Friday, Oct. 11, 2002 | 11:18 a.m.
Sometimes the power of incumbency rears its head at the best time, even if its power is toothless.
Republican congressional hopeful Lynette Boggs McDonald has been airing television ads suggesting incumbent Rep. Shelley Berkley, a Democrat, has voted against veterans.
"My opponent voted in Congress against strengthening our borders after 9-11 and against a missile defense system," Boggs McDonald says in the "Army Brat" ad.
Berkley shot back from Capitol Hill on Thursday, introducing legislation to build a comprehensive medical facility for veterans in Southern Nevada -- an issue she has been pushing due to a structural defect problem that forced Del Guy Ambulatory Care Center to close.
The Veterans Administration has indicated it has not been able to find a single suitable location for a one-stop-shop type of replacement clinic.
Berkley met Wednesday with two VA officials and had a phone call with VA Secretary Anthony Principi, stressing that if multiple locations are found for the services, she would like the VA to provide transportation to the spots and only enter into short-term leases as it plans a single location.
Hours later, Berkley introduced a bill that calls for a comprehensive medical facility incorporating long-term care, surgical services and expanded clinical care.
The problem is that Congress is about to recess so that people like Berkley can get back to their districts and campaign for re-election. So her bill, which must first be referred to the Veterans Affairs Committee, has no chance of getting out of the 107th Congress.
Berkley says that doesn't matter because introducing the bill serves notice to the VA and gives proponents of the new center more time to prepare a case for the 108th Congress.
At least neither of the candidates in the 1st Congressional District appeared, a la Michael Dukakis, in a tank.
Candidates on trial
Republican district attorney candidate David Roger thinks he has hit upon a zinger in his race against Democrat Mike Davidson.
During last week's debate on Las Vegas ONE, Roger alleged that Davidson has had only one jury trial since 1985. He then sent out a press release highlighting that trial -- a 1998 case in which Davidson lost.
In the Las Vegas ONE debate, Davidson, the assistant district attorney, said he has had dozens of jury trials in the past 17 years.
Davidson said Roger, a deputy chief district attorney, is relying on shoddy research, and says his own records have already unearthed six trials since 1990.
Davidson attributes the difference to the county's public records system, which does not include all cases.
"The Blackstone System is not a case-management system and if you don't know how to search it, you will not find all cases," Davidson said.
But Roger already has a message for a new television commercial. While he has been putting "notorious" criminals such as Sandra Murphy and Rick Tabish behind bars, the announcer says, Mike Davidson has been "behind a desk."
Cliche alert
John Hunt wanted to come up with a phrase that sums up his commitment to the whole state of Nevada.
So it's with pride that he mentions how he'll represent everyone from Stateline to Jackpot.
And it's with repetition that he mentioned it three separate times Thursday during an hour-long televised debate on Las Vegas ONE.
You'd think he would concentrate on Southern Nevada where most of the voters are, but Stateline, at Lake Tahoe, and Jackpot, in northeastern Nevada, don't come anywhere near Clark County.
Help or liability?
Gov. Kenny Guinn admittedly hasn't been running a very aggressive re-election campaign, although he does now have the requisite TV ad and billboards.
But the state's official website (www.silver.state.nv.us) this week offered him a photo opportunity with the leader of his party, courtesy of the White House.
The shot shows Guinn meeting with President Bush in the Oval Office to discuss Yucca Mountain on Feb. 7.
Nevadans remember how Guinn's conversation fell on deaf ears and how just weeks later Bush approved the site 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas to store the nation's nuclear waste.
Republicans tapped
Assemblymen David Brown and Bob Beers have been tapped to participate in the Western Legislative Academy by the Council of State Governments-WEST.
Brown, R-Henderson, and Beers, R-Las Vegas, will take part in a December convention in Colorado Springs, Colo., for training. Admission to the academy is competitive and based on commitment to public service.
A rural tour
Candidates for statewide office tout their rural tours, with swings through Elko, Ely, Hawthorne, Winnemucca and Tonopah.
But Democratic congressional candidate Dario Herrera is doing a rural tour in heavily populated Southern Nevada this weekend.
Today he hits Moapa Valley, Saturday Searchlight and Sunday he'll be among the older folks in Laughlin fresh with an endorsement from Seniors United.
For the record
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