I don’t want to be like that Glenn Beck fellow making a blackboard full of arrows going everywhere. And, I don’t often write about politics, because I don’t really know much about politics. So, to me this is more a story about how tiny Nevada and, of course, Vegas, remain. Rory Reid is running for governor as a Democrat. He is currently a County Commissioner here.  Also, he is the son of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Senator Harry Reid has recently been on a television commercial bragging about his role in helping MGM Mirage through the financial crisis to the completion of CityCenter.  I have offered a video above in which the Senator offers all of the reasons he was behind CityCenter.

Meanwhile, in the governor race, MGM Mirage has been exclusively contributing to the campaign of Commissioner Reid. This was a decision the company made early in the race, and MGM Mirage are now standing behind in an incredibly public way. In today’s Review-Journal, Benjamin Spillman quotes MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman denying that the company would ever consider offering any support to former Attorney General and  Judge Brian Sandoval, a likely Republican opponent.

The statement, quoted by Spillman, reads in part: “While we hold Brian Sandoval in very high regard, MGM Mirage is exclusively supporting Rory Reid for Governor. We believe that Nevada needs new leadership and, as a company, made the decision early on to support one candidate.” The statement continues on to give a second shout out for the company’s support going exclusively to Reid.

There is nothing wrong with this at all. Further a choice in the race was inevitable as the company will be supporting one candidate or the other. MGM-Mirage backed the current Republican governor.  Of course, given the economy of Nevada and MGM Mirage’s long held view that the tax burden of Nevada needs to spread out and be shared more by non-gaming businesses, there is no surprise in the company deciding this time out to support the other party. And, I am sure people who follow politics locally are used to the fact that the Senator and Commissioner are different men. But I am still reminded, as the Dead Milkmen once sang, “This is a tiny town.”