Hillary Clinton barnstorms through Las Vegas, whipping up support

By Megan Messerly

Published Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016 | 4:08 p.m.

Updated Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016 | 9:44 p.m.

Wrapping up a second day of campaigning in Las Vegas, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton rallied supporters at a community center in Summerlin tonight.

It’s been a whirlwind trip for Clinton, who has packed in multiple meetings with small groups, in addition to holding large rallies.

Today, she hosted a rally, attended one of the largest black churches in the valley, stopped at a sandwich shop in Chinatown to talk with a Nevada assemblywoman, met with Nevada Dreamers who recently endorsed her and popped into an employee dining hall at Caesars Palace to meet with workers.

At all the events, she urged her supporters to turn out to caucus on Saturday.

“Help me get the nomination,” Clinton told one employee at Caesars, where she spoke with workers and posed for numerous selfies. (On Saturday, she did the same thing at an employee cafeteria at Harrah’s.)

With six days until the caucus, Clinton and her opponent, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, spent their weekends in Nevada, making final appeals to potential voters.

Sanders met with laid-off solar workers in Reno Saturday morning before attending a progressive summit. Today, he attended the same church service as Clinton before speaking at a rally of a couple thousand people at Bonanza High School.

Both candidates ducked out to Denver Saturday night for the Colorado Democratic Party’s annual dinner.

Clinton, meanwhile, cancelled a day of fundraising and rallies Monday in Florida to extend her trip in Nevada and will travel to Elko and Reno.

At rally Sunday evening at a community center at Sun City Summerlin, Clinton emphasized to a crowd of about 650 people the importance of showing up to caucus.

“Bring your friends, your neighbors your family, and I promise you I will work my heart out every single day,” Clinton said.

Clinton’s positions on women’s issues — such as a protecting women’s right to choose, ensuring equal pay for equal work and defending Planned Parenthood — drew the most applause at the rally.

“I want you to know that I will fight for a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions,” she said.

Clinton called Sanders’ call for universal health care a “good goal,” before diving into her usual criticism of his health care plan. “I think the last thing our country needs right now is to be thrown into another contentious debate about health care,” she said.

Earlier in the day, at her meeting with Dreamers — undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children — Clinton addressed the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and discussed what it means for a lawsuit over President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration.

The court announced in January that it would take up the case.

After extending condolences to Scalia’s family, Clinton said it is Obama’s right and responsibility to appoint a new justice and that the Senate has the responsibility to act on the nominee.

If the seat remains vacant, a tie vote in the Supreme Court means the lower court’s decision stands. And that means Obama’s executive actions on immigration would be overturned, barring millions of undocumented immigrants from relief.

Clinton said she disagrees with the lower court’s ruling. “I believe President Obama had the legal authority to do what he did,” she said.

About lunchtime, Clinton met with Assemblywoman Irene Bustamante Adams, the chairwoman of the Assembly’s Democratic caucus, at Lee’s Sandwiches in Chinatown. Bustamante Adams later announced she was endorsing Clinton.

While Clinton heads north Monday, Sanders travels to Michigan for a rally at Eastern Michigan University. Both will return to Nevada in advance of Thursday’s Democratic town hall, sponsored by the state Democratic Party.