Obama plans another Southern Nevada trip

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama will be back in Southern Nevada on Saturday morning, his campaign announced Wednesday.

Obama's Saturday morning "Change We Need Rally" in Henderson marks the Illinois senator's 20th visit to the state.

He was last in Las Vegas this past Saturday, drawing an estimated 18,000 to a rally at Bonanza High School after a stop in Reno earlier in the day.

The upcoming visit is scheduled for Saturday morning at Henderson's Coronado High School. Doors open at 7 a.m. for the event on the school's football field.

It is free to the public, but online RSVPs are suggested at nv.barackobama.com. Coronado is located at 1001 Coronado Center Drive, near the intersection of Eastern Avenue and Horizon Ridge Parkway.

Since coming in second in Nevada's caucuses, Obama has campaigned seven times in Nevada, including small-group discussions in Las Vegas in May and June, a town hall in Reno in August, a mid-September day of rallies in Elko and Las Vegas, a Reno visit in late September and last weekend's Reno and Las Vegas rallies.

Obama's running mate, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, and his wife, Michelle, also have each held a rally in Southern Nevada in the past month.

Meanwhile, Obama's opponent, Republican John McCain, has campaigned in Nevada four times since the Nevada caucuses, which he ignored and in which he placed third.

The man who was Nevada Republicans' presidential favorite in the January caucuses, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, will campaign for McCain in Southern Nevada on Friday, the McCain campaign announced Wednesday.

Romney is slated to visit the campaign's regional offices in Henderson at 9:30 a.m., followed by a stop at the Nevada Republican Party headquarters in Las Vegas at 11 a.m. He'll rally campaign volunteers before sending them out to knock on doors and get out the vote, a campaign spokesman said.

The Henderson office is located at 8935 S. Pecos Rd., Suite 22A. The Las Vegas location is at 8625 W. Sahara Ave.

McCain's campaign trips to Nevada have included a Reno town hall in May, a speech on energy policy in Las Vegas in June, a town hall in Sparks in July and an early August speech to the national convention of the Disabled American Veterans at Bally's on the Strip. That appearance, his last in the state, wasn't aimed at a Nevada audience and wasn't accompanied by any local campaign stops.

McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, has visited the state twice, stumping in Carson City in mid-September and in Reno and Henderson last week.

It's not clear whether McCain will get back to Nevada before Election Day. His campaign didn't release details of his schedule for the final days of the campaign.

McCain spokesman Rick Gorka tried to spin Obama's many trips to Nevada as a sign the Democrat is not confident of a win here, despite recent polls that consistently show him ahead.

"Obama is scared to death. He's throwing the kitchen sink at this," Gorka said. "This is a man who's spent $600 million on this campaign and still can't seal the deal. It's a telling sign of weakness for Barack Obama's campaign in Nevada that he's back yet again."

Obama spokeswoman Kirsten Searer said the Democrats plan to "fight for every vote here in Nevada," and said the many visits were a sign of the Silver State's importance to Obama.

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