Columnist Jeff German: Negative politicking haunts Nevada

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

THE GHOSTS and ghouls of Campaign '96 have come out of the closet in the waning days of the election.

But if you've been watching television or reading your mail, you know that.

This year's negative campaigning, the most intense in recent memory, is enough to scare the living daylights out of any well-meaning voter looking past Halloween to Tuesday's election.

Take the latest example said to be hitting the mailboxes of about 15,000 Democratic households in Clark County Commission District C.

The cover of the black and orange flier says, "Trick or Treat: What are the scariest five words in politics today?"

"Clark County Commissioner Paul Christensen" is the answer inside.

A fuzzy picture of Christensen, accented by traditional Halloween figures, appears above his name with the word "Boo!" coming out of his mouth.

On the back, the mailer concludes: "Give yourself a treat. Vote no on Paul Christensen and put an end to 23 years of tricks."

There's no way to link the flier to Christensen's opponent, Metro Officer Lance Malone, because it doesn't disclose the identity of those who put it out.

Malone is sure to disavow it, anyway.

It's the kind of ugliness that has come to haunt this campaign season.

Both candidates, meanwhile, are running attack ads over the airwaves accusing each other of wrongdoing.

Malone is blasting Christensen for costing taxpayers thousands of dollars on a first-class trip to London with his wife.

Christensen is hitting Malone for "laundering" thousands in campaign contributions through the Republican Party.

Both ads are mean-spirited but typical of the campaign trash bombarding the airwaves.

The worst offenders on television are Supreme Court Justice Cliff Young and his opponent, Family Court Judge Steve Jones.

Young has hit Jones over a domestic dispute with his wife, and Jones has brought out a former deadbeat dad to accuse Young of being a "liar."

And Jones is showing no sign of letting up.

He's running TV and radio spots today rehashing an embarrassing moment for Young at the 1989 Legislature.

The ads take Young to task for making a "crude" and "insensitive" joke about women.

In the state Senate races, incumbent Ann O'Connell, R-Las Vegas, is implying in her latest television ad that her Democratic opponent, Steve Sisolak, is in bed with illegal telemarketers. He isn't.

And Sisolak is claiming O'Connell hasn't been paying her taxes. She says she has.

State Sen. Sue Lowden, R-Las Vegas, has misled voters into believing her Democratic opponent, Valerie Wiener, supports a state income tax. She doesn't.

Wiener has run TV ads alleging that Lowden's posh country club lifestyle has left her out of touch with the voters in her district. That's debatable.

During the next five days, voters can expect more such scare tactics.

In an election year, what else is there to get us into the Halloween spirit?

* Earlier this week, Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev., appeared on a television show with his Democratic opponent, Bob Coffin.

Coffin asked Ensign why he voted for a capital gains tax reduction measure knowing his family stood to gain millions in tax breaks.

Instead of answering the question, Ensign chastised Coffin for dragging his family into the race.

But as it turns out, Ensign himself has brought his family into the campaign.

His wife, Darlene, has sent an upbeat letter to voters in the 1st Congressional District praising her husband as a good family man.

No one doubts that he is.

To enhance her point, Darlene includes a glossy color photo of their two young children in the letter.

It's a nicely done package.

But a candidate who uses his family to promote his re-election shouldn't be overly sensitive when his family becomes an issue in his race.