The naive might have supposed this to be an event looking for a reason to exist.

On Monday, Ralph Reed issued a list of 473 citizens who will populate the steering committee of his Republican campaign for lieutenant governor.

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A hundred or so of them showed up at the state Capitol to bolster Reed's claim, and to promote an air of inevitability around a race that's still 14 months and at least one U.S. Senate hearing away.

"There are two groups of people in a campaign. The people who are with you in the beginning, and the people who are with you in the end," Reed said. No doubt he was trying to put as much meaning behind that observation as possible.

The former head of the national Christian Coalition, the man whose ruthless tactics Democrats love to hate, pitched himself as a "mainstream, budget-balancing, tax-cutting, pro-life, pro-family candidate." Reed said he had a proven and unique ability to reach out to Democrats, minorities, and independents as well.

The former Georgia GOP chairman has yet to chart his course on statewide issues. Income and property taxes are too high, he said, but anything more detailed will have to wait for an RV-driven "listening" tour of the state this summer.

As always, the interesting stuff was between the lines:

— Reed introduced his campaign chairman, Eric Zeier of Marietta, the former University of Georgia quarterback, as "a rising star in civic affairs."

— The ever-cautious Sam Olens, chairman of the Cobb County Commission with a SPLOST campaign at hand, was also there to endorse Reed as a "great intellect."

— U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland was unveiled as a Reed supporter, which caused the rival GOP campaign of Casey Cagle to out U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal as one of theirs.

But Reed's core group was curiously light on state legislators. We counted only three: state Reps. Tommy Smith of Nicholls and Joe Wilkinson of Sandy Springs; and state Sen. Ralph Hudgens of Comer. "When it comes to having a network on the ground, we have Mr. Reed out-classed," said Cagle campaign spokesman Brad Alexander. He said two-thirds of Republicans in the state Senate have endorsed Cagle.

— Reed said the only people asking questions about $4.2 million he received to help put together a Texas coalition to close down an Indian casino are members of the media. The incident, organized by two Republican lobbyists close to Reed, is now under investigation by two Senate committees and federal law enforcement authorities.

"I am opposed to the expansion of casino gambling. I opposed it as a private citizen, and I will oppose it as lieutenant governor," Reed said. In past days, Reed has said he didn't know the origins of the millions that were paid to his firm, Century Strategies. But when asked to repeat that statement, Reed said the following: "I think I've acknowledged in the past that I knew that the law firm that hired me had Indian clients."