Editorial: Ultimate double take

Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2004 | 8:55 a.m.

Informed viewers in Nevada will do a double take when President Bush's latest re-election ad comes across their TV screens. The pitchman for Bush ravages John Kerry' voting record on Yucca Mountain.

What?! Does the Bush campaign really believe Nevadans are that ill-informed? Yes, Kerry did vote in 1987 to restrict the search for a nuclear waste site to Nevada (but not to "establish" it, as the ad says). Subsequently, though, in votes strictly related to Yucca, Kerry voted against the project. Bush's ad goes on to focus on other yes votes cast by Kerry affecting Yucca issues. It distorts the truth, however, by not mentioning that these Yucca issues had been tacked on to important bills regarding other subjects that Kerry felt compelled to support.

While Bush has been on a mad dash to stick Nevada with Yucca Mountain, Kerry has sided with us. In 2002 Bush persuaded a majority of Congress -- but not Kerry -- to vote for Yucca Mountain. Candidate Bush in 2000 promised to use "sound science" in judging Yucca's fate, but as President Bush he abandoned the promise.

Kerry is four-square against Yucca; Bush is full-speed ahead. To suggest otherwise takes the worst kind of gall -- the kind that leads candidates to beat their chests while stamping on the truth.