Berkley tries to use Limbaugh controversy to paint Heller into a corner

By Karoun Demirjian

Friday, March 9, 2012 | 2 a.m.

WASHINGTON — It’s March, and Nevada’s Senate race is already jumping the shark with attempts at political one-upsmanship — and you have Rush Limbaugh to thank.

And Rep. Shelley Berkley.

This week, the Democratic front-runner for U.S. Senate has used the conservative radio king’s recent tirade against Sandra Fluke, the law student and women’s activist who was barred from testifying about birth control coverage with an all-male panel before a House committee last month — to paint her Republican opponent, Sen. Dean Heller, into a corner.

“He uses his appointed seat in the Senate to push Rush Limbaugh’s agenda,” Berkley said of Heller. “Heller’s actions are much worse (than Rush’s words).”

Heller voted with most Republicans last week to repeal a part of the new health care law that requires religious institutions to offer coverage for birth control, though the institutions would not be required to pay for it directly.

Heller said it was an obvious choice to vote for religious freedom; Berkley charged that it was part of an anti-woman agenda.

“Women across the state of Nevada are saying enough is enough for Dean Heller and Rush Limbaugh’s priorities,” Berkley said, demanding Heller denounce Limbaugh.

When Heller did, about 20 minutes later — shrugging off her accusation that he’d been too silent — it didn’t end Berkley’s crusade.

“Dean Heller thinks Mr. Limbaugh’s comments are offensive and have no place in public discourse,” said Heller campaign spokeswoman Chandler Smith. “Congresswoman Berkley’s latest attack is, as usual, wildly off target. If she has a problem with Mr. Limbaugh, maybe she should attack him.”

So Berkley did: With a petition to the CEO of ClearChannel, which carries Limbaugh’s show.

“We the undersigned demand your company stop giving Rush Limbaugh a national megaphone with which to launch hateful attacks against women — like calling them ‘sluts’ and ‘prostitutes,’” the petition reads. “Dozens of well-respected companies have realized that associating themselves with Rush Limbaugh is bad for business. Yours should be next.”

She, of course, demanded Heller sign it.

There’s no word yet on whether Heller is considering signing — or if he did, what Berkley might then drum up as his next test of fealty to the women of Nevada. But the Limbaugh issue is only the latest game of political limbo that Berkley is trying to draw Heller into.

“It seems like it’s part of a general Berkley strategy to try to put Heller in these boxes,” said David Damore, a political science professor at UNLV, listing Latinos as another group that Berkley has tried to use to drive a wedge between herself and her opponent. “It’s a reach, but that’s what this whole thing’s about. … She’s trying to define Heller, and so far, she’s been much more aggressive than he has been.”

After months of silence, Heller has just begun taking shots at Berkley — mostly accusing her of driving up gas prices and demanding a reckoning.

The sniping comes as Congress has serious issues to deal with.

The Senate did vote last week on Sen. Roy Blunt’s health care amendment, which was inspired by the birth control-coverage controversy.

But now both chambers are chin-deep in massive transportation and small-business job creation bills — measures that could put thousands of Nevadans back on the job, especially in the decimated construction trades. Berkley and Heller disagree on several points of procedure and substance in those pieces of legislation — but any debate of them has been sidelined as the spotlight lingers on Limbaugh.

“Does it solve the big policy issues of the day? Absolutely not,” Damore said of the latest back and forth over Limbaugh’s language. “That’s politics, though, right?”