Clinton boosts Democrats

Thursday, Oct. 31, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Democrats expect President Clinton's visit today will encourage a large Democratic turnout at the polls Tuesday and make a difference in several hotly contested races.

"It's going to have a tremendous impact," said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who planned to be on Air Force One when the president touched down at McCarran International Airport.

Gov. Bob Miller said Clinton's Halloween visit could mean an additional 3 percentage points for Democrats, such as state Sen. Bob Coffin, vying to unseat Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev., in Nevada's 1st Congressional District.

Democrats need a net gain of 18 seats to regain control of the House, which they lost in 1994, for the first time in 40 years.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has Coffin ahead of Ensign in its polls. But Nevada Republican Party Chairman John Mason said Wednesday that GOP surveys show Ensign 10 points ahead.

Coffin and other Democratic office holders and candidates were to be on hand for today's rally with Clinton at the Clark County Government Center, which was to feature a speech by singer Gladys Knight and a surprise appearance by Las Vegas tennis star Andre Agassi.

Nevada's other Democratic candidate for Congress, Spike Wilson, was skipping the rally.

Wilson, fighting an uphill battle against Republican Jim Gibbons in the conservative 2nd Congressional District, opted to campaign in Carson City during Nevada Day festivities celebrating the 132nd anniversary of the state's admittance to the Union. Polls indicate Wilson is trailing Gibbons by double digits.

Miller described Clinton's campaign trip, his second here this year, as a "terrific" occurrence, adding the president has proven that he's a friend of Nevada.

"This is a significant honor for a small state like us for him to come here four days before the election," Miller said. "I think he's never forgotten that Nevada was a state that voted for him four years ago."

Nevada Republicans don't share that opinion.

"I don't think his visit will have a significant impact on this campaign," Mason said. "The impact of the negative things he's done the past four years are enough to trigger a significant reaction against him."

Trying to put a damper on his trip, the Nevada GOP spent $7,500 on a full-page "Trick or Treat" ad in the Las Vegas Review-Journal today criticizing the president.

The ad, which attacks Clinton's ethics in a theme exploited by Republicans nationwide, was also scheduled to run in the Las Vegas SUN. But the SUN instructed the Review-Journal, which handles advertising for the SUN under a Joint Operating Agreement, to pull it from the SUN.

"Whatever your politics, it was very disrespectful to do something like that to a sitting president, and we wanted no part of it," SUN Managing Editor Sandra Thompson said.

Reid described the ad as an "insult" and said he believed it would backfire on the Republicans.

"It's not the type of welcome most Nevadans would want to give a sitting president," he said. "I think it's embarrassing to have these childish statements made about him."

Miller, meanwhile, said he didn't expect Clinton to shed any more light on talk that State Gaming Control Board Chairman Bill Bible is one of his three choices for a new federal commission that will study the casino industry.

"I don't think the president will rush the decision just because he's here," Miller said.

The White House has privately indicated Bible is one of the president's picks, but it has refused to confirm it publicly.

Clinton planned to arrive in Las Vegas about 12:20 p.m. from Phoenix and spend several hours here before taking off for Oakland, Calif.

He was to address the rally at the county Government Center about 1 p.m.

Though the president continues to pay much attention to Nevada, his Republican opponent, Bob Dole, appears to have written off the state.

Dole, trailing the president in the polls, has opted not to make a final campaign trip to Nevada, Mason confirmed.

Mason, however, said he believed Dole still would win Nevada, where the race is said to be neck and neck. Republicans hold a voter-registration edge of about 4,000 voters statewide.

Clinton