Giuliani gives Nethercutt a hand

By Jim Brunner
Seattle Times staff reporter

BETTY UDESEN / THE SEATTLE TIMES Rudolph Giuliani, center, speaks at the Fairmont hotel yesterday on behalf of GOP Senate candidate George Nethercutt, left, and GOP gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi whose hands are shown at right.

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At the Fairmont Olympic Hotel downtown, Giuliani appeared at a brief news conference with Nethercutt and GOP gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi before attending a private $500-a-plate fund-raising luncheon.

Sen. Patty Murray's campaign, meanwhile, hit back with support from firefighters and disputed a Nethercutt radio ad's claim that she had tried to cut the Coast Guard budget.

At the news conference, Giuliani did not go into detail about Nethercutt's record or that of his opponent, Murray, a Democrat. Instead, he praised Nethercutt's general support for President Bush and the war on terrorism. He noted that Nethercutt voted for the war in Iraq, which Murray opposed, and said the United States must be "on offense" against terrorists around the world.

"That is really the best answer to security, to have both an offense and a defense, not just a defense. George Nethercutt understands that," Giuliani said.

The theme of the Giuliani appearance was in line with Nethercutt's recent efforts to portray Murray as soft on defense.

	BETTY UDESEN / THE SEATTLE TIMES Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, left, heads to a news conference at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle yesterday to lend support to two Republicans, U.S. Senate candidate George Nethercutt and gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi.

Last week, Nethercutt launched radio ads criticizing Murray on port security, one of her signature issues. Murray has led efforts to improve security of port cargo containers, a program called Operation Safe Commerce.

Nethercutt said a better approach to fighting terrorism would be to give the military more money to pursue terrorists off shore. Ports, he said, should be a "last line of defense" rather than the first.

The ads say Murray "led the effort to cut the president's Coast Guard budget" in 2002. Nethercutt's campaign said Murray, as chairwoman of the Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, pushed a budget that provided $121 million less than the president had requested.

However, that claim left out $300 million from the Defense Department budget that Murray's committee also recommended go toward the Coast Guard. The total budget approved by the Senate committee for the Coast Guard was $179 million more than Bush had requested and $11 million more than the Republican-led House had requested.

Nethercutt spokesman Alex Conant said Murray could not take credit for that total amount because she was not in charge of the defense portion of the appropriation.

Asked about Murray's port-security record, Giuliani said he supports any efforts to improve port security but stressed that the main focus should be on hunting down terrorists overseas. "We're much better off combating the terrorists in Iraq than we are in the state of Washington," he said.

Giuliani was in town to headline business motivational seminars at KeyArena on Monday and yesterday. The seminars, aimed at businesspeople, featured an all-star lineup, including actress Goldie Hawn and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.

Democrats responded to the Giuliani visit by holding a news conference with firefighters at the downtown Red Lion Hotel on Fifth Avenue.

Kelly Fox, president of the Washington State Council of Firefighters, praised Murray's record of voting for more money for firefighters. "She doesn't need a Rudy Giuliani to come in here and give her credibility on homeland security," Fox said.

Jim Brunner: 206-515-5628 or jbrunner@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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