Reno Gazette-Journal endorses Gore for president

Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2000 | 11:06 a.m.

Gore is more in tune with the country's needs and better suited than Republican Gov. George W. Bush to meet the nation's challenges ahead - "both domestic and foreign," the newspaper said.

"In the foreign arena, there is no question that Gore has the great advantage both in experience and knowledge," Monday's editorial said.

It singled out trouble in the Balkans, where it said Gore would instill more confidence in the American people.

"Bush's very average career as a Texas governor gives no indication that he is the man for this task. And no, he is not his father, and his father will not be handling foreign policy," the newspaper said.

The Gazette-Journal, owned by the Gannett Co. Inc. newspaper chain based in Arlington, Va., has endorsed former Republican Rep. John Ensign in his U.S. Senate race against Democrat Ed Bernstein.

The Reno newspaper joins the Las Vegas Sun in urging Nevadans to vote for Gore. The Las Vegas Review-Journal, owned by Donrey Media Group, endorsed Bush last week.

The Gazette-Journal said Gore deserves credit for being part of an administration "that has occupied the White House during the greatest economic boom that this nation has ever seen."

Gore has stronger positions on women's issues, including the right to choose an abortion, as well as on the environment, including a specific plan to protect Lake Tahoe, the editorial said.

The Reno newspaper criticized Bush's plans to drill for oil in environmentally sensitive areas such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and praised Gore's push to develop and use other forms of energy, especially for its vehicles.

It said Gore "sounds a lot more believable on the nuclear-dump issue," painting the Bush-Cheney ticket as a Johnny-come-lately to the issue.

"For a long time, (Gore) has opposed interim storage anywhere because of the transportation dangers. He is part of an administration whose threat of a presidential veto has kept this dangerous idea from passing Congress. Bush, on the other hand, has moved toward Nevada's side only lately, and only as the polls have shown the statewide race narrowing to a dead heat," the editorial said.

Cheney's announcement last week that Bush will rely on strict Environmental Protection Agency standards at the proposed dump site "comes very late in the game," the newspaper said.

"You don't want to put a lot of faith in the promises of a man who says 'I really do love you' only after his fiancee threatens to run away. ...

"On issue after issue, it is Al Gore will be best for this country, and that is the man who should be elected president."