Site abuzz with preparations as campaigns seek upper hand

David McGrath Schwartz

Thursday, Nov. 15, 2007 | 6:52 a.m.

Outside Cox Pavilion on Wednesday, a woman walked briskly wearing a Batman-like utility belt stocked with makeup and other cosmetic paraphernalia. Political correspondent John King, with really nice hair, was spotted not far away.

A new world has arrived on the UNLV campus. Even in a town inured to big productions, today's debate among the Democratic presidential candidates will be unlike anything we've seen.

Inside Cox Pavilion, CNN workers and union laborers have been hustling since Sunday morning to set up the network's prefabricated stage for the 5 p.m. debate.

Lighting was checked. Student volunteers served as stand-ins, posing behind the candidates' lecterns so camera operators could practice their shots. There was a frantic search for someone named Lucy. And the lighting was checked again.

"This is not like a rock show," said Harold Saxton, a Las Vegas member of the stagehands union working on the set. "This is history in the making."

About 2,500 people, from UNLV and various Democratic Party organizations, will fill the color-coordinated room - red seats, blue carpeting, white lecterns. Reporters will follow the event from a media room below the stage.

The debate offers a chance for the campaigns to strut their stuff. The candidates' staffs and volunteers on Wednesday were busily working their phone banks, enlisting supporters to show up for photo opportunities outside the debate hall to demonstrate just how organized each campaign is.

It's all about the "viz war" - the contest to see which candidate's supporters are most visible. It stokes excitement among volunteers and provides an indication - or perception - to the media of the street-level strength and organization of the campaign.

John Edwards' campaign has constructed red letters 6 feet high to spell out the candidate's name, and there was lively chatter about the expected appearance on campus of Edwards supporter James Denton, the hunky actor from "Desperate Housewives."

By Wednesday afternoon, Bill Richardson's campaign already had hung campaign signs on most of the street poles leading to Cox Pavilion.

Hillary Clinton's campaign wouldn't reveal any big surprises, but said that because of rules restricting the size and location of signs, creativity was at a premium. (The campaign couldn't hide the funny hats that will adorn Clinton's supporters at the all-candidates post-debate political dinner at Paris Las Vegas.)

On Wednesday night, the party staged a sign-making party at its office - just across the street from UNLV - and planned for a pre-debate barbecue Thursday before marching over to campus.

Barack Obama's camp also was tight-lipped about its debate-day campaign plans, but offered one tease: The campaign was switching from the blue signs that dominate most Democrats' campaigns to red ones. The better to differentiate Obama's supporters, said his state spokeswoman, Shannon Gilson.

But the true, serious show will take place among the candidates themselves.

Josh McNeil, Richardson's spokesman, called the viz war an "ancillary battle."

"There might be a rivalry right now, but once Gov. Richardson is the nominee they'll be waving one sign," he said.

Sun reporter Charlotte Hsu contributed to this story.