Carter has long way to go against Ensign

It's going to take more than Bush-bashing if Jack Carter wants to unseat John Ensign in the U.S. Senate.

For one thing, Nevada already has the nation's No. 1 Bush-basher in Harry Reid, the minority leader who gets quoted in every news story with the Democratic Party response to whatever President Bush has to say. We get the message.

Carter is going to need lots of money, because Ensign has raised $3.7 million to Carter's $241,600 so far. Unless he can show he's a legitimate contender, the big money won't start to flow. That's always a conundrum for first-time candidates, who need money to campaign and need to campaign to get money.

He also needs to show Nevadans he's more than a carpetbagger. Ensign has deep roots in Nevada - his mother was born in Carson City, his grandfather in Dayton - even though he was born in California. No matter the growth in Las Vegas, those connections mean a lot to voters.

And though Ensign indeed sides regularly with Bush's agenda, that's hardly unexpected for a Republican. Where it matters most is on Nevada issues, and Ensign has shown on many occasions he's got Nevada on his mind and can work with Reid, Jim Gibbons, Shelley Berkley and Jon Porter to get things done.

Just this week, Ensign helped talk Bush out of putting Southern Nevada Lands Act money into his budget. Nicely timed to coincide with Carter's campaign announcement, it was a political windfall for Ensign worth millions of dollars to Nevada.

And on the state's most visible issue, Yucca Mountain, Ensign has said all the right things - including, during the 2004 campaign, that John Kerry was better than Bush on that subject.

Carter has a lot going for him. He seems articulate, dedicated and reasoned on the issues - plus he has his famous father, who made some history by visiting Carson City. It's too early to count Jack Carter out, but it's also too early to say he has much of a chance.