Guinn stands by ad attacking Berkley’s comments

Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2000 | 11:02 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Gov. Kenny Guinn is standing by his television advertisement that blasts Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., for her criticism of the governor's senior citizen low-income prescription drug program.

"The governor stands by his comment and in support of Sen. (Jon) Porter," who is running against Berkley, Guinn's press secretary, Jack Finn, said today.

Guinn made a television add in support of Porter, praising him for backing the prescription drug program and criticizing Berkley.

David Cherry, spokesman for the Nevada State Democratic Party's Coordinated Campaign, issued a statement after the advertisement appeared on Las Vegas television saying the Republican governor is hoping to save Porter's rapidly sinking campaign with a "nasty personal attack" on Berkley.

"Gov. Guinn has become Jon Porter's attack dog, and he has shown the people of Nevada just how low he is willing to stoop in order to prop up Porter's failed candidacy," Cherry said.

Finn said today Cherry's press release is "too vitriolic and silly to warrant a response from the governor."

"This issue and Rep. Berkley's actions speak for themselves," Finn said.

In the advertisement the governor accuses Berkley of being dishonest and that she "threatened to stop us from giving Nevada seniors the help they need."

Berkley wrote an early letter to colleagues in Congress, urging support of a program in Medicare to provide prescription drugs for seniors. She criticized the Guinn proposal in which the state is contracting with a private company to cover an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 low-income seniors.

In her letter she noted that only one insurance company submitted a bid and that firm was not licensed in Nevada. In the second bidding, five companies submitted proposals, and one was chosen.

Guinn called on Berkley to tell her colleagues now that the Nevada plan is successful.

Berkley's campaign office said today that her letter to her colleagues never could have stopped the Guinn plan.

"It was Shelley's duty to point out the problems that had been faced by Nevada's prescription drug plan, when a nearly identical plan was being considered on a national level," the campaign office said.

The statement said Berkley is committed to comprehensive prescription drug coverage for all seniors under Medicare.

"Just because Guinn's ego may have been bruised by the episode (the first Berkley letter), it does not give him permission to mislead Nevada's voters by claiming that Berkley's letter somehow threatened the program's success," Cherry said. "I think he would have a hard time explaining just how that's possible when the program is entirely state run."