Titus tours churches in election’s stretch run

Monday, Nov. 6, 2006 | 7:34 a.m.

Prayer is more important than politics, said Dr. Percell Church, Jr., the senior pastor of Zion Ministries in North Las Vegas,

Dina Titus agreed, at least she did Sunday morning, as she made a whirlwind tour of predominantly African-American churches in a final effort to turn out her voters in the governor's race. Like other candidates, who went to parades, tailgate parties, Hispanic festivals and just about any event where a few people were gathered, Titus made a final bid to win voter on the final weekend of the campaign.

Titus, the Democratic state senate minority leader, appears to have closed the gap with her Republican opponent, Rep. Jim Gibbons, whose campaign has been hindered by three separate scandals involving an allegation that he assaulted a woman, another that he hired an illegal immigrant as a housekeeper, and a third that he gave special treatment to a government contractor who donated to his campaign and took him and his family on a cruise. Gibbons has denied the allegations and recently posted an open letter on his campaign Web site thanking supporters while calling the charges "some of the ugliest, most shameful personal attacks ever seen in Nevada." He will close out his campaign today with a rally featuring Wayne Newton at his Las Vegas headquarters.

Republicans up and down the Nevada ticket remain confident that the Democratic wave that may wrest control of Congress will not wash over Nevada. Republicans here and nationally are banking on a sophisticated turnout operation to make sure Republican and Republican-leaning voters show up Tuesday, if they haven't already voted.

Titus, whose campaign has been financially outmatched by Gibbons, has tried to make up for it with hustle and grit. She hit six churches Sunday, led by Cordell Stokes, a visible civic activist in the African-American community.

Before she arrived, the congregants clapped, swayed and sang along with the powerful Gospel choir.

Titus veered from her usual stump speech and said Nevada is a place with too many walls: "walls of inequality, walls of injustice, walls of discrimination."

She didn't discuss specific policies, opting instead for rhetoric that seemed to fit well in the church: "Together we can raise those trumpets and lower those walls."

Afterward, the pastor said a prayer for her.

The African-American community, and churches in particular, have long been a vital part of the Democratic coalition. President Bush managed to steal away a few percentage points in 2004, largely because some blacks are conservative on some social issues, such as gay marriage. Ken Mehlman, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, tried to reach out to African-Americans last year, acknowledging that Republicans had used race in the past as an electoral strategy, especially in the South.

Democrats believe they will dominate among African-Americans this year, however, as Bush's approval rating among blacks plummeted after the government's failed response to the Katrina disaster.

Any victory scenario for Titus will involve a large black turnout.

Republicans believe they now own the turnout game, however. Karl Rove, the president's political adviser, is said to be confident that his party will retain power due to the party's sophisticated turnout model, which they call the "72-hour project." Republicans use complex software to find voters who are likely Republicans, just as a credit card company does the same to find potential customers. They've also turned to evangelical churches as an important ally in turning out their voters.

Republicans were being guarded over the weekend. Yale Cunningham, the executive director of the party, didn't want to comment for fear of giving away strategy, he said.

What's clear is that there are still undecided voters. Joe Heine, a Las Vegas cabdriver, said he was raised a conservative Republican and thinks the Democrats lean toward socialism, but he's conflicted because he's fed up with Republicans in what he called "the Washington crowd."

Nevertheless, he said he'll definitely vote.

As for which candidates, "whoever it is, I'll be holding my nose."