GOP chief calls Nevada ground zero for election

Kirsten Searer

Friday, Feb. 13, 2004 | 9:05 a.m.

Kirsten Searer

Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie went on the offensive in Nevada on Thursday, saying that Democrats have made it clear they plan to run one of the "dirtiest campaigns in modern politics."

Gillespie was in town to visit Clark County volunteers and give a speech at a Republican dinner in Reno on Thursday night.

Gillespie told a packed house at the Clark County Republican headquarters that Nevada will be a battleground state, and the party hopes to register another 57,000 new Republican voters in the state.

"Nevada," Gillespie said, "is ground zero in the battle for the electoral college."

While complaining about negative campaigning from Democrats, Gillespie used strong language to attack Sen. John Kerry's voting record.

Kerry voted for NAFTA, the No Child Left Behind act and the war in Iraq, but he now attacks President Bush on all of those issues, Gillespie said.

Kerry also voted for cuts in the number of U.S. troops and in money for intelligence, Gillespie said.

The senator, Gillespie said, is assuming that the American people are "gullible."

"I think that Sen. Kerry has demonstrated over the course of his time in the Senate and in politics that he's willing to say anything to get elected," he said.

Gillespie's visit came on the eve of Kerry's trip to the Nevada Democratic caucus. Kerry will be in town for a campaign rally at 7:30 tonight at Valley High School. He'll be at the caucus at Chaparral High School at 8:30 Saturday morning.

Kerry Nevada campaign co-chairmen called Gillespie's attacks inaccurate and negative.

Jim Bilbray, a former Democratic congressman from Nevada, and state Sen. Terry Care issued a statement calling Gillespie the White House's "favorite attack dog with a mouth of false, nasty personal charges."

In a statement, they said the attack is "proof that Americans are uniting around John Kerry's character, courageous leadership and positive vision to bring back jobs and prosperity, provide affordable health care for all and make America safer and stronger in the world."

They said the Bush campaign was trying to smear Democrats and called it a "right-wing slime machine."

Gillespie said Democrats are drumming up lies against President Bush, including charges that he skipped out during his service to the National Guard.

In a speech prepared for the Reno dinner, Gillespie called Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe "the John Wilkes Booth of presidential character assassination."

The White House has provided evidence that Bush served his time in the Guard, including new records released Thursday that show Bush visited a military dentist on Jan. 6, 1973.

Gillespie also defended Bush's stance on Yucca Mountain, saying the administration is continuing to look at reviews of the proposed nuclear depository.

Once Nevadans look at the entire scope of Bush's policies -- from health care to creating jobs -- they will support the president, he said.

"There are a lot of issues that are going to factor in," Gillespie said of the election. "And I feel good about where Nevadans are relative to President Bush and his stands on the issues."

It's not surprising that current polls that match up President Bush with Kerry, the probably Democratic nominee, show that the contest would be close, Gillespie said. There has been "$45 million in negative advertising" directly against the president recently because of the Democratic primary, he said.

"We anticipated this," he said. "We're preparing for a close contest."