Obama rallies Vegas crowd, speaks about upcoming debate

Speaking at an outdoor rally in Las Vegas, President Barack Obama on Sunday evening lowered expectations for his first presidential debate with GOP challenger Mitt Romney, a face-off the president is preparing for by hunkering down for three days in Southern Nevada to practice.

"Governor Romney, he's a good debater," Obama said. "I'm just OK."

The president said he's not interested in scoring "zingers" against Romney when they meet Wednesday in Denver. Instead, he said he wants to tell voters why they should re-elect him.

"What I'm most concerned about is having a serious dis­cussion about what we need to do to keep this country growing," Obama said. "That's the debate the country deserves."

Obama was cheered on by about 11,200 supporters spread across the lawn at Desert Pines High School, according to his campaign's official crowd count.

The president won Nevada four years ago, thanks to a huge Democratic voter turnout. Obama said he needs supporters to work even harder now to ensure a second term.

"I ask you to keep on believing in me," Obama said near the end of his 25-minute speech. "I'm asking for your vote. I'm asking for you to stand with me and work for me. And if you stand with me and work for me, we will win Clark County again. We will win Nevada again."

Speakers at the Obama rally urged Nevadans to register to vote online by an Oct. 6 deadline or in person by Oct. 16. Early voting begins Oct. 20 before the Nov. 6 election.

Obama said voters are "going to hear more over the next six weeks" as he and Romney battle for the White House in a close race. He said the election is a choice about the direction the country will take - that he would boost the middle class while Romney would protect the rich.

"I need your vote and I'm going to fight for you," Obama said, drawing cheers from the crowd. "I'm not interested in creating Democrat or Republican jobs. I want to create American jobs."

The president said he isn't "fighting for rich people's values, or poor people's values" or those of African-Americans, Hispanics and Asian-Americans."

"I'm fighting for American values," Obama said. "And those values are hard work and individual responsibility and also looking out for one another."

Obama dismissed Romney's suggestion that 47 percent of people won't vote for him because they see themselves as victims, comments caught on video during a private fundraiser last spring.

"As I travel around the state I don't see a lot of victims," Obama said after joking that residents "may get tired of me" because he's been here so often. "I see a lot of hardworking Nevadans.

"What I want to promote is a new economic patriotism," he added. "We grow the economy best when everybody has a shot and the middle class is thriving."

Obama made the case for raising taxes on Americans making $250,000 or more a year, while Romney wants to keep taxes at the same rate for everyone by extending Bush-era tax cuts.

"We don't need to double down on the same trickle-down economics that got us in this mess in the first place," Obama said, adding he didn't want to give millionaires and billionaires more tax breaks.

Romney and Republicans argue that raising taxes on anyone now will hurt the nation's economic recovery, which has been slow in the wake of the worst recession since the Great Depression.

Before Obama's speech, the Grammy-winning Latin rock band Mana revved up the rally with a performance to a crowd heavy with Hispanics, whose votes could sway the election.

Hispanics are 26 percent of the state's population and made up about 15 percent of the electorate in the 2010 and 2008 elections. Obama is winning more than two-thirds of the Latino vote, according to most polls, while Romney is trying to drive up his support in the community.

RUBIO, ANN ROMNEY COMING TO VALLEY

Battling back, Romney this weekend opened a new campaign office in a Hispanic neighborhood, sending his Spanish-speaking son, Craig, to rally supporters Friday at its grand opening.

The Romney campaign also announced Sunday that U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., would campaign Tuesday afternoon at a rally inside Green Valley Ranch Resort in Henderson, the same city where Obama is hunkering down for debate practice.

Ann Romney is scheduled to campaign today in Henderson. She will speak to supporters at the Henderson Convention Center. Doors open at 1 p.m.

First lady Michelle Obama also is scheduled to campaign in Reno on Wednesday before joining the president in Denver for the televised debate.

OBAMA STAYING AT LAKE LAS VEGAS

From Sunday through Wednesday morning, Obama will be staying at the Westin Lake Las Vegas resort in Henderson where he'll practice for the debate with his top advisers.

A White House official said the president doesn't have any scheduled public events today or Tuesday, although he's likely to make an unscheduled excursion or two.

On Air Force One, campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters she expects Obama to add to the economy while here given the length of his stay.

"I expect that if he visits some local shops, he'll be spending some of his very own money in Vegas the next few days." Psaki said, noting the president has made repeated visits to Las Vegas.

"Also he's taken actions, working with his jobs council, working with his economic team, to promote travel and tourism in Nevada and other states across the country where tourism is a big part of the economy," Psaki added. "That speaks to his commitment to driving tourism, driving the recovery of the economy here in Nevada, almost more than anything else."

PREPARING FOR WEDNESDAY'S DEBATE

Obama came with a big entourage, including his debate partner. He's been practicing for the debate with U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who's been playing the role of Romney.

Using Nevada as his base for debate prep signals the importance of the state in Obama's re-election plan. He easily won the state in 2008, but Nevada has suffered hard economic times since and still has the highest unemployment rate in the nation at 12.1 percent.

During the president's stay, Republicans and the Romney campaign were driving a roving billboard outside his events and his hotel, reminding people of the sorry state of the economy.

"12.1% unemployment. Highest in the nation. You built this," the billboard says on one side.

"Can't afford 4 more years," the billboard says on the other side.

Romney has been practicing for the debates both on the campaign trail as well as at his campaign headquarters in Boston and at his New Hampshire home.

U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, has been playing Obama in Romney's mock debates. The other two presidential debates are Oct. 16 in New York and Oct. 22 in Florida.

This week's visit by Obama to Nevada was his eighth trip here in 2012 and his 16th since he won the White House. Romney has visited Nevada nearly as often, including half a dozen times since April, when he became the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.

Contact reporter Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal .com or 702-387-2919. Follow her on Twitter @lmyerslvrj.