Bush visit to Nevada rumored

Benjamin Grove

Friday, June 20, 2003 | 11:23 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush may visit Nevada as early as this summer in his first trip to the Silver State as president, a Republican source said.

Nevada GOP leaders have been trying to lure Bush to Nevada, and White House officials have signaled that the trip could happen in August, state Republican Party executive director Joseph Brezny said.

"In my talks with the White House it's not a question of if, but of when and how many times," Brezny said.

But White House officials, who routinely do not announce the president's state travel plans more than a few days in advance, would not confirm the visit. White House spokesman Ken Lisaius on Thursday said there was no Nevada trip to announce at this time.

Rumors that Bush plans to combine a visit with an anti-terrorism exercise at Indian Springs in mid- to late August are just that -- rumors, several sources said.

A possible Bush visit was news to Greg Bortolin, spokesman for Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn. No one from the White House has been in touch with Guinn's office about a visit, Bortolin said.

Bortolin is involved in the planning for an exercise called "Determined Promise" in August in which a biological terrorist attack is to be simulated at Indian Springs to give military, state and local officials response practice. A number of Southern Nevada emergency responders are to be involved.

"But nobody in our exercise has heard about (a Bush visit)," Bortolin said.

Two staffers for Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev. -- chief of staff Robert Uithoven and press secretary Amy Spanbauer -- also could not confirm the Bush visit.

Gibbons potentially stands to gain the most from a Bush visit, especially if it included a campaign event. The fourth-term congressman is mulling a run for the seat of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and would likely be the Republicans' strongest candidate. White House officials have nudged him to enter the race. Gibbons likely will announce his decision in August, Uithoven said.

Gibbons met briefly on June 5 with new White House political director Matt Schlapp, Uithoven said. But Schlapp did not specifically ask Gibbons to run and there were no detailed discussions of White House support or a visit, Uithoven said.

"No specific offers or requests were made in the meeting," Uithoven said. "It's obvious the White House would like to see a strong Republican candidate in the race."

Nevada Democrats said that if Bush came to the state he would have to answer for his decision last year to approve Yucca Mountain as the most suitable site for a national high-level nuclear waste repository.

"It's good for all Nevada citizens to be reminded of who is responsible for Nevada becoming the nation's nuclear dump," Nevada Democratic Party Chairwoman Rebecca Lambe said in a prepared statement. "President Bush should come here and he should try to explain with a straight face to all Nevada voters why he deceived them and why he is trying to make the state the nation's nuclear dumping ground."

Tessa Hafen, spokeswoman for Reid, added, "President Bush's action on Yucca Mountain spoke loud and clear. Nevadans won't forget that."

Bush visited Nevada once as a candidate in a brief stop at Lake Tahoe in June 2000.