Nethercutt visits ML; slams Murray

Democratic senator bad for state, congressman said

MOSES LAKE — Hoping to spread a message of leadership and optimism, and drawing a stark comparison between himself and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, Congressman George Nethercutt, R-5th District, visited Moses Lake Thursday.

Smiling widely and talking without a microphone, Nethercutt told the dozens of people standing outside of Michael's on The Lake that he is proud of his record as a lawmaker and that the issues at stake during this election are life-and-death matters.

"The Senate has been a graveyard of good ideas," said the man seeking to unseat Murray and become the first Republican U.S. senator since Slade Gorton. "The state is falling behind with the lack of leadership from Patty Murray."

Murray, Nethercutt said, has shown poor judgment during her time as senator, voting against measures that could have made a positive impact in the state, and has not fought for Washingtonians.

"The American Medical Association says the state is among 20 with a health care crisis," he said. "She's voted against medical liability reform."

Calling his opponent a captive of the trial lawyer's bar and bad for the state, Nethercutt, a lawyer himself, said he wants his profession to be a proud profession instead.

Satisfied with his showing in the primary, Nethercutt said that the next 47 days were going to be exciting ones, leading him across and around the state.

"You are going to be part of making history," he told the crowd. "I am going to be the first U.S. senator from eastern Washington in 82 years."

The prospect of having an east-of-the-Cascades voice in Washington D.C. was a big part of Nethercutt's pitch Thursday, reminding the crowd that a vote in eastern Washington counts just as much as a vote in downtown Seattle.

"I need your help," he said. "We can light a fire under this state."

Nethercutt pledged to remain true to his principles of economic growth, capitalism and small business improvement. He then gave his take on a number of issues from the crowd.

"I blame Patty Murray for the lack of tort reform," he said. Regarding what he would do about the Business and Occupation tax, he said that since that is a state issue, he would vote for Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi.

"We get Dino Rossi elected, he is going to shake up the system," he said.

The Spokane lawmaker also touched upon national issues such as terrorism, describing as a "delicate balance" that between defending freedom and preventing terrorism. Once again, he mentioned what he saw as differences between the Senate hopefuls.

"Murray believes in defending the homeland at home. I believe in going after the terrorists so that they can't get here."

He then suggested a series of debates, one in each of the state's congressional districts, with his opponent, whom so far has agreed to two, one in Spokane and another in Seattle in mid-October.

"People deserve to look at us and analyze us side by side," he said.

At the end of his remarks, Nethercutt referred to his upset win over then-Speaker of the House Tom Foley in 1994.

"We won because we said 'let's register our friends; let's get out the vote,'" he said. "We can do this again."

Before heading to another campaign stop in Othello, Nethercutt defended himself from criticism by the Murray camp, which developed a Nethercutt-Vote-Tracker, which lists the number of voting decisions in Congress Nethercutt has missed out on.

Murray, Nethercutt said, just wants to criticize things that take attention away from her voting record.

"She does not criticize John Kerry when he misses out on votes," he said. "I flew back to vote on tort reform Monday."

Alex Glass, communications director for Murray's camp defended the senator, saying Nethercutt's record was questionable at best and that the congressman was "grasping at straws.

"This is a man who voted against increases for the troops," she said. "Murray voted to go to Afghanistan because she believes Osama bin Laden is an evil man."

Glass made these comments in reference to Nethercutt's calling "stupid" the words of Murray describing bin Laden as a heroic figure for groups of people in the Middle East.

Furthermore, Glass said that since Congress is still in session, Nethercutt should be in D.C.

"He takes a vacation and what he really should be doing is doing his job for the voters and constituents," she said. "He's totally ignored them."

Glass said the congressman has not said anything positive about his vision for the state or what he would do for Washington.

On the other hand, she said, Murray "has been a leader" in several areas such as lowering class sizes and increase funding for existing and future veterans' hospitals.

"She's proud of her record," Glass said. "Nethercutt is full of empty promises."