Obama lauds Reid

Viva Las Vegas. And Viva Sen. Harry Reid, too, if President Barack Obama has his way.

That was the message Obama delivered Friday when he wrapped his arms both physically and figuratively around the embattled Reid during a town hall meeting and when he shouted "I love Vegas!" to a crowd of business leaders whose livelihoods depend on the city's popularity.

Call it the Big Embrace from the Big Guy.

The Big Question is will it help save Reid's Senate seat and his decades-long political career?

Obama mentioned Reid by name 48 times during back-to-back appearances at Green Valley High School in Henderson before a public audience of about 1,500, and then at the Aria hotel-casino, the crown jewel of CityCenter on the Strip, in a speech to 650 business leaders.

The president called Reid a man who hasn't backed down in the face of Republican opposition to the White House health care reform plan, industry bailouts and the $787 billion stimulus package, which Obama defended as a measure that kept the nation from sinking deeper into recession.

"Harry Reid is one of the toughest people I know," said Obama, pointing to the Democratic leader sitting behind him on stage inside the school gym decorated with welcoming banners and five U.S. flags draped on the wall. "He does not give up. He knows what he cares about. He knows what he believes in and he's willing to fight for it. And sometimes he takes his licks, but he gets back up."

Obama, who ran up on stage and hugged Reid to start the town hall, noted the 70-year-old senator was once an amateur boxer and went to high school in Henderson. Then the president thanked the current school band for marching in his inaugural parade and playing "Viva Las Vegas."

It was his first laudatory mention of Las Vegas but not his last as he went out of his way to praise the town after twice this past year singling out the city as a place not to spend money in tough times.

When a dentist, Ben Burris of Jonesboro, Ark., asked him about health care coverage, Obama said, "What are you doing all the way here in Vegas?

"Everybody comes to Vegas," Burris said, drawing laughter.

"That's what I'm talking about. There you go. Everybody comes to Vegas," Obama said to a burst of applause. "Yes. Now, here's my only question, Ben. Have you spent some money here in Vegas?"

"Oh, yes sir," the man replied.

"He says, 'yes sir.' He's spending some money here in Vegas. All right. That's good."

But the president saved his most lavish Las Vegas praise for his speech to business leaders with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and several other local chambers and their guests.

"Let me set the record straight: I love Vegas," Obama said near the top of his 30-minute talk. "There you go. Always have. Love Vegas. Enjoy myself every time I've gotten an opportunity to visit."

During his campaign in 2008, Obama visited Las Vegas more than 20 times with the early Nevada caucuses a test of his political staying power. His 20-hour trip to the city this time was his second as president, and he said he planned to return, suggesting he might be up for a poker game.

"Just last night I hit a flush on the river and cut the budget deficit in half," he joked, referring to getting all the same suit on the last card in Texas Hold'em. "Some of you know I can play some poker."

Obama said he never intended to put down Las Vegas or hurt its tourist and convention trade.

"It wasn't meant to be a shot," he said of his college savings remark. "I think everybody here would agree that the only place people should spend their college savings is in college."

Tourism, Nevada's top industry, has suffered heavily during the recession. State gambling regulators reported Friday that major casinos in the state lost $6.8 billion from July 2008 through June 2009, a drop of more than 1,000 percent from profits of $721 million the prior year.

Republicans attacked Obama's programs and Reid for helping him.

"Obama and Reid's out of control spending agenda has done nothing to curtail the joblessness in Reid's home state, and the families, seniors, and small business owners in Nevada deserve better," said Brian Walsh, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "It's clear that Harry Reid has put President Obama's agenda in Washington ahead of Nevadans' needs at home, and voters will finally have a chance to retire Reid and reject Obama's tax-and-spend agenda in November."

Nevada's unemployment rate is about 13 percent, and the state has the highest foreclosure rate in the nation. Obama tried to address the crisis by announcing Friday about $100 million in new funding to help Nevadans keep their homes, including those who have lost jobs. The money is part of a $1.5 billion fund for the five hardest-hit states, including Nevada, California, Arizona, Michigan and Florida.

The businesspeople who attended Obama's speech mostly gave him high marks.

