Friday, February 13, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Nevada's Republicans hear from 'Bush's political pit bull'

Ed Gillespie shakes hands with Louis Willis and Rosalie Williams after speaking Thursday at the Clark County GOP headquarters. Photo by John Gurzinski.

Democrats intend "to run the dirtiest campaign in modern presidential politics," Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie said during a visit to Nevada on Thursday.

In a keynote speech to about 250 Republicans at the Washoe County Lincoln Day Dinner, Gillespie said "everything's on the table."

"We know that everything means making slanderous charges against the president of the United States, funneling money to shadow organizations, engaging in voter suppression tactics and spreading lies on the Internet," Gillespie said.

The speech, which came two days before the Nevada Democratic precinct caucuses and one day before likely Democratic nominee John Kerry visits Las Vegas, coincided with the official start of the Bush-Cheney campaign's engagement with Kerry.

The campaign sent 6 million e-mails Thursday with a video discussing what the campaign calls Kerry's hypocrisy on issues.

Gillespie would not comment on an Internet report that Democratic frontrunner John Kerry, who is scheduled to visit Las Vegas today, had a two-year affair with a woman starting in spring 2001.

The Kerry camp had no comment on the Drudge Report allegations.

Gillespie at first said he didn't know about the report. He later acknowledged he was aware of the report, but said he did not have enough information to comment.

"Right now, I won't comment on it because I don't know about it," Gillespie said. "That doesn't mean if I know about it, I'll comment on it."

Local Kerry spokeswoman Erin Bilbray said the intern allegation was "simply floated because the president's numbers are so bad and they needed something to distract attention."

Kerry is set to arrive in Las Vegas today from Wisconsin. His visit will begin about 6:30 p.m. with a reception for fund-raisers at Perry Rogers' home. Kerry then will speak at Valley High School from 8 to 9 p.m. and is expected to meet with voters Saturday morning before Clark County's Democratic precinct caucuses at Chaparral High School.

Gillespie has been traveling the country in advance of other primaries or caucuses, spending time in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina during votes in those states.

He began his trip to Nevada on Thursday afternoon in Las Vegas with a speech to grass-roots activists at the Clark County GOP headquarters.

During brief remarks to local Republicans pledging to work as team leaders for Bush-Cheney '04, Gillespie offered nothing partisan and took no shots at Kerry.

"Nevada has five electoral college votes, and that was the difference in 2000," Gillespie said, noting if 10 votes per precinct had "gone the other way, we would not have won Nevada."

Gillespie was less subdued when answering questions from reporters about Kerry.

"He has a lack of judgment to where our priorities should be," Gillespie said, referring to votes Kerry cast to reduce defense and intelligence spending in 1995.

At the Reno speech, Gov. Kenny Guinn introduced Gillespie as "President Bush's political pit bull."

As evidence of Democratic dirty tricks, Gillespie cited a New York Post report about Teresa Heinz Kerry donating $50,000 to the League of Conservation Voters before that group endorsed her husband's candidacy.

The Kerry campaign said the Heinz Family Foundation often donates to environmental causes, but has not contributed to the League of Conservation Voters in the past three years. The campaign said Kerry won the group's endorsement because of his 96 percent voting record on the group's causes.

Local Kerry co-chairmen, state Sen. Terry Care and former Congressman Jim Bilbray, criticized Gillespie's speech.

"Nevadans want a debate over real issues like the Bush administration's belief that shipping American jobs overseas is good for our economy, the 3 million jobs lost under George W. Bush, and why he broke his promise and is shipping millions of tons of nuclear waste to our state," the statement read.

The state Democratic Party also hammered the proposal to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain.

Gillespie, 42, is a former director of 21st Century Energy Project, a consortium of groups currently lobbying on behalf of the energy bill proposed by congressional Republicans at Bush's request.

The energy bill contains $750 million a year in tax breaks for construction of nuclear power plants, among other items of concern to environmental activists and those opposing Yucca Mountain.

Gillespie deflected a question about whether Bush or Kerry was stronger on Yucca Mountain by saying: "Yucca Mountain will be an issue, but so too, will health care and jobs, terrorism and securing the homeland. There are lots of issues."

Gillespie also spent some of his visit defending Bush against charges that he did not show up for National Guard duty in Alabama during the Vietnam era.

He said Bush has answered all questions about his National Guard duty, and he again criticized Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe for saying Bush was AWOL.

"Terry McAuliffe has become the John Wilkes Booth of presidential character assassination," Gillespie told the crowd at the Peppermill hotel in Reno.

He suggested national media will reject a document showing Bush visited an Air Force dentist while in Alabama. "Well, that only proves his teeth were there, but do you have any proof of the rest of his body being there," he said the media will respond.

Democratic National Committee press secretary Tony Welch said Gillespie was "hyperventilating" and had not laid to rest criticism about Bush's military service.

"The president, and not a single Democrat, declared on national television that his military records would clear up this controversy," Welch said. "So far, the records have done just the opposite."

Carson City Bureau Chief Ed Vogel contributed to this report.