Nevada GOP has long convention history

Some things, it seems, never change.

For example: The platform debates from the last time Republicans held their state convention in Carson City.

When delegates met at the Ormsby House 26 years ago, they approved planks opposing new or increased taxes, demanding Congress and the president balance the federal budget and opposing federal takeovers of public lands.

Those stands were mirrored in planks approved by the GOP this weekend, again at the Ormsby House.

"A lot of it seems like the same old arguments," said veteran Assemblyman John Marvel, R-Battle Mountain, after reviewing news reports from the 1974 convention.

Platform Committee Chairman Lynn Hettrick, the Assembly minority leader who represents Douglas County, agreed but said that isn't the state party's fault.

"Unfortunately, a lot of these issues are things you can't change," he said. "We would have made these changes long ago. It's just that the feds won't let us."

He cited the plank seeking a balanced federal budget through cuts in spending rather than tax increases - as prominent in 1974 as this past weekend.

The hot topic 26 years ago was the convention's demand that President Richard Nixon turn over tapes detailing his discussions with staff about the Watergate break-in. James Williams of the Nye County Republican delegation said that issue hasn't really gone away either.

"We're still asking for tapes - just from a different president," he said, referring to the battle over President Bill Clinton's personal and business conduct.

Much of the floor discussion in 1974 centered on the desire of Republicans to "see Watergate cleaned up" and convince the nation to move on - similar to arguments Democrats are now making to drop the continuing efforts to attack Clinton over Whitewater, fund raising and the Monica Lewinsky affair.

The 1974 convention also voted to support the Equal Rights Amendment for gender equity, which was hotly debated in both the 1973 and 1975 Legislatures as well as at the convention but never finally passed in Nevada. Opponents said it was an attempt to force women out of the household, away from their children and into the workplace and would actually strip away women's rights.

Margaret Drevdah of Reno told the convention 26 years ago that ERA would lead to "a breakdown of the American family."

In 2000, however, there was very little argument with a plank stating that "Every person has a right to and an individual responsibility to strive for equal opportunity." That plank specifically opposes discrimination because of race, religion, sex, age or country of origin.

Hettrick said there have been a few issues settled since the 1974 platform. A proposed ban on any state income tax is now a part of the Nevada constitution.

"And we finally established a veterans' home and a law school," said Hettrick, pointing out that those too were among the GOP's 1974 requests.

Williams said opposition to federal control of Nevada lands expressed in 1974 is still a major issue in Nevada.

There was, however, one plank approved in 1974 that Hettrick says probably wouldn't find as much support now. The delegates 26 years ago, "by an overwhelming voice vote," approved a resolution to give 18- to 20-year-olds the right to drink and gamble."

The resolution was supported by, among others, a prominent Washoe School District official who said 18 year olds already had the social responsibilities but were being denied the privileges of adulthood.

"I don't think that would go over so good today," said Hettrick, noting intense attention on juvenile alcohol abuse and federal legislation that would ban betting on college games based, in part, on reports of heavy gambling by college students.