• Obama hones populist message in Nevada: 'I've got the scars to prove it'

    Charles Dharapak / AP

    Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney campaigns at the Pensacola Civic Center in Pensacola, Fla., Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

    Jewel Samad / AFP - Getty Images

    President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign rally at the Cheyenne Sports Complex in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Thursday.

    By NBC's Ali Weinberg

     

     

    LAS VEGAS, Nev. – At his second of three events Thursday, President Obama honed his closing arguments, painting himself as a populist fighter for those who send him to the White House a second time.

    His speech was lighter on direct jabs to his opponent Mitt Romney, as was his earlier address in Green Bay, Wis., although he once again ridiculed Romney’s self-characterization as an agent of change.

    “My opponent can talk about change, but I know what real change looks like because I've fought for it. I've got the scars to prove it. You have too,” Obama told the 4,500 supporters gathered in a field at the Cheyenne Sports Complex.

    The imagery of a fighter struggling against the status quo punctuated Obama’s entire speech.

    “Our fight goes on because we know this nation can't succeed without a growing, thriving middle class and strong, sturdy ladders into the middle class. Our fight goes on because America's always been at its best when everybody gets a fair shot and everybody's doing their fair share and everybody's playing by the same rules,” he said.

    He later said that he’s “not ready to give up on the fight just yet.”

    And as he did in Green Bay, he listed the types of people for whom he wants to be a “champion” in Washington, saying that “the folks at the very top in this country” don’t need such a hero.

    “The laid-off furniture worker who's retraining at the age of 55 after they got laid off – yeah, she needs a champion. The small restaurant owner who needs a loan to expand after the bank turned him down, he needs a champion. The cooks and waiters and cleaning staff working overtime at a Vegas hotel trying to save enough to buy a first home or send their kid to college, they need a champion.”

    Obama visited some of those who fall into the last group last week, surprising hotel workers at the Bellagio casino and resort after a fundraising event with President Bill Clinton.

    After his event in Nevada, the president was headed to Boulder, Colorado for his last rally of the day.

    Slideshow: On the campaign trail

    Reuters, Getty Images

    In the final push in the 2012 presidential election, candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama make their last appeals to voters.

    Launch slideshow

  • First lady lauds administration deportation action

    Julie Jacobson / AP

    Michelle Obama hugs campaign volunteer Teresa Crawford before speaking to a room full of volunteers, June 19, in Las Vegas.

    By NBC's Carrie Dann

     

    HENDERSON, Nev. --- Defending the White House's controversial decision to stop deportations of some children of illegal immigrants, first lady Michelle Obama on Tuesday called the measure "an important step" but not "a permanent solution" and vowed that her husband will keep fighting `n for full Congressional embrace of the DREAM Act.

    "Just last week this administration announced new measures to lift the shadow of deportation from many of these young people who came here as children and were raised as Americans," she told a rally of about 1,000 supporters in the Las Vegas area, where more than a quarter of the population is of Hispanic origin. "But while this is an important step, it is not a permanent solution. It is not. So Barack is going to keep fighting to get Congress to give these young people a real pathway to citizenship."

    "That's the vision that this president has," she added.


    On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it will no longer deport young illegal immigrants who came to the United States before the age of 16, have no criminal records, and who have pursued an education. Those who meet the requirements can defer deportation proceedings for two years - subject to renewal - and can apply for work permits.

     

     

    The mention of the new policy was somewhat out of the ordinary for Mrs. Obama, who rarely strays from her stump speech to comment on current events. Her reference to the DHS policy and to the similarly-structured legislative DREAM Act won cheers from the crowd in Henderson, Nev.

    Obama immigration order poses dilemma for eligible illegal immigrants

    In her remarks, the first lady also offered a fierce defense of the White House's economic policies, particularly the foreclosure reforms the president announced in Nevada last year.

    She encouraged supporters to remind friends and neighbors of those reforms, saying that as a result "families across the state have been able to refinance their mortgages and keep their homes and keep more money in their pockets each month."

    With a nod to her oft-mentioned father, whom she often says took great pride in paying his bills on time, Obama urged backers to evangelize within their communities about the economic gains of the past years. "While we still have a long way to go, we still have more work to do to rebuild our economy, let them know that today millions of people are collecting a paycheck again," she said. "Millions of people like my dad are able to pay their bills again thanks to your president.

    Before arriving at the sweltering conference center, the first lady stopped at Sunrise Coffee in Las Vegas. Purchasing two small iced teas - with the sweetener "on the side" - Mrs. Obama joked with the cashier about the crush of press that hung on her every move.

    "I don't know what they'll do," she said with a smile when the young cashier eyed the journalists and worried aloud that they would "mob" both of them. "I can't speak for them."

    Mrs. Obama continues her western campaign swing tomorrow with two events in Colorado.

     

  • At Romney stop, all that glitters is gold

    By NBC's Jamie Novogrod and Garrett Haake

    ELKO, Nev. – Mitt Romney brought his jobs and economy-focused message to a part of the country Friday that is focused on a figure separate from Friday's unemployment and jobs data.

    That other number is 1,739.19 -- the price of an ounce of gold.

