Titus tackles North; Gibbons hits South

By J. Patrick Coolican

Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2006 | 7:20 a.m.

FALLON - Quick: Which candidate for governor was yucking it up with cowboys at the dusty Cantaloupe Festival in this small city about an hour from Reno, and which candidate was recently sipping champagne with a group of blacks in the Las Vegas Arts District?

It was the Democrat, state Sen. Dina Titus of Las Vegas, who spent the Labor Day weekend in Northern Nevada - at pancake breakfasts and a rib cook-off - trying to slice into her opponent's presumed advantages there and in rural Nevada. She talked about protecting rural water and the rural way of life.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., meanwhile, took the weekend off to see his college-aged son on the East Coast. The weekend before this past one, however, he was in Las Vegas trying to build bridges with the heavily Democratic black community. He focused on education and economic development.

Both candidates are trying to broaden their appeal as the campaign intensifies. In Sparks, the heart of what's called "Gibbons Country," Titus ate ribs from BJ's Nevada Barbecue, a Sparks institution, at a big holiday weekend rib cook-off.

It was a carnivore's delight. Crowds ate pork off the bone, and a booth sold T-shirts that read, "Vegetarian: Ancient tribal slang for the village idiot who can't hunt, fish, or ride." People waited in line to buy these.

Titus had trouble finding many Nevada voters among the tourists, but she did win over Pete Rathmann, the owner of BJ's. He expected to sell 750 slabs of ribs over the course of the long weekend, and like many voters interviewed, his praise for Titus was less about specific issues or ideology and mostly about a feeling he got from her: "She's doesn't strike me as a politician. I think she's genuinely concerned about what's happening in the state of Nevada."

Another Titus supporter, Barbara Korney, showed how immigration is resonating in both parties this year. Education is the most important issue, said Korney, a grandmother. She said immigration is the second-most important issue, and she blamed President Bush for inaction in stopping the flow of illegal immigrants.

At the Cantaloupe Festival, a crowd gathered to watch pig races, and people sat on hay bales while they listened to live music and ate fair food. Titus shook hands. She won over Carrie Cotchett, who works at a supermarket.

"We need a change, and it's time women take over," Cotchett said. "Everywhere you turn, you're getting gouged," she said, referring to energy prices in particular. She also resisted an ideological box, however, bitterly accusing some Fallon residents of exploiting the government's Food Stamp program. She took a Titus yard sign.

Mark Melrose, a retired community college professor who was working at the Churchill County Democratic booth, conceded that being a Democrat can be tough in the county. (President Bush won there by 45 percentage points in 2004.) "Democrat" has become a tough word to sell, he said.

Titus said she found voters in rural Nevada to be independent and willing to give her a look. Democratic Party leaders, including U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, say they hope to cut into the wide Republican margins, which, in this closely divided state, could give them a victory.

Mark Feest, an attorney and head of the Fallon Chamber of Commerce, said he hadn't made up his mind in the governor's race. He said he was looking forward to the four debates between Titus and Gibbons. He applauded Titus for campaigning in Fallon: "I think it's important for her to be here because it allows people to determine for themselves if she'll unite the state or divide it," he said, referring to Titus' reputation as a tough defender of Southern Nevada interests. He said rural counties are particularly concerned about losing water to the urban areas.

Titus said she grasped that rural Nevadans are afraid they'll lose their water - and with it, their way of life. She said she favored a water inventory so we can learn how much we have and where it goes, followed by a plan for sustainability.

She followed up with her trademark country wit: "They don't want you to piss on their boots and tell you it's raining."

Monday morning's pancake breakfast in Fallon offered evidence that for some voters, Titus will be unable to win them over, even if only because of her Georgia roots. Cindy Tedford, a retired teacher who lives in Reno, said, "I'd consider voting for Dina Titus if she spoke like a Nevadan."

For his part, Gibbons has been modulating his own speech pattern, softening it, if a recent cocktail party for black supporters at the SoHo Lofts was any indication.

He spoke expansively about education, although not in specific terms. "Education is the thing that moves all of us forward," he said.

Gibbons, a five-term congressman, also talked about economic development in poor neighborhoods. "We have to help those people rise up the ladder, but there has to be a ladder," he said, and, "This race isn't just about me. It's about the entire community."

Jim Denton, a Gibbons adviser, said the Reno Republican's camp believes that education will be the most important issue in the campaign.

Perhaps, but Gibbons has wasted no time trying to define Titus, buying considerable airtime with an ad that refers to her as "Dina Taxes." The message is unmistakable: Titus will raise taxes.

At the rib cook-off, Titus said it won't work: "He's not going to get away with this. He's voted for a lot of pork, and not the rib kind."