Labor leader joins anti-Ashcroft campaign

Thursday, Jan. 11, 2001 | 11:33 a.m.

The president of the international Culinary Union, which represents thousands of Las Vegas casino workers, is joining the growing coalition against Attorney General-nominee John Ashcroft.

John Wilhelm, who enjoys cordial ties with casino industry executives, told the Sun Wednesday that Ashcroft would not be a friend to the industry if placed at the helm of the Justice Department.

"I think it's a very bad nomination from the industry's standpoint," Wilhelm said from Washington. "His vehement anti-gambling views are well-known. We're going to do everything we can to derail that nomination."

Ashcroft, a conservative Republican with strong ties to the religious right, once called gambling a "cancer on the soul of the nation."

His nomination has led to a new wave of worries within the casino industry about the Bush administration's treatment of Nevada's chief cash cow.

Casino executives heavily backed President-elect George W. Bush's campaign last year, even though the former Texas governor publicly criticized gambling in his state.

Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association, told the Sun earlier this week that he fears Ashcroft's personal agenda might interfere with his enforcement of gambling laws.

Wilhelm agreed, saying gambling is more vulnerable to those in authority with anti-gambling beliefs because it's a regulated industry.

"I don't think it's of any great surprise that Bush would choose (Ashcroft)," Wilhelm said. "But I do think it's cause for great concern."

Wilhelm is a member of the AFL-CIO Executive Council, which voted in Washington Tuesday to fight Ashcroft's nomination over his right-wing voting record against working men and women.

The labor boss acknowledged that it will be difficult to stop Ashcroft from being confirmed because the former Missouri senator is regarded as having a great deal of personal integrity.

"He doesn't have any personal problems and as a former senator, he's entitled to senatorial courtesy," Wilhelm said.

The religious right, which has mounted a campaign against gambling in America, pushed hard for Ashcroft's nomination.

"Ashcroft was James Dobson's favorite senator," Wilhelm said.

Dobson, a religious right leader, frequently clashed with Wilhelm, when the two men served together on the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, which disbanded in June 1999.

Ashcroft, who lost his re-election bid in Missouri in November, has leveled several blistering attacks against the casino industry in the past two years.

His reference to gambling as a cancer surfaced during a February 1998 speech to the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Biloxi, Miss.

Several months later in St. Louis, Ashcroft blasted the industry at the convention of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, headed by the Rev. Tom Grey, one of gaming's fiercest enemies.

Grey is an enthusiastic Ashcroft supporter.

But others tied to the casino industry have strong reservations about the attorney general-nominee.

"There should be alarms going off at every casino along the Strip," one well-placed Washington source said this week. "Ashcroft has the ability to make life incredibly painful for the gaming bosses in Nevada and around the country."

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Bush's selection of Ashcroft "does not bode well for Nevada.

"I think it's quite clear that it is not an asset to the gaming industry to have him as attorney general," Reid said.

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., whose adoptive father, Mike Ensign, heads the Mandalay Resort Group, has declined to comment on the concerns about Ashcroft.

Both Reid and Ensign will have a chance to vote on Ashcroft's nomination.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to conduct Ashcroft's confirmation hearing next week.