Aaron Ford's future would look a lot brighter if he'd been more honest in the past.

Last Friday, Ford -- the state Senate majority leader and the Democratic candidate for attorney general -- sat down with Steve Sebelius of KLAS-TV, Channel 8, to reveal he had been arrested numerous times in the 1990s. The reasons for his run-ins with the police included stealing, public intoxication and failing to appear in court.

"These things are not at all indicative of who I am," said Ford. "I would hope that people are able to look at the body of work over the last 25 years of my life and be able to judge me on that and not judge me on bad decisions I made as a college kid."

Ford then went further, asserting it was "illegitimate" to discuss his arrest record as he seeks to become Nevada's chief law enforcement officer. That's some chutzpah.

But Ford's larger contention -- that he's moved past the mistakes of his youth -- is undone by his recent and repeated dishonesty.