Race For U.S. House Nethercutt Vs. Olson: Congressional Election Looks Like Referendum On ‘Contract With America’

Rep. George Nethercutt’s re-election campaign is in many ways a referendum on the first Republican Congress in 40 years.

He’s proud of what the House of Representatives, led by Speaker Newt Gingrich accomplished in reducing the deficit, cutting waste and reforming welfare. He blames President Clinton for much of what they failed to do.

Democratic challenger Judy Olson sees the last session in an almost mirror image: the Republicans pushed draconian measures and dangerous budget plans, and Clinton wisely kept some of them from becoming law.

But it’s also a choice between two very different people who have spent much of the last month trading charges and countercharges over Medicare, education funding and farm policy.

The two candidates, and their allies, may spend a total of $1 million on television commercials arguing many of those points.

Olson, 50, farms some 2,500 acres near Garfield with her husband, Rich, and three sons. She has been the state and national president of the Wheat Growers Association, and serves on the board of a Whitman County bank. She is no-nonsense and plainspoken, but has learned how to work crowds as the campaign has worn on.

Nethercutt, 52, is an adoption lawyer and former GOP county chairman who became an instant celebrity two years ago by defeating the sitting House speaker, Tom Foley.

Two years in the other Washington did little to blunt his Mr. Nice Guy mannerisms - he still says “gosh,” and not just when children are around - until the campaign started.

Barraged by commercials sponsored by the AFL-CIO, environmental groups, and finally Olson, Nethercutt is combative on the campaign trail. He called her and the unions liars and pointedly corrects any mistakes - real or perceived - in her statements and campaign literature.

Medicare has been the largest, and most expensive, point of contention between them. They agree the nation’s health care system for the elderly needs to be revised because it is going broke by spending more than it takes in. But they disagree on how.

Nethercutt defends an unsuccessful Republican plan to reduce the projected rate of growth in Medicare spending, from about 11 percent a year to about 7 percent. The savings would have been accomplished by cutting out fraud and waste, offering seniors more options, reducing some payments to hospitals, Republicans said.

Olson contends the plan would have resulted in cuts when the lower-than-projected increases were coupled with an increasing number of recipients. If people pay more or receive less, that’s a cut, she said.

She doesn’t propose reforms of her own, but says a bipartisan group in Congress should study the issue and propose a solution that both Democrats and Republicans can accept.

Nethercutt would eliminate the U.S. Department of Education, sending most of its money to the states in block grants. Olson says education is one of the nation’s top priorities and needs a cabinet-level champion.

Olson supports abortion rights. Nethercutt voted to ban late-term abortions in most instances.

Nethercutt voted to repeal a ban on the manufacture and dealer sales of certain military style semiautomatic guns - often called assault weapons. Olson supports the ban.

Olson opposes term limits, saying they are unnecessary when voters can oust a member of Congress at each election. Nethercutt notes he voted for every term limit proposal that came before the House - although none received the votes required for constitutional amendments.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: Where they stand …

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: THE JOB U.S. representatives serve two-year terms and are paid $133,600 annually. Washington’s 5th District covers all or most of 11 counties, stretching from the Canadian border to Oregon, and from Idaho to the center of the Columbia Basin.