Supporters roar for Dole

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

Judging by the enthusiasm of those standing in line early today at the MGM Grand Ballroom, Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole will confound the pollsters and defeat President Clinton in November.

Dole was to address more than 1,000 supporters before meeting with gaming contributors at a private fund-raiser, also at the MGM Grand.

He is expected to raise $150,000, bringing to more than $600,000 the total he and the national Republican Party have collected in Las Vegas since last year. A fund-raiser in June 1995 at Shadow Creek, an exclusive North Las Vegas golf course owned by Mirage Resorts Chairman Steve Wynn, earned Dole about $400,000 and led a national magazine to dub him "Vegas Bob."

According to national polls, Dole will need today's cash infusion. A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll says Dole trails Clinton by 17 points. Politics Now, an Internet site produced by the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and other outlets, shows Dole trailing Clinton in Nevada by 5 percentage points.

But to those Las Vegans lining up to hear Dole speak, the race, with only 47 days to go, is still up for grabs.

Supporters stood patiently in a single-file line for more than two hours for a chance to hear Dole.

June Gatov, a retired Henderson banking employee, was seeing Dole for the first time. Asked why she supports Dole, she said: "He's more sincere and will do what he says he will do."

She predicted Dole will win Nevada because "it's coming down to a character issue. We're the kind of state where character and morals are important."

Retired Air Force Col. John Burt of Las Vegas said he thinks Dole will do a better job fighting crime and illegal drugs.

"Our current president hasn't done anything," Burt said.

Dole's Las Vegas speech was expected to focus on national issues such as crime and skirt Nevada issues.

In two visits since March, including this one, Dole has been reluctant to discuss controversial Nevada topics and has not indicated whether he would veto a proposed temporary radioactive waste dump at the Nevada Test Site, located about 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Clinton has assured Gov. Bob Miller that he will veto a temporary storage bill and would not support permanent storage unless scientific evidence indicates that Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, can safely store nuclear waste.

As he did in March, however, Dole dodged the topic upon arrival Wednesday night at a private tarmac at McCarran International Airport.

He had been answering reporters' questions about whether he could overcome polling statistics, and when he turned to walk away, a reporter asked if he would veto temporary waste storage.

Dole, who had arrived from Chico, Calif., on a private 727 labeled Citizen's Ship and appeared haggard after a full day campaigning, leaned his head toward the reporter, indicating he heard the question. He was contemplating a reply, but continued walking away.

Miller and other Nevada Democrats, sensing a political advantage, are intent on pressing the issue.

In a letter dated Wednesday to Dole, Miller underscored Clinton's opposition and asked Dole to commit one way or the other.

"Nevadans have the right to know where all the candidates in this year's presidential race stand on this critical question," Miller wrote.

The Sierra Club had also planned to protest Dole's visit to the MGM by displaying a "Toxic Bob Drum" outside the hotel.

Dole has made drugs and crime the main focus of his campaign swing through Western states. In unveiling his "Just Don't Do It" anti-drug theme, he has accused Clinton of doing little to combat drug abuse.

Dole, the former Senate majority leader from Kansas, says he would reduce teenage drug use by 50 percent by 2000.

A recent NBC-Wall Street Journal poll suggested Clinton and Dole are rated about equally able to deal with crime and drug problems. But a CBS News poll released Wednesday gave the advantage to Clinton on both counts.

Democrats have argued that the Clinton administration signed the toughest-ever crime bill that will eventually add 100,000 new police, including 174 in Nevada.