Columnist Jeff German: Nevada’s GOP silent on Yucca as Bush’s visit nears

Friday, Nov. 21, 2003 | 5:07 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION Nov. 22 - 23, 2003

Jeff German's column appears Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in the Sun. Reach him at german@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4067.

PRESIDENT BUSH continues to work hard to make Nevada the nation's nuclear waste dumping ground and leave us vulnerable to catastrophe.

And now he's coming to the Land of Milk and Money to take our cash as he seeks another four years to accomplish that goal.

Not everyone apparently sees the ominous irony of the president's campaign visit to Las Vegas.

A number of well-heeled Las Vegans, including some in the casino industry, are parting with big bucks Tuesday to rub elbows with Bush at a fund-raiser for his reelection at The Venetian. The Bush campaign, I'm told, hopes to collect $250,000.

Democratic leaders -- who like most of us regard the Yucca Mountain Project, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, as the biggest threat to the state's future -- plan to let the president know they're not happy about the way he has treated Nevada.

They've scheduled a news conference on Monday to air their feelings, and a sidewalk demonstration is planned at The Venetian on Tuesday.

But what about the Republicans who also are opposed to Yucca Mountain? The only thing they're doing is running for cover.

Key GOP officeholders expect to attend the fund-raiser for the Republican president.

They include Gov. Kenny Guinn, who last year traveled to Washington to veto Bush's order designating Yucca Mountain as the site of the high-level waste repository, and Attorney General Brian Sandoval, who is leading the state's legal fight against the dump.

Sandoval chairs Bush's re-election committee in Nevada and Guinn is a member.

Aides to Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Reps. Jim Gibbons and Jon Porter, both also R-Nev., said the only thing that would keep their bosses away from the Bush lovefest would be if Congress is still in session.

If they're smart, the Nevada Republicans will hope Congress remains deadlocked until Tuesday because that would give them an easy political out and save them much embarrassment with the voters, who are overwhelmingly opposed to Yucca Mountain.

There's no question that the Republicans are in a bind here. They are opposed to Yucca Mountain, yet they agree with Bush on many other issues.

And as GOP strategist Mike Slanker told me: "At the end of the day, he's the president of the United States, and he's going to be supported."

Still, it seems to me that this is one case where the Republicans shouldn't worry about being politically correct. The nobler action would be to take advantage of this presidential visit, like the Democrats, and let Bush know once more that they don't appreciate what he did to Nevada.

I find it interesting that seasoned GOP consultant Mark Brown -- whose Brown & Partners agency received $2 million from the state to lead a nationwide public relations campaign against the dump -- has been dead silent on the president's visit.

Brown & Partners, which works closely with Bob Loux, the governor's vocal Yucca Mountain watchdog, rarely misses a chance to needle the administration over the dump. I receive frequent news releases from the firm. But I've gotten nothing at all from Brown & Partners on the president's campaign visit. Even Loux has been unusually quiet.

If the Republicans want us to believe that they are committed to fighting Yucca Mountain, the most important issue affecting the state's well being, it would be a good idea to stop sending mixed messages.

They should tell President Bush on Tuesday that, if he continues to insist on sending deadly nuclear waste to Nevada, he risks drying up the Land of Milk and Money.