And Romney's message is that the U.S. economy is suffering under anti-capitalist policies fomented by President Barack Obama.

Those narratives conflict. What's good for Nevadans, economically, is bad for Romney, politically.

Recently, Bloomberg News reported the Romney campaign had asked Florida Gov. Rick Scott to tone down sunny news releases about Florida's recovery. (The governor's spokeswoman denied that report.) Bloomberg reported the Romney camp suggested an alternative line for Scott, that Florida's unemployment rate would drop even faster with Romney in the White House.

Which - by coincidence - is what Sandoval says about Nevada's economy. "There's no doubt the economy is improving," the governor says. "It could be doing better."

How? The governor specifically referred to federal mining regulations, which he claimed have added years to the time it takes to open up a new mine in the state. "We could be further down the road if not for the regulations," he said.

How much that would benefit the state is in question, however, because the industry's taxes are constitutionally limited to 5 percent of net proceeds, after numerous deductions.

A joint resolution to delete the industry's special, single-industry protection passed the Legislature in 2011; if it passes again in 2013, it will go to the voters in 2014. By then, however, gold may not be trading near $1,600 per ounce, as it was on Friday.

So what's a governor to do? Ignore the gains his state has made, in order to get his choice in the White House? (Actually, to be fair, Romney was Sandoval's second choice; he endorsed Texas Gov. Rick Perry early on, based on a friendship forged when Sandoval decided to run for office and Perry encouraged and supported him.)

That's just not in Sandoval's nature: He says the state of Nevada comes first, and there's no reason to doubt that he's being truthful when he says it. "I have the best job in the world," Sandoval says. And when he says it, as corny as it would sound coming from virtually anybody else, you actually believe it.

Besides, it's not as if Sandoval is going to be a key member of the Romney team. The governor says he's not being vetted for a position in a would-be Romney administration, such as vice president. Even if he was, Sandoval has been adamant about insisting that he will, at the very least, finish his first term in office.

After that, who knows? Sandoval is a better-than-even bet for re-election in 2014, and the next presidential contest will occur in the middle of his second term, in 2016. (I've said more than once that the governor should adopt mock umbrage when asked if he'd accept a vice-presidential slot four years hence, and ask the questioner why Sandoval shouldn't be considered for the top job.)

Whatever the future holds, however, one thing is clear: Sandoval is presiding over a slowly recovering state, which is good for us, no matter whose narrative it supports.

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.