Editorial: Torn on U.S. Senate race

Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2006 | 9:16 a.m.

Many Nevadans, particularly those who have a moderate political outlook, have a tough choice when deciding which candidate to support in this year's U.S. Senate race - and we count ourselves in that category.

On many of the major national issues we disagree with Republican Sen. John Ensign. Overall he has supported how the president has carried out the Iraq war, a military campaign that has been disastrously implemented by the civilian leaders at the Pentagon. On domestic policy, Ensign too often is to the far right on the political spectrum. For instance, he has opposed a comprehensive approach to dealing with immigration and has opposed federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. In contrast, on many of the important issues, we tend to side with Jack Carter, the Democratic nominee.

Furthermore, if Carter were elected, it would make it all the more likely that Democrats would capture a majority of the seats in the Senate. The Democrats then could effectively block many of the president's extreme policies and advocate sensible policies more in touch with the mainstream. It also would result in Nevada's Harry Reid becoming majority leader, and Nevada would certainly benefit, including on such vital issues as fighting federal efforts to send nuclear waste here.

At the same time, however, we have reservations about whether Carter, who has only lived in Nevada for a few years, has sufficient knowledge about local and state issues and whether he would be as effective a senator as Ensign has been on these issues. Unlike on national issues, we usually agree with Ensign when it comes to policies directly affecting Nevada.

Ensign's crucial role, along with Sen. Richard Bryan, in helping create the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act, which allows Nevada to keep most of the proceeds of federal land sales in Southern Nevada for use in environmental and recreation projects, can't be ignored. He also has been a stalwart in fending off efforts by the Bush administration to gut this legislation by slashing Nevada's share of the funding when federal lands are auctioned off to the highest bidder. Ensign has done a good job in securing more funding to find ways to maintain Lake Tahoe's beauty. And he has been at the forefront in animal protection, including efforts in Congress to stop the slaughter of wild horses.

Both Ensign and Carter are fine men, but as we are very much torn as to who should receive our support, the Sun offers no endorsement in this contest.