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Sep. 17, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

McCain ads in sync with Obama's visit

Democrat plans stops in Las Vegas, Elko

By MOLLY BALL
REVIEW-JOURNAL
More Info


Volunteer Lea Artis paints a banner Tuesday to show support for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama at a North Las Vegas campaign office.
Photos by Jessica Ebelhar/Review-Journal



Volunteer Monique Ellis, left, of Las Vegas, and Barack Obama Campaign for Change staffer Bryan Pacheco of Chicago talk Tuesday at the Democratic presidential candidate's North Las Vegas field office. Volunteers and organizers came together to talk about the campaign and to make signs for Obama's scheduled stop today in Las Vegas.

With Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama scheduled to visit Elko and Las Vegas today, Republicans welcomed him to Nevada by hitting the airwaves with attack ads on English and Spanish radio.

The English ad, which the Republican National Committee said would air on Las Vegas and Elko stations, turns Obama's own slogan against him, claiming that it is Republican nominee John McCain who will bring change to Washington, while electing Obama will merely lead to "more of the same."


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    • Obama is scheduled to speak in Elko at 11 a.m. today, followed by a 5 p.m. Las Vegas rally at Cashman Field.

    Doors open at 2:30 p.m. for the Las Vegas rally, which is free and open to the public. Cashman Field, the 9,000-seat outdoor baseball stadium where the minor-league Las Vegas 51s play, is located downtown at 850 Las Vegas Boulevard North, near the intersection of Washington Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard.

    Tickets are not required, but the Obama campaign encourages those who would like to attend the "Change We Need" rally to RSVP online at www.nv.barackobama.com.

    Obama and McCain are competing hard for votes in Nevada, where most polling shows a tight race as the election nears in less than two months.

    In Elko, Obama heads into historically hostile territory for Democrats. In 2004, President Bush got four times as many votes in Elko County as Democratic nominee John Kerry.

    With less than 15 percent of the state's registered voters living outside Clark and Washoe counties, some strategists wonder whether it's worth a Democrat's time to venture out to rural Nevada. But Obama's visit there today is his third in the past year and a half he's been campaigning.

    Campaign spokeswoman Kirsten Searer said Obama is determined to "take his message of change to every corner of the state, including traditionally Republican areas. Republicans and Democrats are all frustrated with the past eight years, and they don't want more of the same."

    Picking up on the seemingly endless refrain of "change" versus "more of the same" in this presidential campaign, Republicans -- the party of President Bush -- are attempting to steal some of Obama's thunder with the radio ads timed to his visit.

    "Change or more of the same? That's the argument Barack Obama has been trying to make," a narrator says in the ad. "What about pork-barrel spending? In 20-plus years in the Senate, John McCain has never sought an earmark. Not once."

    An earmark typically directs a specific amount of money to a project in a lawmaker's home state or district.

    Obama, the ad charges, has "requested nearly a billion dollars in earmarks" since becoming a senator in early 2005. "John McCain and (vice presidential nominee) Sarah Palin will shake up Washington," it states. "Barack Obama: more of the same and opposed to real reform."

    The Obama campaign fired back by noting that McCain has been in Washington for nearly three decades and suggested he's part of the problem when it comes to the economy. Spokeswoman Searer said voters won't buy the idea that McCain, who has supported most Bush policies, can turn things around.

    "Just now, John McCain and his strategists have belatedly come to the realization that after eight disastrous years, Americans are demanding change," she said. "We welcome that debate."

    A different Republican ad is scheduled to start airing on Spanish-language radio stations in Las Vegas today.

    Echoing previous McCain campaign attacks, it charges that Obama tried to kill the compromise immigration legislation that McCain sponsored in 2006.

    Obama backed amendments supported by labor unions that some termed "poison pills" because they would have made the legislation less palatable to some in its fragile coalition of support. But supporters of comprehensive immigration reform consider Obama an ally, while McCain later backed away from the issue, which was costing him support from conservative Republicans.

    Contact reporter Molly Ball at mball@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919.

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    Chris wrote on September 20, 2008 06:30 PM: Who would make the better President?

