True or false: The reason why President Bush hasn't been asked to campaign on behalf of incumbent Republican Rep. Jon Porter is because (a) Porter has the race so well in hand he doesn't need to trouble the man in the nation's highest office or (b) the increasingly unpopular chief executive's appearance could swing the election in favor of his Democratic challenger, Tessa Hafen.
The answer is: It depends on whom you talk to.
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So it goes when you try to get a straight answer about anything in the increasingly bitter race between the only representative the 3rd Congressional District has ever known and U.S. Sen. Harry Reid's former press secretary.
Should the National Education Association, which is supporting Hafen, tout her experience in the classroom when she has only taught as a substitute teacher for a total of three weeks in the Clark County School District?
Will Porter, who has basically the same position on illegal immigration as Hafen, continue to criticize her repeatedly in ads for something she has never said?
If you hold your breath waiting for the truth to set you free on these issues, chances are good you'll die.
Though Bush is in Nevada this week campaigning on behalf of both Republican Sen. John Ensign and Dean Heller, who's running for the 2nd Congressional District seat, Porter says he doesn't want to trouble the man who helped him raise $400,000 earlier this year in Las Vegas.
"The congressman feels the election is going as planned and he doesn't want to trouble him," said Ryan Temme, Porter's press secretary.
Hafen's press secretary, David Cherry, has another take.
"Porter is Bush's lapdog, voting with him almost 90 percent of the time," he said. "And Bush is increasingly unpopular because of the war in Iraq. So having Bush here would just hurt Porter."
David Wasserman, of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said many Republicans around the country aren't calling on the president for help because of his unpopularity. "They're trying to distance themselves from him," he said.
"I'd like to know how other people know why Congressman Porter does things," Temme said, questioning the comments of pundits and Hafen's supporters.
Hafen says nobody can accuse her of doing anything to influence the NEA's ad.
"I did not tell them to talk about my experience in the classroom," said Hafen, who lists on her biography that she works as a substitute teacher.
"Under the law, they have to put that ad together by themselves. The NEA supports me because of my policies to enhance education, not because of my work as a substitute teacher."
Cecil Cahoon, an NEA press officer, agrees that Hafen had nothing to do with putting the ad together.
"She's not even allowed to review it," he said.
The ad, which accuses Porter of cutting funds for education, says that Hafen, helped by her "experience in the classroom," will take Nevada in a "new direction."
Cahoon said he had nothing to add about the NEA stressing Hafen's experience in the classroom.
"I have no additional information," he said.
When it comes to information on illegal immigrants, Hafen is incensed by the ads Porter runs accusing of her of favoring amnesty and illegal immigrants over Americans.
Both candidates have said they are against amnesty for illegal immigrants and favor tougher border security. And both have stressed, including in debates, that any path to citizenship for illegal immigrants must come along with fines and cannot come at the expense of those waiting to immigrate legally.
Porter refused to comment Tuesday regarding the ads Hafen says misstate her positions, but his press secretary, Temme, said the congressman believes Hafen won't take a clear position.
"We'll talk about what is in our ads when she answers questions about her position," Temme said.
"We've answered every question there is," Cherry said. "This is just an excuse for them to keep doing what they're doing: misleading people."
David Damore, an associate professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said Tuesday that Hafen can complain to the Federal Election Commission about Porter's ads.
"But by then, the election will be over," he said.
