Will Bill Clinton’s Las Vegas pep talk lift Nevada Democrats to victory?

By Kyle Roerink

Published Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014 | 5:45 p.m.

Updated Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014 | 8 p.m.

Bill Clinton’s rally in Las Vegas was replete with praise for Democrats, jeers for Republicans and one clear message: go to vote.

The former president and coveted campaign-trail cheerleader stumped for Nevada Democrats battling in statewide and federal races. Dina Titus, Steven Horsford, Erin Bilbray, Ross Miller, Kate Marshall, Lucy Flores, Kim Wallin and Andrew Martin were all in attendance.

Clinton referred to himself as a “retired race horse” who’s brought out to the track during election season to see “if he can make it around one more time.”

He was in Pittsburgh Monday, New Hampshire earlier this month and all across the nation during the midterm election. His job: rally support for Democrats in an election where Republicans are the favorites on Nov. 4.

His rock-star status and charming locution had the more than 300-person crowd clapping, laughing and invigorated.

The Democrats in the crowd booed when they heard names like Cliven Bundy, the Koch Brothers, Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney. They cheered for marriage equality and raising the minimum wage.

But the question remains: will his bravura rub off on Democrat voters, activists and politicians in time to salvage what's shaping up to be a crushing campaign for the former president’s party.

The 42nd president spoke for nearly 30 minutes as Democrats looked on in awe.

Here are three takeaways from his speech.

Why he’s here

Ten days into early voting, it was Republicans who showed an overwhelming lead.

Tuesday morning, Republicans had cast at least 10,000 more ballots than Democrats. The more than 18,000 Republican ballots were more than originally expected.

For Democrats, that is a startling figure. In the previous two presidential elections, Democrats have been able draw supporters and win at the polls nationally.

But this year, Democrats are reeling from a ballot without a big-name, presidential candidate anchoring the ticket. They are hoping to avoid a repeat of 2010 when Republicans dominated state and local races.

Clinton and Democrats told a crowd of fervent supporters to knock on doors, make phone calls and drag to the polls people who may not vote otherwise.

Governors, state legislators, a third of the U.S. Senate and all of the U.S. House are elected to office in midterms, Clinton said.

“A bunch of your life is shaped by people who aren’t on the ballot when we’re voting for president.”

The enemy is clear

Clinton didn’t beat around the bush and made a prediction about what will happen if Republicans take office.

“What’s really on the ballot is whether we are going back to trickle down economics where only the rich get the benefit, which is what happened since I left office. Or whether we will have shared prosperity through shared opportunities and shared responsibilities.”

He said Republicans are using Ebola, ISIS and campaign ads as a “carefully orchestrated attempt” to keep people away from the polls.

“Whenever you see all these advertisements in campaigns designed to distract you, confuse you, get you down … you need to take a deep breath and think about what matters … You need to support these candidates.”

The locals

Before Clinton spoke, Southern Nevada Democrats took to the mic to throw jabs at Republicans and give stump speeches.

Attorney general candidate Ross Miller touted his stance on marriage equality. Secretary of state candidate Kate Marshall trumpeted her fight to recoup money lost thanks to Wall Street investors. Lieutenant governor candidate Lucy Flores and U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford told stories about overcoming socio-economic obstacles.

U.S. Rep. Dina Titus said Republicans would rather “chop an arm off” than work across the aisle in the U.S. House. She said the difference between Republicans and Democrats is building walls on the U.S. border or building new schools, fighting in other countries or “fighting for minimum wage.”

“In the next two years a lot of bad things can happen and a lot of good things cannot happen,” she said.

Roberta Lange, the Nevada Democratic party chairwoman, was revved when she hit the podium.

She is one of the party’s chief strategists and said that races may be decided by a handful of votes. She pleaded for help, asking the crowd to “vote early and vote now.”

“We cannot wake up the day after the election wishing we knocked on one more door or made one more phone call,” she said.