The crowd interrupted with applause several times, cheering when he discussed a potential travel-promotion bill and the $100 million in federal mortgage aid.

"He made it eminently clear that he is very supportive of Las Vegas. He loves Las Vegas," said Kristin McMillan, chairwoman of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce's board of trustees and vice president of external relations for the Western region of CenturyLink. "That's a very positive message for our community and one we needed to hear."

Absent from the audience was convention authority board chairman and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who refused to greet the president without an apology for the perceived Las Vegas slights.

After Obama's appearance, Goodman seemed satisfied.

"Apparently he was very congratulatory about Las Vegas, said a lot of good things about Las Vegas -- as rightfully he should, because Las Vegas is the greatest city in the world," Goodman said, adding he didn't regret not meeting the president. "I'm glad that he publicly recognizes it."

During the town hall, which lasted about 70 minutes, Obama took only seven questions. Most focused on health care and the economy, with a couple people complaining about being laid off or unable to get insurance.

Outside, about 20 protesters gathered along Arroyo Grande Boulevard in front of the school.

The president's now infamous remarks about Las Vegas were referenced in several of the signs, including one that read "Boycott Chicago" and another that claimed "Obama 86'd my 3 jobs."

That one belonged to retiree Tom Hayes, who said he works part time as a convention center cashier, an airport greeter and a waiter at Paris Las Vegas. Or used to until he saw his hours cut in half after Obama said companies shouldn't accept federal bailout money and then take junkets to Las Vegas.

"When you 86 someone's town, you 86 their jobs," Hayes said.

Inside the gym, Obama referred one of the toughest questions to Reid, saying he's the man to see about workers' compensation issues since that's something states handle.

"Harry, he's got a few connections here in Nevada so I suspect he can help you out," Obama said.

But it's Reid's leadership position in Washington that has put him in political peril because he's seen as carrying out a Democratic agenda that's not always popular at home, said political analyst Jennifer Duffy of Cook Political Report, which says Reid is vulnerable for defeat, his seat a "toss-up."

"Voters see Reid and the Democratic leadership as part of the problem," Duffy said.

Still, Obama's visit helps Reid more than hurts him because the buddy routine and the president's full embrace "reiterates Reid's own message of being the most powerful senator Nevada has ever had," she said. "Really this is aimed at the base -- the Democrats -- who aren't that enthusiastic right now."

If Obama becomes a big liability in the fall as former President George W. Bush did for Republicans in 2006 and 2008, he can't inflict much more damage on the already unpopular Reid, Duffy added.

"Frankly, if it's going to happen anyway, you might as well take the million bucks," she said, referring to a $1 million Democratic National Committee fundraiser Obama attended Thursday night.

Both Obama's and Reid's popularity have plummeted with more than half of Nevadans unhappy with the senator, according to a poll commissioned by the Las Vegas Review-Journal earlier this year. The survey released in January showed he would get about 40 percent of the vote, losing to several of his top potential GOP rivals.

Obama acknowledged the political costs and said he, Reid and other Democrats are trying to explain to Americans why they think health care reform and government economic help is needed -- and why it was necessary to bail out the bank and auto industries last year to avoid major failures.

"We had to do those as emergency measures. And I just want to point this out -- Harry Reid, he's got his pollsters; I've got my pollsters. We knew that this wasn't going to be popular. But we did it because it was the right thing to do," Obama said, winning a round of applause at the town hall.

The president tried to make light of the rough-and-tumble politics in Washington.

"Health care has been knocking me around pretty good," said Obama, who took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves to take questions from people. "It's been knocking Harry around pretty good."

Despite the political risks, the president has planned a "health care summit" for next Thursday with Republicans and Democrats to try to find a way to agree on a plan to insure more Americans and lower the costs of premiums, an issue that has completely divided the two parties.

Reid said he and Obama agreed to try to push something through when they return to Washington next week: "We're going to do comprehensive health care reform before the next few months go by," the Senate majority leader said in an interview. He's also working on a major jobs bill.

Staff writers Henry Brean, Jennifer Robison and Alan Choate contributed to this report. Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Contact Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861.