Kerry's mixed record on Yucca Mountain could haunt Democrats
In a political blunder that should have been foreseen, Nevada Democrats allowed Republicans to muddy their presidential candidate John Kerry on the Yucca Mountain issue at a bad time: during the Democratic National Convention.
Nevada Democrats had embraced the Massachusetts senator wholeheartedly for opposing the Yucca Mountain Project. U.S. Sen. Harry Reid said unequivocally in a May 12 Review-Journal article: "He's somebody that's been with us all the way on nuclear waste, every step of the way."
Well, that's not quite true.
The GOP, selecting just the right time, unearthed six instances between 1987 through 1997 in which Kerry didn't vote with Reid on Yucca Mountain issues.
Now, Reid is saying those votes are irrelevant, even though one was the so-called "Screw Nevada" bill in which Nevada was chosen as the only place to be studied for a nuclear dump. Another vote would have given Nevada's governor veto rights.
So did Nevada Democrats not know about these votes?
Reid says he knew, but "I honestly feel those votes were meaningless."
Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said she didn't know about the votes, "but at this moment in history, they are not important, they are not reflective of the man's position."
A fumble-free political strategy by Democrats would have been to pre-empt the GOP attack by revealing Kerry's mixed voting record early and stressing that when it was genuinely important, Kerry voted with Nevada.
Reid was serving in the Senate in 1987 when the "Screw Nevada" bill passed and only five Democrats voted against it. He knew Kerry wasn't one of the five.
It's tough to describe that bill as irrelevant after Reid once called it "an act of naked and unprovoked aggression" by larger states against Nevada.
But on Wednesday, the senator said the "Screw Nevada" bill was "just a study."
The effort to give Nevada's governor a veto was hard fought in 1997 when Reid and Bryan proposed it and Kerry voted against it.
In retrospect, Reid now says, "Anyone with half a brain knew that was unconstitutional."
These days, Reid makes a distinction between votes on studies and votes on where to place the dump. "When it came to siting, Kerry has always been there with us. When we needed Kerry, he was with us. When we needed Bush, he signed the bill."
Four years ago, candidate Bush promised he would rely on "sound science" to decide whether to store nuclear waste in Nevada. Then in February 2002, despite unanswered scientific questions, President Bush said: Send it to Nevada.
The Kerry team countered Wednesday with a list of seven Kerry votes in which he supported Nevada, calling one the "Screw Nevada Bill."
Will the real "Screw Nevada" bill please stand up?
The GOP research cited the December 21, 1987 bill; the Kerry research cited one taken Nov. 12, 1987.
The dueling "evidence" goes to the heart of the problem. Because of the number of procedural votes and amendments, researchers can cherry pick a vote saying someone is for or against something and have at least a kernel of truth.
In this case, the Republicans' research cited the real "Screw Nevada" bill. The Democrats cited an earlier vote on some of the same issues. Unlike Reid, former U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., conceded Wednesday that the GOP list of votes undercuts the Democrats' arguments. "Although Kerry is clearly the better choice for Nevadans on nuclear waste, it does muddy up his position," Bryan said.
But, Bryan also insisted, "On the critical votes where it really counted, John Kerry would be supportive."
In a Review-Journal poll released this week, 54 percent of respondents said Yucca Mountain has no influence on whether they will vote for Bush. The same percentage believe the state's leaders should keep fighting Yucca Mountain in court.
Count on seeing Republican political ads designed to make it harder, not easier, for voters to tell the difference between the two men's positions on nuclear waste.
In the end, Bush wants nuclear waste stored here and Kerry says he doesn't.
Democratic presidential contender Michael Dukakis came out against nuclear waste in Nevada in 1988, then switched his position when he thought it would help him in Minnesota.
Kerry is unlikely to switch, but his votes have swung both ways. |
