Democrats say McCain out of touch

With Republican presidential nominee John McCain headed to Las Vegas today, Democratic leaders on Thursday argued that the Arizona senator will not appeal to Western voters despite his provenance.

McCain is scheduled to hold a private lunch fundraiser at The Venetian today, his first visit to Nevada since May. The event is part of a swing through several Western states for McCain, who spent Wednesday in California and Thursday in Utah and Colorado.

In a conference call Thursday, Democratic Party officials from Nevada, Arizona, Colorado and Utah argued that McCain faces an uphill battle in the region, noting that he won only one primary or caucus in the intermountain West, his home state's, where he got less than half the vote.

"He has ignored issues important to Western voters, and he really hasn't been in the region until now," Colorado Democratic Party Chairwoman Pat Waak said. "His trip these two days is really trying to unite a divided Republican party."

Mitt Romney won the Jan. 19 Nevada caucuses with 51 percent of the vote to McCain's 13. McCain came in third, behind Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who is still in the race. Romney dropped out and supports McCain.

Romney, who also won Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Montana by healthy margins, accompanied McCain to Thursday's events but is not scheduled to appear with him in Nevada today. Two more Mountain West states, Idaho and New Mexico, haven't held Republican contests.

The Democrats pointed to record turnout in primaries and caucuses throughout the West, including Nevada, where Democrats drew 117,000 participants to the caucuses versus the Republicans' 44,000.

"There's a sense in Nevada certainly that he's wrong on our issues," said Travis Brock, executive director of the Nevada Democratic Party. "If elected, he would be the strongest proponent of Yucca Mountain ever to be in the White House."

McCain has acknowledged he favors the proposed nuclear waste repository in Nevada.

"That's going to hamper McCain as he attempts to campaign in Nevada," Brock said. "Nevada voters, and Western voters in general, are going to see that this onetime maverick sort of became the Bush establishment and turned his back on a number of issues he once championed."

One of those issues is illegal immigration, said Arizona Democratic Party Executive Director Maria Weeg. Having once been a champion of reform, McCain has said he wouldn't vote for his own bill.

Weeg characterized that shift as pandering to extremists to secure the GOP nomination and said it has forced border states to try to deal with the issue themselves.

The Democrats pointed to polling commissioned by the Democratic National Committee in which voters in four states were asked generically whether they preferred a Democrat or Republican for president. Democrats led in Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico and tied in Arizona.

The generic Democrat had a substantial lead among independent voters.

Polls pitting McCain against Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton have shown a closer race.

In Nevada, a survey by Rasmussen Reports released this week found Obama beating McCain, 45 percent to 41 percent in a hypothetical contest, while Clinton had a 44-43 edge. Both results were within a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

McCain's strength among independents will carry him to the presidency, said Paul Lindsay, spokesman for the Republican National Committee.

"By ignoring every recent poll showing Senator McCain's strength among independents, the DNC is proving that their Western strategy is as far removed from reality as their candidates' liberal policies are removed from the values of the region's voters," Lindsay said. "John McCain's Western roots and proven record on taxes, Second Amendment rights, and protecting our national security stand in stark contrast to the flawed vision of Obama and Clinton."

Contact reporter Molly Ball at mball@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2919.