Tuesday, Sept. 29, 1998 | 11:14 a.m.
RENO -- Stepping up his re-election campaign, Sen. Harry Reid says his Republican challenger Rep. John Ensign showed a "lack of maturity" in calling so quickly for President Clinton's resignation.
Reid, the Nevada Democrat seeking his third term, said he's withholding judgment on whether Clinton should resign.
"I do think that anyone calling for resignation before they saw a piece of evidence, before any transcripts were made public, before the president had responded - I think that was a little reckless," Reid said in an interview.
"That is not a real mature way of approaching things. That shows a real lack of maturity," he told The Associated Press.
Ensign defended his position on Monday and repeated his call for Clinton to resign.
"I think we are dealing with a very serious problem here. With what we know and what we already knew, to me, the honorable thing to do would be to resign," Ensign said in a telephone interview from Washington.
"And by the way, there are 100 other editorial boards at newspapers around the country that agree with me. I don't think that is irresponsible," he said.
Ensign's campaign manager, Mike Slanker, said Reid's attacks were a sign of desperation in a race that the latest poll shows is too close to call.
Just before the Sept. 1 primary, Reid had the support of 46 percent compared to Ensign's 41 percent and 13 percent undecided in a poll 838 registered voters. The Mason-Dixon poll had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
"Every day all he is doing is attacking me. He seems to have no new ideas," Ensign said Monday.
Last week, Reid, 58, emphasized his senior position on key Senate committees, warning that an Ensign victory could lead to nuclear waste being shipped to Nevada, something he's used his clout to try to prevent.
He also said he was leaning toward crossing party lines to support an $80 billion tax cut approved by the GOP-led House despite stiff opposition from Clinton and House Democrats.
Ensign, 40, an outspoken conservative who called for Clinton's resignation on Sept. 10, a day before the release of Kenneth Starr's report, accused Reid of using a double standard, given his call for Sen. Bob Packwood's ouster in 1995.
Ensign noted that Reid called for Packwood's ouster almost a month before the Senate Ethics Committee recommended the Republican's expulsion on charges of sexual misconduct, soliciting jobs from lobbyists for his estranged wife and obstructing a congressional investigation into the allegations.
"Before there were hearings on Packwood, Reid said he would vote for his expulsion," Ensign said. "In 1998, he says we have to wait until all the facts come out on Clinton."
Ensign said Friday he couldn't predict whether Clinton would weather the storm.
"I think it is too early to tell," Ensign said. "I think we have to seek the truth and we are committed to doing that. This is a very serious situation."
Reid said he won't decide before he sees the formal articles of impeachment whether he would support the president's ouster.
"At this stage, all I can say is that what he has done is immoral and wrong and I could use a number of other adjectives to say how wrong I think he was," Reid said.
"We are going to have to wait and see what the House comes up with in terms of the articles of impeachment," he said. "This should move forward as rapidly as possible. The American people are sick of this."
Ensign is the only member of Nevada's delegation to call for Clinton's resignation. Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., has condemned Clinton's behavior, but stopped short of urging him to resign.
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