Gov. Phil Batt hurried through his remarks on Idaho's housing agency and property taxes, then turned to something "personal" - his unprecedented nuclear waste deal with the federal government.
Despite Batt's best efforts, confusion has spread among voters over a Nov. 5 ballot initiative that aims to void the deal. Batt's deal allows 110 tons of highly radioactive waste to be dumped in Idaho over 40 years in return for a timetable for cleanup and removal by 2035 of that and most of the thousands of tons of waste already stored in the state.Before the deal was struck, the federal government planned to dump 190 tons of waste at the Energy Department's Idaho National Engineering Laboratory in less than 40 years.
Batt, a Republican, says the deal protects Idaho from unlimited nuclear waste dumping. He emphasizes that the Clinton administration has rejected requests from other states for similar treatment.
His adversaries, led by Stop the Shipments, say the agreement makes Idaho the nation's de facto radioactive dump and takes the pressure off the federal government to open a permanent dump at Nevada's Yucca Mountain.
Further, there is the question of whether the equivalent of a contract can be voided by an initiative. Idaho's attorney general says it can't.
The nuclear waste issue has defined the Idaho Senate campaign, as well.
Democratic challenger Walt Minnick opposes the agreement. The Republican incumbent, Sen. Larry Craig, supports it, backing legislation to create a temporary dump in Nevada that would help make it work. The bill passed the Senate, but opposition from the Nevada delegation and the threat of a presidential veto killed it in the House.
The nuclear waste issue has been debated in nearly every community of the state. Television advertising campaigns only seem to compound the confusion. Independent polling that once indicated solid support for the initiative showed a dead heat in early October.
Both sides say theirs is the way to force the United States to come up with a comprehensive policy to deal with the tens of thousands of tons of nuclear waste it has generated.
Batt argues that restricting further dumping at the Energy Department's sprawling eastern Idaho site and requiring cleanup and removal will pressure the federal government to find a permanent waste solution.
Stop the Shipments believes prohibiting all new dumping leaves the government no choice but to come up with a permanent policy.
Within 10 days after taking office, Batt was bombarded with angry telephone calls and letters because he agreed to cooperate with the Energy Department and the nuclear Navy on nuclear waste.
Batt's friend and predecessor as governor, Democrat Cecil Andrus, unilaterally closed the state's borders to waste shipments beginning in late 1988. Three lawsuits later, a federal judge essentially ratified his action when he stopped all dumping until an environmental analysis showed it was safe.
After feeling the voters' wrath, Batt quickly adopted the Andrus approach. But within months, the government was ready with its analysis showing resumed dumping was safe, and the Navy was building congressional support for forcing Idaho to take warship waste so submarines and carriers could get back on patrol.
Acknowledging the legal battle eventually would be lost, Batt decided to use the leverage provided by the Navy's immediate waste needs to bring the government to the bargaining table.
What resulted was a deal that even Andrus agreed was perfect in intent, if not in content.
"It is practical, comprehensive, honest, and above all absolutely essential to Idaho," Andrus said. "No one in Idaho wants nuclear waste here, but frankly, that is not really the question facing our state."