Columnist Benjamin Grove: Bush doesn’t have good reason to visit Nevada

Benjamin Grove

Friday, June 20, 2003 | 5:59 a.m.

IT LEAKED last week that President Bush soon may plan his first trip to Nevada as president.

I wondered: Why?

Presidents do not visit states just because they haven't been there yet. They go because they want something -- a meaningful backdrop for a policy speech, or a vote in the Senate (in a recent visit to Ohio, Bush was not-too-subtly leaning on Republican Sen. George Voinovich to support his tax cut).

But typically presidents travel for campaign money or electoral votes. And while money is plentiful in Las Vegas, the votes are not. For Bush, it's probably not worth the hassle of brushing off Yucca Mountain questions for money he could just as easily raise in a friendlier place.

Officially, White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said he could not point to a specific reason that Bush has not been to Nevada, other than Bush is pretty busy and has a hectic travel schedule as it is.

"He is president of all 50 states, and he wishes he had more time to travel," Lisaius said.

I told Lisaius that a cynic might assume Bush was avoiding Nevada because last year he approved Yucca Mountain as the best site for the nation's nuclear waste dump. Bush is probably not eager to stir any lingering resentment over Yucca in front of the traveling press corps.

Lisaius called that conjecture "inaccurate at best."

It's possible a single issue like Yucca Mountain could contribute to keeping a president away, said presidential politics expert Bruce Buchanan, who is from Bush's home state of Texas.

But the University of Texas government professor said one dominant factor generally determines the president's travel plans more than any other: re-election politics. It's far more likely that Bush hasn't been to Nevada because the state is going to vote for Bush again whether he shows up or not, Buchanan said. And in the end, Nevada can only offer him five electoral votes anyway. "He's obviously steering toward states that Karl Rove and other key advisers think are pivotal in the next election," Buchanan said. "Unless a fund-raising source surfaces in Nevada that they haven't tapped, you aren't likely to see a drop-in from Air Force One."

It turns out Nevada is not alone. Despite criss-crossing the nation recently, there are still seven states Bush has not been to as president: Nevada, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Idaho, Vermont, Washington and Kansas. (That's according to Mark Knoller, a veteran CBS news White House reporter well-known for keeping meticulous records. The White House doesn't keep a running trips tally, a spokesman said.)

On the other hand, Bush has had plenty of time for Iowa (nine visits) and New Hampshire (two visits, by my count), where the first caucus and primary are held. Bush made his sixth trip to Minnesota last week. The president has been in the neighborhood, with visits to Arizona, Utah and Oregon. He has been to California six times mining for money, even though Nevada voted for him and California didn't. And Bush practically meets residency requirements in politically-crucial Pennsylvania (19 visits), Michigan (nine visits) and Ohio (nine visits).

Last week Nevada Republican Party executive director Joseph Brezny said "plans are in the works" for a possible Bush trip in August, coincidently, right around the time Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., is planning to announce whether he'll challenge Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.

"There is no cloak and dagger reason that he hasn't been to Nevada," Brezny said. "It's simple scheduling."

Perhaps. But it's also complex politics. And right now, with no Senate candidate to stump for and no sense that the presidential election would even be close, it's hard to see why Bush would want to visit the Silver State.