10 questions for U.S. Rep. Jon Porter

LAS VEGAS -- Facing probably the toughest reelection campaign of his career, U.S. Rep. Jon Porter (R-Boulder City) took some time last week to answer PolitickerNV.com's questions about the state of his race, his opponent and the man heading up the Republican ticket this fall.

PolitickerNV.com: Your opponent, state Sen. Dina Titus, has been hitting the district pretty hard and Democrats launched their coordinated campaign in your district last weekend. Is your D.C. schedule hurting your ability to campaign for reelection and are you afraid the Democrats are getting a head start on campaigning against you?

U.S. Rep. Jon Porter: Actually, we started knocking on doors in January, so we've been systematically knocking on doors since the first of the year. With a district like CD3, four or five thousand new people a month, we're constantly getting to know our voters and it's something that we just do and literally we started after the last campaign. So, the Democrats, I'm not sure about how they're coordinated-there are penalties involved with coordinating campaigns-but we've been knocking on doors and campaigning literally every day since January, but we started right after the last campaign so actually I think they're a little behind.

NV: Titus held a press conference with the DCCC chair recently in which she hit you for rising gas prices, saying your votes with the Bush administration's energy policies have contributed to the rise. What's your response to that line of attack?

JP: What's really interesting is that since Democrats took over congress, gas has gone up almost $2 a gallon. So I think they need to look in their own backyard. What they want to do is raise taxes in order to lower prices and I think the last thing that Nevada drivers want is to pay more at the pump. So, in a time when families are struggling to pay their bills and struggling to buy gas, the price per gallon has gone up almost $2 a gallon. The Democrats are doing something wrong. We're persisting in looking for additional resources and they don't want to talk about additional resources. I really believe that if we start exploring for energy in the U.S. today, the price per gallon would drop. They don't want to do that, they won't budge on that.

NV: You have said before that the U.S. needs to drill in places like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. At that press conference, Titus referenced a Department of Energy report that said drilling in ANWR would lower gas prices only 1 cent per gallon in twenty years-

JP: You know, I think Professor Titus should be doing her homework. President Clinton had vetoed exploration for energy in the northwest ten years ago and it's too bad that he decided to veto it. He said the same thing, he said it would take ten years. Well, here we are ten years later, so I think Professor Titus needs to do her homework.

NV: Conservative activist Chuck Muth issued an analysis last week that found that Titus voted more conservatively in the state senate than many Republican senators last year. Will this make it harder to label her as too liberal in your race?

JP: From what I understand, she raised taxes twenty-six times.

NV: Your party's presidential nominee, Ariz. Sen. John McCain hit congressional Republicans pretty hard in Reno last month for voting to override President Bush's veto of the Farm Bill and for voting for an emergency spending bill with additional spending attached-

JP: He's also supporting Yucca Mountain, so we're not always going to agree. That is something we just don't agree on. Of course there are things that we will, but we just don't agree. I think it's important for Nevada families. We need it for schools and progress for those who need help the most. I just don't agree with him.

NV: Will it be harder running for reelection in CD3 with a man at the top of the ticket with whom you have so many disagreements?

JP: No, actually I think he's the right guy for the job. He is a great candidate. He has the ability to cross party lines and to fight for those problems. Here is a guy that was literally, physically abused for seven years during the Vietnam War, so it's proved that he's up to fighting the special interests and the lobbyists. I think he's the right guy for the job. You know Obama, speaking of liberal, is one of the most liberal members of the senate. He has no experience whatsoever in crossing party lines. You know, Mr. Obama has suggested there's change. The only change that we've seen under Democratic leadership is $2 higher a gallon gas and the largest tax increase in the history of the country. So I have great respect for Mr. McCain, he and I won't always agree, but what I see from Obama is more of the same and the change that he wants is higher gas prices and higher taxes.

NV: Many Nevada Republicans are frustrated and angry by Gov. Gibbons' current misfortunes. Will his troubles affect your race?

JP: I think voters look very closely at who they vote for and they look at what a candidate brings. I say that people are going to vote for me based upon the success I've had fixing problems in Nevada and that's where I think they'll put their focus.

NV: So you don't expect his situation to affect your race at all?

JP: I think people are going to focus on the differences between Professor Titus and me. And they'll make that decision based on who they think will do the best job. I'm proud of the solutions that I've found that help our community. And here's another thing, Obama and McCain differ publicly on Yucca Mountain, but I would ask Obama right now, he could stop Yucca Mountain today if he was serious. The Democrats are in charge of both houses of congress. If Obama was serious about stopping Yucca Mountain, today he has the ability. He is in charge.

Like I said at the county building, if he was serious he would begin working with [Sens. Reid and Ensign] to see it killed. I've seen no indication other than lip service. Democrats are in charge. Obama could kill it today if he wanted to. He should help Sen. Ensign and Sen. Reid do that.

NV: So, you're okay with having a candidate at the top of your ticket who publicly supports Yucca Mountain?

JP: I don't agree with him, but I think they aren't being honest about it. Bill Clinton spent $9 billion building Yucca Mountain and Bush continued Bill Clinton's legacy. So, I don't agree. Both Democrats and Republicans have tried to hurt Nevada, but it should be the Clinton-Bush legacy, because they both built it.

NV: The end of the quarter is coming up. How is your fundraising coming?

JP: Great. It's one of those things that is a necessary part of the campaign. It's going real well and we have another four weeks. It's going very well, it's very good.