Columnist Jeff German: Dole says he’ll win November presidential race in Nevada

Thursday, Sept. 19, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

BOB DOLE came to town confident of taking Nevada in November, despite still trailing President Clinton in the latest polls.

Apparently feeling the effects of a fall from a three-foot platform in California earlier in the day, Dole appeared tired Wednesday night as he stepped off his campaign jet to chat briefly with local reporters.

Asked why he thought he would win the state, Dole responded: "Because I'm the best candidate."

Most major polls show Clinton ahead nationally by as many as 14 points.

But Dole told reporters he didn't believe the surveys.

"The race is tightening up," he said. "It always does."

Dole appears to be doing better in Nevada than the rest of the country.

One national tracking poll this week has Clinton, who won the state in 1992, only five points ahead of his Republican challenger.

And Dan Burdish, executive director of the Nevada Republican Party, said he's seen polls that show Dole leading the president in Nevada.

Burdish believes Dole's tax-cutting plan and tough stance on crime are playing well here.

But one key issue remains unsettled in the minds of Nevada voters, and the former Kansas senator did little last night to help his cause.

Dole walked away without answering a question about whether he would veto a bill to store high-level nuclear waste on an interim basis in Nevada.

Gov. Bob Miller, chairing Clinton's re-election campaign here, sent Dole a letter Wednesday asking him to tell Nevadans his position on the dump.

Clinton has scored big here by indicating he would veto the bill.

* It's been four months since state gaming agents said they wanted to put reputed underworld figure Herbie Blitzstein in the Black Book.

But as of this week, no nomination has come forth.

The State Gaming Control Board is waiting for the attorney general's office to complete its legal research.

Most aren't surprised at the slowness of the nomination process. Acquiring copies of court documents, in this case Blitzstein's felony convictions, doesn't happen overnight.

Still, banning Blitzstein from setting foot in gambling joints around town would seem to be an easy call.

The former top lieutenant of the late Chicago mobster, Anthony Spilotro, became front-page news again earlier this year after suspended Horseshoe Club executive Ted Binion acknowledged palling around with him.

When asked about his ties to Binion at a Nevada Gaming Commission meeting in May, Blitzstein asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and refused to answer questions.

With gaming under the microscope in Washington, it's rather odd that Nevada authorities haven't found a way to put Blitzstein's nomination on the fast track.

His case is exactly why the Black Book was created in 1960.

The goal is to prevent wise guys from having influence at casinos.

It's called protecting the image of the industry.

* House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, is making a return trip to Las Vegas next month.

Armey plans to host a $1,000-a-person fund-raiser for Jim Gibbons, the Republican nominee in Nevada's 2nd Congressional District.

The location of the event has yet to be announced.

Armey was here last June to boost the re-election bid of Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev.

* The Strip will be a cigar smoker's heaven this weekend.

The first Big Smoke Las Vegas Weekend gets under way Friday at Bally's hotel-casino.

The three-day extravaganza, hosted by Cigar Aficionado magazine, is billed as "the most exciting event ever for cigar smokers."

It will include giant smoked-filled parties on Friday and Saturday nights, seminars for cigar lovers, wine and coffee tasting and tips on, of course, gambling.

Cigar Aficionado Publisher Marvin R. Shanken, generally credited with bringing about today's cigar boom, plans to oversee the festivities.