    The guy who was the president of the Harvard Law Review, or the guy who can't remember how many houses he owns?


    Virga wrote on September 17, 2008 07:15 PM: "Virga asked: "If all American Citizens can speak english why do they run their adds in Spanish?"

    Given your inability to spell the three-letter word "ads", it appears that many illegals have a better grasp of the English language than you."

    You are right. So why Spanish?

    Many Criminals are smarter than me.


    Get a Grip wrote on September 17, 2008 04:59 PM: Gees, people. WAKE UP.

    Under Reagan, banks were told they were not lending enough money.

    Under Clinton, banks where told that if they did not lend more money, they would have their charters taken away (IE: licence to be a bank), because they were DISCREMINATING.

    Under Bush, nothing changed. The banks kept loaning money to people that 30 years ago, they would not be able to get a loan for a TV. But they were getting loans for $250,000 homes.

    This has been going on for a long time and it is not a Bush thing or a Clinton thing, hell it is not even a Republican thing or a Demacratic thing.

    So now the bills have come due, and everyone is looking for the Government to fix it, when they (DEMOCRAT AND REPUBLICAN ALIKE)are the ones that caused the problem in the first place.

    And it makes no difference who gets in, McCain or Obama, it is going to get worse. CAN YOU SAY AMERO? How do you merge Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. (IE: European Union)? They have to have parity. How do you do that?

    You either have to bring Mexico up, or take Canada and the U.S. down to Mexico's level.


    Lolo wrote on September 17, 2008 02:46 PM: I am sitting here in complete amazement over these comments. (laughing too) Thank you all so much because I wasn't sure who I was going to vote for until now. This is some good stuff. Obama & Biden get my vote!


    aaron wrote on September 17, 2008 02:00 PM: @ Aaron's a hypocrite as well as an elitist

    You said:

    ". . . . .at least it would have had you not used the improper form of the homonym "you're" in the last sentence of your diatribe."

    It was not a misuse of a homonym, I used "your" instead of "you".

    Have fun at your rally! Say hi to Harry and Barry for me =)


    Nancy wrote on September 17, 2008 02:00 PM: Jessie - Right ON! Nobody in their right minds would sign up for 4 more years of this craziness and McSame is just that! President Obama it is!


    Aaron's a hypocrite as well as an elitist wrote on September 17, 2008 01:37 PM: Gee, Aaron, you got me on that typo, and I'm sure your noting of it lent your argument the overwhelming weight of authority. . . . .at least it would have had you not used the improper form of the homonym "you're" in the last sentence of your diatribe.

    Sorry buddy. . .glass houses you know.


    aaron wrote on September 17, 2008 01:01 PM: @ Banging my head against my desk reading Aaron's ridiculous comments

    I am sorry that you think that expressing your political views and supporting your candidate are a "waste of time". Your comment has no substance. That leads me to believe that you know you are wrong.

    @ Aaron's ignorant and an elitest

    First off, you need to learn how to spell "elitist".

    Secondly, you really think that Obama is willing to walk across party lines? As for McCain, Democrats populated 55% of his political partners through the past two Congresses. With Obama, however, Republicans composed only 13% of his co-sponsors during his time in Senate. That is a hard fact to dispute.

    I hardly think it is appropriate for you to call yourself one of the "poor working folk". You shouldn't ever talk down to your self like that. Let your fearless "leader" do that for you. If you are going to call anyone an elitist, I think Obama would be an appropriate target.

    Have fun at the rally! At least recycle your flags once your are done with them.


    Banging my head against my desk reading Aaron's ridiculous comments wrote on September 17, 2008 12:20 PM: Aaron said: "The current financial market debacle is largely due to the tax increase imposed by our Democratic friends and their unwillingness to work across party lines to solve major oil issues we face."

    Aaron, this statement demonstrates your ignorance. You have no idea what you're talking about. I'm not going to waste my time debating someone as utterly clueless as you.


    aaron wrote on September 17, 2008 12:15 PM: @ smith

    Finally, someone who gets it. The economy was fine up until two years ago. The President is not the end all be all in our government.


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