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In the recent Reno Gazette-Journal poll the economy topped the list of issues Democratic voters in Nevada care most about, edging out health care and the Iraq war. The environment, meanwhile, was a distant forth. Yet the passion stirred by the mention of the nuclear waste site at Yucca Mountain can never be totally discounted here.
So it was that Sen. Hillary Clinton found herself at UNLV Wednesday morning leading a discussion on the topic with academics and activists -- all uniformly against the waste site.
"The process for evaluation and approval of Yucca Mountain was as flawed as the site itself," said Clinton."When I am president, Yucca Mountain will be off the table once and for all."
That sentiment echoes the other Democrats in the race, who all say they oppose the waste site.
But Clinton tried today to portray herself as the candidate with the deepest environmental record and the longest record of opposing the waste site at Yucca Mountain. She also took the opportunity to tout her plan to fund alternative energies, and blasted the Bush administration for sidelining scientific research that doesn't support its agenda.
"It's imperative that the next president reestablish the integrity of scientific information," said Clinton. "We are grownups in America. We can take it."
Either way, the caucus this weekend is unlikely to hinge on the topic. But come November, expect Yucca Mountain to come up again and again, said Steven Parker, a political science professor at UNLV who was part of today's conversation with Clinton.
"No matter who the Republicans field, they'll probably be for the waste site, and no matter who the Democrats field they'll be against it, so this will be a lot more important in November," said Parker.
The Clinton campaign itself moved on pretty quickly. Even before the senator arrived at the Yucca Mountain talk, staff had handed out to press a briefing on Clinton's economic stimulus proposals and a memo that said economic issues will be the focus of the campaign for the next few weeks. Clinton was in Reno this afternoon talking about the economy.
Hillary has done nothing but lie and smear this entire campaign. There is only one person who has the right character and experience. Congratulations to Time for having the courage to tell the truth.
Time Magazine - Barack Obama's Political Experience - http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/...
In a news conference Deanna Favre announced she will be the starting QB for the Packers this coming Sunday. Deanna asserts that she is qualified to be starting QB because she has spent the past 16 years married to Brett while he played QB for the Packers. During this period of time she became familiar with the definition of a corner blitz, and is now completely comfortable with other terminology of the Packers offense. A survey of Packers fans shows that 50% of those polled supported the move.
Does this sounds idiotic and unbelievable to you? Well, Hillary Clinton makes the same claims as to why she is qualified to be President and 50% of democrats polled agreed. She has never run a City, County, or State.
When told Hillary Clinton has experience because she has 8 years in the white house, Dick Morris stated "so has the pastry chef".
Comment removed by staff.
Police weren't happy about recording their interrogations of murder suspects or having to study racial bias in traffic stops. Initially, they opposed both pieces of legislation.
But Obama made clear that something was going to pass with or without their support. Ultimately, police groups endorsed both bills and they won unanimous approval in the Senate.
Obama was generally regarded as an effective and practical, although decidedly liberal, state lawmaker. One of his Republican colleagues was so wowed that he has appeared in an Obama campaign ad, but others aren't impressed by his legislative record.
"I would say it was run of the mill, honestly," said Sen. Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, who entered the legislature at the same time Obama did.
Obama was a part-time state senator in that he served in the Illinois legislature at the same time he practiced law. He became a state lawmaker in 1997, four years ahead of Hillary Clinton's entrance into elected office, as U.S. senator.
When Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate, he said he wished to get things done rather than grab headlines, and cited Hillary Clinton as the sort of workhorse he wanted to be.
He teamed with Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., to study the dangers of nuclear proliferation and pass legislation meant to keep nuclear material from falling into the hands of terrorists.
Obama also joined with Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., after Hurricane Katrina to improve oversight of federal spending.
And he shared billing with a Republican presidential hopeful when he joined Arizona Sen. John McCain in sponsoring legislation that called for sharp, mandatory cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. The effort failed.
He had to train residents to stand up for their own rights," said former organizer Loretta Augustine-Herron, who was part of Obama's Developing Communities Project.
Obama left that job to get a law degree. Afterward, he returned to Chicago and ran Project VOTE. The organization recruited hundreds of registrars to sign up new voters, particularly within the city's black population. Registration jumped nearly 15 points between the 1992 primary and the general election.
The registration wave was credited with making Carol Moseley Braun the first black female senator and helping Bill Clinton carry Illinois in his first presidential race. It also got insiders talking about Obama as a political candidate.
Obama then spent several years focusing on the law, both as an attorney at a small firm specializing in civil rights and as a lecturer on constitutional law at the University of Chicago.
As an attorney, he was on the team that successfully sued the state of Illinois for failing to implement a federal voter-registration law. Obama also worked on case of a whistle-blower who lost her job after exposing waste and corruption in a medical research project. The whistle-blower ended up with a $5 million settlement.
Obama was elected to the Illinois state Senate in 1996, when Democrats were in the minority. He proposed hundreds of new laws, including universal health care, tougher gun control and expanded welfare, but saw most of them spiked by Republican leadership.
He did have some successes, though — particularly in passing legislation sharply restricting the gifts that Illinois politicians could accept from lobbyists. Illinois has notoriously weak government ethics laws, and the Gift Ban Act was the first major new restriction since the Watergate era.
Obama also helped set up Illinois' "KidCare" program that provided health care to children in families that did not qualify for Medicaid.
John Bouman, president of the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, said Obama's work helped make the program more consumer-friendly. He also said Obama was often willing to give up credit for the legislation if that helped win Republican support.
"It tells you something that as a relatively junior member in the minority party, he was an important negotiator," Bouman said.
When Democrats gained a majority in the Senate, Obama's political mentor, Senate President Emil Jones, gave him high-profile assignments, including two contentious issues involving police — videotaped interrogations and racial profiling.
Obama's campaign is funded by Yucca's backers. Clinton has always been opposed to Yucca mountain since 2001. If you dont want Yucca mountain, your vote should be clear.