ELECTION 2008 :

Obama makes rare bid for rural Nevada vote

Some say strategy is flawed; organizer says wait and see

Monday, Sept. 22, 2008 | 2 a.m.

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Elko — Barack Obama stopped here last week for his third visit of the campaign, and joked that he should be declared an “honorary Elkonian.”

The Democratic presidential nominee has invested more campaign resources in Elko, population 16,700, and other rural Nevada counties — Fernley, Douglas and Carson City — than any Democratic presidential candidate in recent memory.

The Illinois senator thinks he can make inroads in the Republican strongholds and prevent a landslide for John McCain that could erase Obama’s expected electoral advantage in heavily Democratic Clark County. It’s a strategy that Republicans, and even some Democratic supporters of Obama, question, saying he should focus instead on Washoe County (Reno) when he visits Northern Nevada.

“If Barack Obama rented a house and lived there from now until Election Day, he wouldn’t move that county by five points,” said Pete Ernaut, a Republican consultant who grew up in Elko.

Indeed, Elko has resisted some of the Democratic advances seen elsewhere in the state.

Although Democrats have made massive gains in voter registration, in Elko they have lost 200 registered voters since the 2004 presidential election. (President Bush got 78 percent of the vote in Elko in 2004 and 2000.)

But Lance Whitney, the Obama campaign’s regional field director for 14 of Nevada’s 15 rural counties, predicted Obama would break through, aided by a national mood that’s anti-Republican. Also different this election, he said, is an organization the Obama campaign has been developing since before January’s caucus.

“The reason other Democrats haven’t been able to make inroads here is that they had no rural field program,” he said. “They spent no time there, no time on the ground with staff. Barack does. For the first time in the history of Nevada, a Democrat has focused a great deal of resources on very specific areas.”

In November, Obama unveiled an extensive plan geared to rural Nevada. It included support for Nevada’s mining and ranching industries, creation of a better communications network and help for small businesses. In his speech Wednesday, he said he had learned a lot since his first visit to Elko about the importance of mining to such communities.

Nevada’s population base is in Clark County, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by 96,000. Washoe County has about 5,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats.

If McCain wins Nevada, it will be because the rural counties provide a backstop.

But there are some positive signs for Democrats in the rural counties. In 2004, Democrats made up only 19 percent of voters outside Clark and Washoe counties. In August, Democrats made up 32 percent of voters in those counties, though much of that gain comes from the more suburban Carson City and Douglas County.

At Wednesday’s rally in Elko, there was anecdotal evidence that some longtime Republicans would be switching their votes, if not their parties.

“I’ve listened to him for the last nine months and think he’ll take us in the right direction,” said Donald Campbell, who said he had been a Republican voter for 40 years and never cast a ballot for a Democratic presidential candidate. Campbell said he is worried about the direction of the country, specifically the economy and the war in Iraq.

Steve Watson, a Republican from Carson City who drove to Elko, said the first Democrat he voted for was John Kerry. Obama would be the second. Watson, with his wife Anita, said they were voting for Obama because of the war. Their son is serving a second tour of duty in Iraq.

“Nevada is a swing state, and it shows he’s working the whole system,” Steve Watson said of Obama’s visit to Elko.

Some Democrats have campaigned in the rural counties, only to see their efforts fizzle. Most recently, in 2006, state Sen. Dina Titus spent time in the rurals but was clobbered there by Gov. Jim Gibbons, who had represented the area as a congressman.

Democratic Gov. Bob Miller, after first winning office in 1990, spent a significant amount of time visiting rural counties, working with leaders on ranching and mining issues, only to do worse there in his reelection campaign four years later.

“It’s difficult on the presidential level for a Democratic candidate to overcome the inclination of smaller counties in rural Nevada,” Miller said. “Should you disregard one area or segment of the population, concentrate more on your political strengths and bases? Or spend time going into the lion’s den?

“I believe in the latter. People respect individuals who they might not agree with on issues, if they make an effort to talk to them.”

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has argued that 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry could have won Nevada if he had put some effort into rural areas.

Whitney, Obama’s rural organizer, said the campaign is gathering support, even if voter registration in places like Elko doesn’t reflect it.

“Republicans have ruled for so long, people are a little afraid to switch parties,” he said. “You mark my words, when people are in a private voting booth, on Nov. 4th, to cast their ballot, they’ll vote for Obama.”

Tom Blankenship, chairman of the Churchill County Democratic Party, admitted he occasionally gets ribbed by friends for being a Democrat.

“Recently, it’s been a little bit less,” he said.

Discussion: 6 comments so far…

By peterclarke

9/22/08 at 5:44 a.m.

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Lets keep the facts correct, Junior Senator, Barack Hussein Obama. You point out that former Senator Phil Gramm, was chief sponsor of the law which repealed the Glass-Steagall Act.

This is an outright lie, as it was a bipartisan conference committee, supported by Democrats and Republicans and signed into law by Bill Clinton. Keep smiling...
By HonorTruth

9/22/08 at 9:48 a.m.

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Mr. Clarke, you simply cannot wish away facts.

Phil Gramm was the chief author of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, hence the top billing. 43 Republicans, including John McCain voted for this bill, 39 Democrats, including Joe Biden, did not.

From January 2000 to now the Republican's have controlled the Congress. The Democrats have had a majority in the Senate the past two years, but not a veto-proof one. So any legislation must also be supported by a number of Republicans. Hence, nothing gets done.

If the Republicans are claiming this crisis was caused by Democrats, why didn't anyone stand up and fix it? They've had 8 years. Why didn't they? Because these are the laws the lobbyists for Wall Street were happy to write, and happy to pay the legislators to ignore.

John McCain has spent decades in Washington, why didn't he speak up then? I thought he was supposed to be this maverick guy.

McCain has years of experience supporting financial institutions, not the customers of those institutions. And HIS Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac election connections? McCain's current campaign manager was the SENIOR LOBBYIST for Fannie Mae, and received $30,000 per month for five years to do so.

So, the notion that the Republicans are in no way responsible for this mess, or for fixing it, is quite a stretch.

I am voting for the successful guy raised by a mother on food stamps, not the guy who doesn't know how many houses he owns, and buys $450 loafers, and says the "economy is fundamentally sound".

We need the smart folks to get us out of this mess, and that is clearly not Palin/McCain.
By redferret

9/22/08 at 10:15 a.m.

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Besides, I tend to discount what certain people say when they just feel the need to include Hussein in every post about Obama. Am I missing something here? Is there another Barack Obama from whom we need to differentiate? Grow up people. We can no longer just elect people named Jack Johnson or John Jackson.
By jfnance32

9/22/08 at 12:39 p.m.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=n...
By jfnance32

9/22/08 at 1:04 p.m.

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I think Obama should campaign every day in Northern Rural Nevada.

Excellent strategy!!!!!
By stabill

9/26/08 at 11:39 a.m.

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http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.ht...

Sorry fokes: Democrats laid another 'bomb' for the Bush administration.

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