Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Kerry rallies Democrats, says election crucial to U.S.

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry works the crowd Tuesday at the Thomas & Mack Center. He called this year's presidential race "the most important election in our lifetime." Photo by John Gurzinski.

John Kerry sounded as if he were stumping in Nevada in late October, not the hottest summer day of the year Tuesday when he implored a partisan crowd of more than 12,000 at the Thomas & Mack Center for their help to win "the most important election in our lifetime."

During his 30-minute speech, he stressed how each person can help him win, and he asked in English and Spanish for the help his campaign's blue signs pledge is on the way.

His speech focused on familiar themes -- middle class values and America's place in the world -- and borrowed from his nomination speech at the Democratic National Convention and the addresses he has made in 18 states over the past 12 days.

"I had heard most of it before," said North Las Vegas resident Selby Parker as she left the arena. "But it was still great to hear it in person."

Kerry was flanked by wife Teresa Heinz Kerry, daughter Vanessa Kerry, stepsons Chris and Andre Heinz and Sen. Harry Reid as he removed his blazer and worked the stage and gave the thumbs up to supporters.

He held up three fingers to a group of young Democrats standing in front of the stage with shirts that read "Three more months."

He joked with the crowd and said he was glad he "took the over on 11,000" when he spotted people in the overflow section in the top tier of the arena.

Kerry made reference to Las Vegas athletes Greg Maddux and Andre Agassi and said he hoped to leave Las Vegas with a similar winning spirit.

He addressed criticism that he has changed his tune on the war in Iraq.

"I've been consistent all along," Kerry said. "I thought the United States needed to stand up to Saddam Hussein, and I voted to stand up to Saddam Hussein, but I thought we ought to do it right, reach out to other countries and build an international coalition."

The Massachusetts senator discussed some of his plans, highlighting a renewable energy policy that would make 20 percent of the nation's energy come from alternative sources by 2020.

He proposed increasing grants and loans for college students and offered a plan to pay for four years of in-state college for high school graduates who volunteer as mentors for two years.

Republicans did not visibly protest Kerry's visit, but they held a pancake breakfast at party headquarters aimed at highlighting Kerry's record of "flip-flopping" on issues.

"Kerry is an opportunist," said Aida Cellini, a lifelong Republican and Puerto Rican immigrant who attended the breakfast rally. "He flip-flops on everything he does. He speaks with both sides of his mouth."

Bush-Cheney campaign spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt said Kerry should explain "why he doesn't believe in the president's positive agenda that has given Nevada one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation and over 50,000 new jobs over the past year."

The crowd began arriving on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas at 3 p.m., and some waited 45 minutes in temperatures over 110 degrees to pass through security.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman emceed the event, threw T-shirts to the crowd and drew the biggest applause of any local politician.

Congresswoman Shelley Berkley drew the loudest response and sustained foot stomping when she remarked in her introductory speech, "I want a president of the United States who actually knew where Vietnam was in the '60s."

The crowd energetically did the wave before Kerry's entrance, but several people were spotted walking up the aisles out to the concourse as Kerry spoke.

Democratic Party operatives registered voters, and others invited people to a Bush protest Thursday morning to greet the president when he makes his first trip to Las Vegas this year.

Vice President Dick Cheney will attend a rally in the Northern Nevada town of Elko on Saturday, probably to support Republican U.S. Senate candidate Cherie Tilley, with whom he played high school football in Wyoming.

The Kerry campaign this afternoon will head to Los Angeles after a morning event with seniors focusing on health care issues and a roundtable with Nevada reporters. The Believe in America tour will conclude Friday with stops in Oregon and Washington.

The campaign paid fees for using two public facilities, the Thomas & Mack and Cadwallader Middle School, officials with the Clark County School District and University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said.

Kerry was charged a fee for using the middle school because the event took place when school was closed. First lady Laura Bush was able to hold an event at Advanced Technologies Academy in February for free because school was in session. She did pay a fee for an event in Artemis Ham Hall on the UNLV campus earlier this year.

The crowd in the arena for Kerry was a cross-section of veterans, union workers, seniors, parents, teens and punks with spiked hair.

Many of the teens in the crowd said they will cast their first presidential vote for Kerry because they worry about how their generation will fare under another four years of Bush.

Chris Monaco, a 19-year-old UNLV sophomore, said that is his concern.

"More people are getting involved because you have 17- and 18- and 19-year-olds serving in Iraq," Monaco said. "It's the most important issue for young people today."

Before the rally, Kerry spent a leisurely afternoon lunching at the ritzy Circo inside Bellagio, where entrees hit $42.

Diana Beckett-Hile, a Brown University student who was celebrating her 21st birthday with friends, waited outside the restaurant to meet Kerry.

"It was the best birthday present I could get," she said after Kerry emerged from the restaurant hand-in-hand with his wife and signed an autograph.

Review-Journal writers Lisa Kim Bach and Richard Lake contributed to this report.