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Mary Altaffer / AP
Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. gestures as he speaks during a campaign event, Monday, Nov. 5, 2012 in Reno, Nev.
By Anjeanette Damon (contact) 
Published Monday, Nov. 5, 2012 | 6:57 a.m.
Updated Monday, Nov. 5, 2012 | 9:46 a.m.
Sun coverage
RENO — Republican vice presidential running mate Paul Ryan briefly touched down here today, the first stop in a "barnstormer" final day of campaigning to convince Nevadans they still have the power to deliver the presidency to Mitt Romney.
"Nevada we are counting on you," he told a cheering crowd inside an aviation hanger at the Reno airport. "We know you can do this. We can do this together. Lets run through the tape. Lets leave it all on the field."
Ryan's visit is the second to critical Washoe County in four days — a move Republicans hope will disspel the growing notion that Nevada may have slipped off the map of battleground states.
"So many Americans are looking to you right here in Reno to make sure you cast your vote for actual real change, to get us off this dangerous path we’re on," he said.
Ryan is the only one of the four men atop the presidential ballot to spend time on election eve in Nevada.
This weekend, Republican Mitt Romney and Democrat Barack Obama both spent a grueling 72 hours campaigning in states that appear close enough to be won by either man.
Romney pushed through New Hampshire, Florida, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Ohio. More than once, the two candidates literally crossed paths on the tarmacs at swing state airports.
Obama focused this weekend on Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, New Hampshire and Florida.
Noticeably absent from the list of either candidate: Nevada.
The Silver State has spent nearly the entire electing basking in the glow of battleground status. At one point, a mathematical model by Nate Silver of the New York Times labeled Nevada has home to voters with the highest statistical probability swinging the election individually.
Both tickets graced Nevada with their presence more than a dozen times this cycle and spent nearly $50 million combined battering voters from the television airwaves. The Obama campaign repeatedly named Nevada as integral to their firewall against Romney’s advantage in other close states and focused much of its attention here.
So why is Nevada largely absent from the presidential candidate’s marathon final days push?
We no longer look so much like a battleground.
With early voting complete, perhaps as many as two-thirds of 2012 voters have already cast a ballot. Among those voters, Democrats have a striking turnout lead of nearly 50,000 voters. Obama has lead in every public opinion poll conducted since the start of the election and Democrats have a significant advantage in registered voters.
Those metrics prompted leading campaign trackers this weekend to shift Nevada to the likely Obama column. Silver has removed Nevada from the list of competitive states entirely and shaded the state blue on his tracking map.
Romney campaign advisers have privately conceded to some national journalists that Nevada is off the table for them.
Still, Ryan is squeezing a couple critical hours of his time to rally supporters at the Reno airport today — a move that seems incongruous with national pundit proclamations and publicly available numbers.
The reasoning behind the visit is two-fold. Romney may still have a narrow path to victory in Nevada, as his campaign advisers claim.
“If one-third of votes are left to be cast on Election Day, and of that one-third Romney is expected to win handily — the current trend shows the GOP only 7 points down from Democrats statewide and independents are breaking our way — I like our chances,” one Romney source said.
“It will be close but we will win.”
While Romney’s chances of winning the Silver State appear to be narrowing, Nevada is still a battleground for several down ticket races — particularly the U.S. Senate fight between Republican Dean Heller and Democrat Shelley Berkley.
Public opinion polls have kept this race solidly within the margin of error, with Berkley leaning on the Democrats turnout machine to pull her to victory along with Obama.
But Washoe County — Nevada’s key swing county — has been problematic for her.
Ryan’s election eve visit to Washoe County is aimed not only at convincing Republicans that Nevada is still in play for Romney, but to fire up the troops to vote for Heller and other Republicans in close races.
Romney campaign strategists bristle at the suggestion the race is over in Nevada.
"Paul Ryan would not be here — he would not be here — if that were true," one Romney source said. "Why would he come here?"
Republicans have initiated an unprecedented turnout effort in rural Nevada — traditionally Republican territory that the party has basically assumed would come out in high numbers. This year, the party isn't making that assumption. The GOP is also working to win Washoe County. By boosting rural turnout, winning Washoe and hoping nonpartisans are on their side, the GOP still sees a pathway to victory.
Voters also aren't ready to cede Nevada's battleground status.
"I think it will be tight," said Reno voter Cheryl Christensen, who turned out with hundreds of other Republicans to listen to Ryan's last Reno speech in an air hangar. "I think tomorrow will be nerve wracking for sure."
But as for the line that Nevada's no longer a battleground?
"That's more drivel out of the DNC," Christensen said. "They have to say that."
Welcome the next vice President of the United states of America
I already voted for the best candidate. A candidate that truly cares about the American People, a candidate that despite all odds and obstacles continued his fight for the American People and that is President Barack Obama and the entire Democratic ticket.
Because of people like Romney and Ryan, I will never cast a vote for a Republican and I am not a Democrat!
The 100th day of the Romney administration
http://www.barackobama.com/truth-team/en...
@simplysaid
No chance.
If you look at poll tracker (they average out many polls) state by state, the only way you can believe Romney will win is if you discard every single one of their state by state polls. Even winning Florida isn't going to help Romney. Nevada is over. Ohio, Michigan are likely done (Obama +4% right now). Even PA isn't that close. Virginia is leaning Obama. Right now it's looking like Obama has 280 without Florida. Strong union states like MI, OHIO, PA, VA aren't going Romneys way. No way, no how.
Romney/Ryan need a miracle...and this isn't Disneyland. Miracles don't happen with polling becoming so exact.
A MUST SEE:
12 must-share facts about President Obama's record
http://www.barackobama.com/news/entry/12...
Ryan's budget plan has come under fire from a group of nuns. The nuns say Ryan's budget will hurt struggling families:
American nuns are taking their opposition of the proposed Paul Ryan budget to the American people and embarking on a bus tour through some of America's most politically important states. NETWORK, a group founded by 47 Catholic sisters that speaks out on social justice issues in particular, will be hitting states like Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia in order to reveal "how federal budget cuts proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan, (R-WI), and passed by the House of Representatives will hurt struggling families in these states," a release by the group reads. In interviews after unveiling his budget, Ryan said that he applied his view of Catholic social teaching in his budget proposal, a statement that Sister Simone Campbell, the executive director of NETWORK, said co-opted sacred Catholic teachings. "I think he was so direct in draping himself in the mantle of Catholic social teaching," Campbell said. "He took the words but he took none of the meaning in the forming of the budget." Campbell continued: "It is one thing to have political differences, but to try to hide a budget that will devastate people and claim that it is supported by your faith. It is unacceptable. He is wrong and he needs to be told so."
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/06...
This will be his last trip to NV spewing his "Lies, Damned Lies and Paul Ryan Lies"
Read for you self:
http://www.thenation.com/blog/171016/lie...
The problem I have with Ryan is that if he were the victim of a rape and got pregnant he certainly isn't going thru 9 months of weight gain, morning sickness, clothes changes, whispers at the office, hormonal changes, the psychological impact of carrying a baby that's the result of a rape, and on and on...yet he would subject each and every woman who was in that situation to those issues. My god, the guy is more concerned about his physique than anything else. You think he's subjecting himself to 9 months of pregnancy on an unwanted baby? Please.
In this election,the American people should be asking themselves the same question former Republican Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum asked about Mitt Romney:
'Do you really believe this country wants to elect a Wall Street financier as the president of the United States. Do you think that's the kind of experience that we need? Someone who's going to take and look after as he did his friends on Wall Street and bail them out at the expense of Main Street America?
Rick Santorum - March 9 2012
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/201...
GM did nothing of the sort. Ignorant comment. GM never made claims that Humvees were immune from IED's and roadside bombs.
GM never received 500 billion dollars. Another ignorant comment.
The president can't fix natural or man made disasters by snapping his fingers. How did GWB do with Katrina? How about Reagan and the Beirut killing of 200 marines sleeping in a building? Asking a president to solve disasters like this in a week is utter nonsense.
