State lawmakers have mixed feelings about Bush pick

Tuesday, July 25, 2000 | 9:48 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

RENO -- Conservative Republicans in the West cheered George W. Bush's running mate as one of their own while a top Nevada Democrat said the choice of Dick Cheney was a clear concession to the far right.

"I like Dick Cheney, but it is a typical Bush choice," Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Monday.

"He doesn't want to rock the boat. He wants to make sure he doesn't offend anybody in the right, right wing of the Republican Party," he said.

"That's why he doesn't go with Tom Ridge or somebody most people think would add some dynamism to the ticket," he said in a telephone interview from Washington.

Reid, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, said he doesn't believe Bush was ever seriously considering the Pennsylvania Gov. Ridge or others from the party's moderate wing.

"It shows they know they have a bunch of crazies in their party and they can't do anything to lose any support within the party. If they do that, it's history for them," he said.

Meanwhile, Nevada's lone Republican in Congress today praised Cheney as a highly credible, conservative Republican who understands the importance of the military to Nevada, home to two air bases. Rep. Jim Gibbons also said Cheney is empathetic to the needs of Western states.

"He's an excellent choice," Gibbons said. "He has a great deal of experience in foreign policy. He also understands the political relationship between Congress and the White House."

Gibbons, an F-4 pilot, met Cheney for a chow hall breakfast while serving as a Lt. Col. during the Gulf War. Cheney, then secretary of defense, met with a number of officers to ask them if they felt they had enough support.

Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho also said rural Westerners would benefit from the pick, especially in regard to public land issues and the environment.

"Dick Cheney is a conservative. There is no question about that," said Craig, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources subcommittee on forests.

"For the West, it is an extremely important choice," he said.