Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

election 2012:

Obama, visiting Las Vegas today, makes up for lost time after storm hiatus

Obama-Christie

Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP

President Barack Obama, center, and the Federal Emergency Management Administration’s Craig Fugate, left, watch as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, second from left, meets with residents at Brigantine Beach Community Center on Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012, in Brigantine, N.J.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama dives back into campaigning after three days immersed in managing the federal response to the storm that battered the East Coast. The contours of the presidential race remain much the same, with Obama and Republican Mitt Romney locked in a tight contest and both campaigns predicting victory.

The president's advisers insist his break from campaigning had minimal impact on his standing. If anything, it gave Obama a chance to offer the type of comfort and command in a crisis that only a president can deliver.

Still, the Democratic campaign is seeking to make up for the lost time with a heavy travel itinerary in the coming days, including rallies Thursday in Wisconsin, Nevada and Colorado.

The president is expected to address a campaign rally around 2 p.m. today at Cheyenne Sports Complex, 3500 East Cheyenne Ave. in North Las Vegas. Doors are scheduled to open at 11:30 a.m.

Actress Eva Longoria and percussionist Sheila E. will join Obama at the rally.

Obama spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said that while the president remains focused on the storm recovery, "there is a reality of a political election happening in five days and he will return to the trail to make the case to the American people on why they should send him back for four more years."

The storm created headaches for Romney, diverting the public's attention away from the campaign as he was trying to build momentum. It also forced the Republican challenger to temper some of his harshest critiques of the president to avoid looking insensitive as people coped with the impact of Superstorm Sandy.

Click to enlarge photo

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, right, takes the stage with vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan during a campaign rally at the Henderson Pavilion Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012.

The partisan sniping continued this week from the candidates' surrogates and their running mates. Much of it focused on Romney's new television and radio ads in critical Ohio suggesting automakers General Motors and Chrysler are adding jobs in China at the expense of workers in the Midwestern swing state. Vice President Joe Biden said the spots were among "the most flagrantly dishonest ads I can ever remember."

Obama's campaign planned to keep pressing its criticism of the ads as it seeks to block Romney's prospects for a breakthrough in Ohio, a state every Republican has needed to win the presidency.

The Republican ticket hasn't backed away from the ad. Running mate Paul Ryan said in a statement, "American taxpayers are on track to lose $25 billion as a result of President Obama's handling of the auto bailout, and GM and Chrysler are expanding their production overseas."

In fact, Chrysler is adding 1,100 jobs to its plant in Toledo. It's also adding production facilities in China as demand for cars there grows. Because of trade rules, it's easier for companies to build cars for the Chinese market in China. It's also more efficient. Japanese automakers, for example, have plants in the U.S. to meet American demand.

Romney was campaigning Thursday in Virginia, while Ryan was appearing at events in Nevada and Colorado.

Ahead of campaign events in Virginia, Romney released a Web video highlighting a decades-old barbecue chain in Richmond that's shutting its doors. "When President Obama took office there was a lot of hope that things were going to change. Well, he didn't change anything," a woman connected to the business says in the video.

Biden had two events scheduled in Iowa. Obama was starting his day in Green Bay, Wis., making up an event that was canceled earlier in the week because of the storm. He had a rally planned later in Las Vegas, as well as an event in Boulder, Colo., a heavily Democratic area.

Aides said Obama planned to mention the storm victims in his remarks.

More than 19 million people have already voted in the presidential election, either by mail or in person. No votes will be counted until Nov. 6, but some key states are releasing the party affiliation of those who have voted.

Democrats have an edge in votes cast in Florida, Iowa, Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio. Republicans have an advantage in Colorado.

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