    The town of Elko is at the very heart of Nevada's gold country, encased in a gilded bubble, where rising gold prices have helped keep unemployment low and the city's economy booming, creating a class of overworked, local entrepreneurs who dotted the audience here Friday.

    “I’ve had them call me at two o’clock in the morning, to rush all the way to Wyoming -- which is 900 miles,” said Robert Brown, 36, of his list of clients in the mining industry. 

    Brown, who lives here in Elko, owns an equipment transport company servicing the mines.

    (Friday’s labor data, showing more than 240,000 jobs added last month, drove gold prices down by a percentage point, though not enough to make people like Brown worry.)

    Romney’s speech inside an airport hangar here included references to the local economy. Joined on stage by Nevada’s lieutenant governor, Brian Krolicki, the former Massachusetts governor joked about how it may be easy to assume there is “nothing” in the barren high desert surrounding this small town.

    "Some of that nothing you have under the ground, that gold stuff, that's doing pretty good for you right now too," Romney said, earning the loudest cheers of any remark this afternoon.

    Earlier Friday, in the city of Sparks, east of Reno, Romney struck a more sober tone, walking a tightrope between optimism about the improving economy, and blaming President Obama for the slow pace of the economy's rebound.

    “This recovery has been slower than it should have been, people have been suffering for longer than they should have had to suffer. Will it get better? I think it’ll get better," he said during a business roundtable.

    But in Elko, Romney found himself buoyed by a receptive crowd that also included tourists in town for the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.

    “He has the business expertise that he needs to get this company back on track economically. I believe in the values that he espouses, and he’ll make a good president,” said Scott Anderson, a banker from Salt Lake City in for the festival.

  • Sen. predicts Romney to win NV, Paul to make a move

    By Brooke Brower

     

     

    With 48 hours to go until Nevada’s Republican presidential caucuses on Saturday, Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) told Chuck Todd on Thursday’s “The Daily Rundown” that he’d be surprised if Mitt Romney doesn’t win, but added, “I think that Ron Paul could make some real moves in Nevada.”

    “I think there is one variable in this and that’s turnout more than anything else,” said Heller, who has not endorsed a presidential candidate and said he doesn’t plan to let anyone know who he supports on Saturday.

    Asked if it mattered to him whether Romney or Gingrich topped the Republican ticket in November, Heller said, “I don’t think Obama’s going to do well. I think the Obama economy in Nevada is killing most Nevadans and for that reason I think the Republican candidate will do well.”

    Heller was appointed to the Senate last May to the seat vacated by former Sen. John Ensign (R). He’s expected to face Rep. Shelley Berkley (D) in November’s election.
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    Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., says he would be surprised if Mitt Romney did not win the Nevada primary, but he does not endorse candidates to allow Nevada voters to make their own decision.

  • RNC asks Nevada to move caucus to Feb. 4

    By Domenico Montanaro, Deputy Political Editor, NBC News

    The Republican National Committee is asking Nevada to move its primary to Feb. 4 from Jan. 14.

    Ahead of the Nevada Republican Party's Central Committee meeting tomorrow, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus wrote a letter to the Nevada GOP Chairwoman Amy Tarkanian, requesting the change.

    It's an effort to end the standoff between New Hampshire -- which hasn't set its primary date and has threatened to go as early as December -- and Nevada.

    "After much consideration and many conversations with you and other Republican stakeholders," Priebus wrote in a letter dated Oct. 20, 2011, "I hope you will consider holding the Nevada Republican Party caucuses on Saturday, February 4th."

    Priebus notes that he was in Las Vegas this week speaking with Tarkanian. And he takes a swipe at New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner, who has unilateral control over moving the Granite State's date, as well as the Florida GOP.

    "I realize you were put in this position because of the actions of other states, and I fully appreciate you consideration of abiding by the Rules put in place by the RNC as they relate to the four carveout states. A February 4th caucus date will eliminate the uncertainty caused by Florida's actions and the posturing of New Hampshire's secretary of state...."

    Priebus argues that Feb. 4 "would be a far more prominent place on the primary calendar." He argues that while Wyoming went early in 2008, Jan. 5, they "went largely unnoticed."

    He continued, "It seems unlikely that Nevada will get the attention it deserves if it is wedged in between the states that historically have been first. ... For a period of four weeks, Nevada will be the only game in town."

    Priebus also wrote, "I believe that the uncertainty of the calendar and related drama is tainting all of the carveout states. The only way to end this uncertainty and drama is for Nevada to move to February 4th and restore the orderliness of the calendar."

    We noted that something was afoot in First Thoughts this morning:

    The Las Vegas Sun: “National Republicans … have been trying to strike a deal with Nevada. In exchange for moving its caucuses back to early February, it would be assured to be third in the nation in 2016 — even though that’s what Nevada was supposed to be guaranteed in the 2012 cycle. At first, state officials and top GOP brass bristled at the idea that Nevada accommodate the vagaries of New Hampshire state law. But now the tone is decidedly different. ‘I hope we reach a resolution that’s mutually beneficial to the candidates, the state of Nevada and the Republican Party,’ [Gov. Brian] Sandoval said, intimating that he trusted the RNC to do right by Nevada in the future.’” The Nevada GOP is set to meet to discuss this issue, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal.