Biden plans Reno visit Thursday before Democratic caucus

Vice President Joe Biden will visit Reno on Thursday to rally Democrats ahead of the party's presidential caucus next weekend, according to a campaign official.

President Barack Obama is running for re-election unopposed so next Saturday's Democratic caucus in Nevada will be used to generate excitement and register voters. Biden's wife, Jill, will accompany him on his Reno stop, an Obama campaign official said Saturday. No other details were available.

The vice president is often used as a surrogate campaigner for Obama and other Democrats and to promote White House policies.

In October 2010, Biden visited Reno just days before U.S. Sen. Harry Reid won re-election to urge Nevadans to support him. Biden also criticized Reid's GOP opponent Sharron Angle, a favorite of the tea party movement.

In 2009, Biden traveled to Reno to promote Obama's $787 billion stimulus package, which Democrats argue propped up the economy and saved and created jobs.

Obama, too, has visited Nevada several times during the past couple of years, including to help Reid's re-election. The president also has used his visits -- mostly to Las Vegas -- to argue his policies are helping Nevadans who are suffering the highest jobless rate in the nation and a housing crisis.

During his most recent Las Vegas stop last October, Obama visited a neighborhood hit hard by home foreclosures. He used the tour to promote a new program to help homeowners refinance houses that are now worth far less than what people paid for them.

Nevada is a battleground state that's key to Obama's re-election strategy. He won the Silver State easily in 2008 after campaigning here more than 20 times.

Mitt Romney, the GOP presidential front-runner, also has made Nevada an important part of his effort to defeat his Republican opponents in the primary campaign and Obama in November. Romney used several Las Vegas visits last year to unveil his economic plan, visit a distressed neighborhood and raise money for his campaign.

The former Massachusetts governor is expected to hold several campaign events in Nevada just ahead of the Republican presidential caucus on Feb. 4. He's also the favorite to win the GOP contest here as he did in 2008.

Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com
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