GM sent our troops into battle? Last time I checked THE PRESIDENT sends troops into battle.
$500 billion dollar bailout? Wrong again. The auto bailout cost $80 billion:
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/201...
Obama bailed out Wall Street? No. It was Bush who bailed out Wall Street in October 2008:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_E...
Obama just 'showed up' at Sandy? Incorrect. Obama signed a disaster declaration and fast-tracked federal funds:
http://www.myfoxny.com/story/19950499/ob...
The votes cast thus far in Nevada from early voting have given President Obama a clear lead, leading into Tuesdays November 6, 2012.
Even if Mitt Romney wins 100% of the remaining votes on Tuesday, he will not win Nevada.
Again, 100% of the the Tuesday voters would not win Nevada for Mitt Romney!
The numbers are in, the numbers are true and correct. Nevada is firmly in the win column for President Obama.
A friendly reminder,
President Obama wins re-election by 6 to 8 points.
I like the photo of the older woman in a wig over Ryan's right shoulder. She just can't wait for that medicare voucher!
'The votes cast thus far in Nevada from early voting have given President Obama a clear lead, leading into Tuesdays November 6, 2012.
Even if Mitt Romney wins 100% of the remaining votes on Tuesday, he will not win Nevada'
LTV I have to disagree with you on this. Everybody still needs to cast their vote. Someone may have fed you that information hoping that people who were planning to vote might decide not to vote. If people think Obama has already won they won't vote. This would be a mistake that could cost Obama the election. EVERYBODY GO VOTE. EVERYBODY GO VOTE.
Obama wins reelection in 2012 REGARDLESS OF NEVADA. Having said that, Nevada will still reelect the President. Nate Silver and his polling have been spot on. Witness the 2008 election; Silver predicted the outcome in 49 out of 50 states. Math doesn't lie. He is totally nonpartisan, and , as an ex pro poker player, he looks at MATH, not BS "gut feelings", or whatever so called "experts" on political matters have to say. Prediction: Obama wins the presidency, the Senate remains in Democrat control, the House remains in GOP control, but with some loss of seats. If I'm wrong, then call me out on November 7th.
I want to suggest that WE THE PEOPLE amend the U.S. Constitution to allow our military 1.5X (or, maybe even 2X) the civilian vote. These are our Nation's heroes, and they should have more say than the civilian population and have a vested interest in who they want to be their Commander-in-Chief as he or she risks their lives, instead of the food stamp free-loaders who elect their Campaigner-in-Chief, who has absolutely no experience serving in the military, nor any experience working in a real private-sector job, unless you count serving ice cream cones in his teens as qualifying experience to be the president. It's a damn shame that a true American hero like John McCain, who was a friggin' POW for God's sake, can not win an election against somebody like Obama with no military or business experience whatsoever, because a majority of the civilian electorate were bamboozled with his flowery speeches and lofty promises. The vast majority of the military and generals know that Obama is feckless as a leader. Obama is great at grand standing and the lowest thing he continues to do is take credit for "getting Osama bin Laden," instead of giving all the credit to SEAL Team 6 and other military and intelligence. Are the people such simpletons that they can't understand that even BO the dog would have given the same order to get Osama bin Laden? I can't believe how dumb the People are not to see through all the window dressing of this President of the Democrats, only.
simply said...
This unbearably long, unbelievably expensive, unspeakably dishonest (Mitt&Paul) campaign is OVER!
4 more years for President Obama & his trusty sidekick (the bane of the everyday TeaNut) Joe Biden.
Now, if we could just get Mr. Ryan and his cohorts in Congress to ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING...for the PEOPLE...instead of the selfish, self-serving self-aggrandizing B.S. we've been subjected to for far, far too long...these people...would lead the Country to ruination before meeting the President & the Democrats half-way...it's that important to them to have their way, ALL the way...NO COMPROMISE...like little children...holding their breath...'you can't MAKE ME!'...
We Nevadans won't let these republican liars,
thieves and crooks steal our health care,
Medicare or our Social Security.
NEVER!
NEVADA WILL STAY BLUE!
FOUR MORE YEARS FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA!!!