Titus Criticizes Gibbons With Moniker 'Cocktail Candidate'

State Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, the Democratic nominee for governor, called Republican opponent Jim Gibbons the "cocktail candidate" on Monday for attending a cocktail reception sponsored by the Nevada Mining Association last weekend in Incline Village, but declining invitations to a debate and forum sandwiched around the reception.

"Recently, we were out there in rural Nevada, and he was (in Las Vegas) attending a cocktail party at The Loft in the art district," Titus said, referring to a report in the Las Vegas Sun. "Last weekend, we were at the mining convention. He attended the cocktail party and left. So, the 'cocktail candidate' might be a good name for him."

Gibbons, speaking on the Nevada Newsmakers television program, said he did not attend the mining association debate nor the Nevada Planning Association forum in Carson City last weekend because he had other commitments, such as honoring Nevada firefighters on the eve of the nation's fifth annual Sept. 11 anniversary.

"I felt that it was important for me on the solemn occasion of the 9/11 anniversary to recognize the people who were out there on the front line every day, standing between us and harm," Gibbons said. "In this day and age, I think that was more important."

Titus also called Gibbons a hypocrite for airing a TV ad that is critical of her voting record in the Legislature even though records show that Gibbons voted for some of the same tax increases mentioned in the ad.

"It is typical negative politics," Titus said. "He is distorting my record and being hypocritical about his own record."

Gibbons acknowledged he might have voted for some of the bills he criticized Titus for in his ad.

"We are going to look into that and make sure," Gibbons said. "And if we did, she (Titus) has the right to be critical of us. But I have voted 50 times to cut taxes."

Records at the Nevada Legislature show Titus and Gibbons voted for increases in marriage license and hunting-fishing fees in 1989 and motor vehicle registration fees in 1993.

"His research people should have known that, and I think they knew that," said Titus, who plans to start her statewide TV ad campaign later this week. "I think that he just thought that he would not get called on it."

Gibbons defended the ad, saying those increases were only a few that Titus had approved in her 17-year legislative career.

"This ad is not negative," Gibbons said. "This ad is really to show the people of Nevada that Dina Titus can't say no to tax increases."

Some Nevada political experts said Titus' "cocktail candidate" charge probably won't harm Gibbons.

"Obviously, she is going to spin it that way," said David Damore, a registered Democrat and political science professor at UNLV. "But the people who are really paying attention to this stuff already know how they are going to vote. The undecided voters, the voters who will start paying attention in October, they are not going to care about that."

The Gibbons campaign could suffer from missing forums and debates, Damore said.

Gibbons has agreed to debate Titus in four major debates, the first to be Sept. 25 in Reno.

"When he (Gibbons) is not there, it gives her (Titus) the full stage with these constituencies," Damore said. "She can state her case without him trying to clarify or trying to frame the debate on his terms. In that sense, it's a bit of a loser for him. These constituencies (planning and mining associations) have some influence."

Russ Fields, president of the Nevada Mining Association, said Gibbons did not slight his group by turning down the invitation to debate.

"I take no issue with it at all," Fields said. "There are conflicts in schedules, and I don't expect these folks to drop everything just to go to the Nevada Mining Association convention."

"The response from the Dina Titus camp was 'Yes, we are prepared to debate,'" Fields said. "But you can't have a debate with just one person."

It is prudent for Gibbons to avoid minor debates with Titus since he has has agreed to four major debates, said Fred Lokken, a registered Republican and political science professor at Truckee Meadows Community College.

"His campaign is heavily managed, and they are picking and choosing the events that will either get him the best coverage or be able to have the best impact," Lokken said.

"It's smart politics," Lokken said. "The forums, depending on how many candidates are invited, are of very limited value. It gets back to the issue that since Gibbons is the front-runner, he wants to manage the number of head-to-heads he has with Dina Titus. Most every candidate on either side of the aisle would do that."

http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060912/NEWS10/609120360