Howard Dean thanks volunteers in Las Vegas

By Amanda Finnegan

Published Thursday, Oct. 23, 2008 | 2:15 p.m.

Updated Friday, Oct. 24, 2008 | 10:03 a.m.

Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean stopped by the Barack Obama-Joe Biden headquarters in Las Vegas today to thank volunteers and to remind supporters that the race isn’t over.

“We can’t win without you,” Dean told volunteers. “This is exactly how you win; by doing it one phone call at a time, one door at a time ... Early voting is a major part of our strategy and so far the results have been extraordinary, but we still have 12 days to go and we can’t let up.”

Dean stressed to volunteers that the election isn’t over until Election Night and that a key party strategy is winning the Western states.

“We do believe the road to the White House leads to the West. That’s why I am here. It’s why Obama is coming back. I’ve always thought this, since the day I took this job, that if you want to win, you cannot give up the West,” Dean said.

Dean said Democratic values are more "western" than Republicans think.

“Everything we’ve done in the last three and a half years has been leading up to this notion that we are going to win in Nevada and in Colorado and New Mexico, maybe even Montana," Dean said.

Rick Gorka, regional communications director for the McCain campaign, sharply rebutted Dean’s comments, saying Obama's proposals would increase taxes.

“For Howard Dean to claim what he’s claiming, it would require a logical person to suspend all reason,” Gorka said. “Barack Obama is proposing almost $1 trillion in new spending and he’s going to finance that by raising taxes on small businesses and taxpayers making as little as $42,000 per year.”

Obama has repeatedly denied those figures. He says he would give tax cuts to 95 percent of Americans and would raise taxes only on households earning more than $250,000. Obama says those upper income Americans would see their tax brackets restored to their level under President Reagan.

A Time/CNN poll released Wednesday has Obama in the lead, 51 to 46 percent, in Nevada while a Rasmussen Reports tracking poll also has Obama up by 5 points.

While in the Valley, Dean will be meeting with Democratic Party donors and elected officials before traveling to California for a fundraising event. The chairman will return to Las Vegas for Obama’s Saturday speech. The time and locations of Obama's appearance hasn't been released.

Dean's is the latest in a string of political leaders in both parties to visit Las Vegas in recent weeks. Sen. Fred Thompson stopped by the local John McCain-Sarah Palin headquarters on Tuesday.

Home News reporter Jeremy Twitchell contributed to this report.