Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Kerry brings message to Las Vegas

Democratic candidate ready to talk about Yucca Mountain, health care

Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, speak to a crowd on their way to Las Vegas on Monday in Williams, Ariz. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's bus and motorcade arrive Monday night at Bellagio. Photo by ISAAC BREKKEN/REVIEW-JOURNAL

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry arrived in Las Vegas late Monday with plans to spend about 36 hours wooing undecided voters in a critical battleground state that both major parties are strongly contesting.

Kerry's motorcade entered the state from Arizona, traveling over Hoover Dam and pulling into a back entrance at Bellagio about 11:50 p.m. Monday.

Kerry and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, will have plenty of time to meet voters, talk about the Yucca Mountain Project and health care issues, and rally the Democratic base before his campaign leaves early Wednesday afternoon for California.

They'll get the campaign equivalent of a laundry day: rest and relaxation at the Bellagio to recoup from 12 days on the roads, rails and waterways of 10 states.

His campaign arrived more than two days ahead of President Bush, who is scheduled to visit Las Vegas on Thursday.

This morning, Kerry will meet with pre-selected citizens at Cadwallader Middle School to discuss the federal government's planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. About 75 people representing nurses, first responders, community leaders, parents and environmentalists will take part. The discussion is closed to the public.

"We wanted to get a cross-section of people who are going to be impacted by the decision to store waste at Yucca Mountain," said Kerry Nevada spokesman Sean Smith.

He said he expected Kerry to "make a strong declaration" about Yucca Mountain. When Kerry visited Las Vegas in May, he said if he were elected president, "Yucca Mountain will not be a repository."

The Bush-Cheney campaign held a news conference in Carson City on Monday with Sen. John Ensign. The Nevada Republican again labeled Kerry a "flip-flopper" for the Democrat's 1987 vote to narrow the study of potential nuclear waste repository sites and focus exclusively on Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. That legislation was dubbed the "Screw Nevada Bill."

But Kerry opposed storing nuclear waste on an interim basis in Nevada in the 1990s, and in 2002 he voted with Nevada to sustain Gov. Kenny Guinn's veto of the repository. President Bush had designated Yucca Mountain the repository site despite a 2000 campaign statement that he would base any decision on "sound science, not politics."

Smith said he finds it odd that Republicans would question Kerry on Yucca Mountain.

"It's pretty funny to hear the Republicans continuing to bring this up because every time they do, it only serves to remind voters that their candidate is for Yucca Mountain and John Kerry is against Yucca Mountain."

After the meeting at Cadwallader, in the far northwest part of Las Vegas, Kerry will return to Bellagio to prepare for a public rally at the Thomas & Mack Center this evening.

More than 8,000 people are expected to attend the rally. The event is open to the public, but tickets are required. They can be printed from the Internet at http://www.nvdems.com. The doors open at 3 p.m., and everyone who attends the rally will have to pass through metal detectors.

Kerry will head to Henderson on Wednesday morning. He is scheduled to speak about prescription drug costs and the high number of uninsured Nevadans during a meeting with pre-screened attendees at the Valley View Recreation Center. The discussion is closed to the public.

The center is in the heart of the 3rd Congressional District, which has one of the nation's tightest margins between registered Democrats and Republicans. It holds the potential for a close race between freshman Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., and Tom Gallagher, a Democratic challenger. Gallagher has made prescription drug benefits and Medicare reform one of the key issues in his race.

Kerry arrived in Las Vegas after a tour of the Grand Canyon on Monday and remarks in Kingman, Ariz., where the campaign traded its train for buses. Kerry addressed the Kingman crowd of about 5,000 people from a flatbed truck parked between the railroad tracks and Historic Route 66. "I can't tell you how great it is to be in the heart of Route 66 and the mother road of America," Kerry said.

Kerry spoke of improving education and making health care affordable for all Americans. He said he would establish a $20 billion fund to harness alternative and renewable fuels to rid the nation of its reliance on oil from the Middle East. He promised to improve the military and intelligence agencies and partner with other countries to combat terrorism.

Temperatures above 100 degrees took a toll as some in the crowd waited more than two hours for Kerry's visit. Paramedics tended to at least a dozen people, many of them senior citizens, after they fell ill from the heat.

Nevada is being courted by both campaigns. Monday's arrival marks Kerry's third visit this year.

Kerry spoke at a public rally Feb. 13, spent the night at Mandalay Bay and briefly met with voters outside Nevada's presidential caucuses Feb. 14. He spent most of the day in Las Vegas on May 16, speaking at the Teamsters convention and raising money during two events at the Four Seasons.

Bush was in Las Vegas in November for a speech on Medicare reform and a fund-raiser at The Venetian. He spoke June 18 in Reno and is planning to speak at the Carpenters Union International Training Center on Thursday morning.

Vice President Dick Cheney has been in Nevada three times this year, and first lady Laura Bush has been in the state twice.

Bush's political director, Karl Rove, Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie and Bush-Cheney Chairman Marc Racicot have campaigned in Nevada this year.

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros has been in Nevada twice this year courting Hispanic voters for Kerry. A number of third-party groups, including MoveOn.org and America Coming Together have also been visible in Nevada.

On Monday morning, about 12 volunteers of MoveOn's PAC -- some in hazardous waste suits -- presented 3,000 signatures to the state Republican Party asking it to renew opposition to the Yucca Mountain Project.

"We think we really do have a chance to stop Yucca Mountain this election year," said MoveOn's Charlie Eaton.

Republicans aren't organizing any visible protests of Kerry today or Wednesday. This morning the state Republican Party had planned a pancake breakfast -- just like it did during Kerry's May trip -- to "highlight his flip-flopping record," Carr said.

At Ensign's news conference Monday, the Bush campaign showed a videotape focusing on the Iraq war and different votes and statements Kerry has made about the war. The tape will be shown at the breakfast, which begins at 9 a.m. at 8625 W. Sahara Ave., near Durango Drive.

"It's someone who will say whatever it takes to get elected in whichever state he visits," Bush-Cheney regional spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt said.

Review-Journal writer Antonio Planas, Review-Journal correspondent Dave Hawkins and The Associated Press contributed to this report.