Obama urges crowd at school rally to re-elect Harry Reid as senator

Setting the stakes high, President Barack Obama made an impassioned plea Friday night to thousands of supporters in Las Vegas to help re-elect U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader whose career is in danger along with the Democratic Party agenda.

"The main reason I'm here, the main reason I need you fired up is because in just 11 days you have the chance to set the direction of this state and this country -- not just for the next five years, for the next 10 years, but for the next several decades," Obama declared at an outdoor rally.

The president's pitch came on the same day officials announced the unemployment rate hit a record high 15 percent in Las Vegas, the state's most populous city. The jobless rate held at 14.4 percent statewide for September, topping the nation as the economy here continues to falter.

Neither Obama nor Reid mentioned the latest bad news, a harsh reminder of why the Democratic incumbent is in a dead heat with Republican challenger Sharron Angle. The Tea Party favorite is hoping anger with the economy will overcome the Democrats' get-out-the-vote effort, promoted by Obama's third visit to Las Vegas this year for Reid. First lady Michelle Obama is scheduled to come here on Nov. 1 for an election-eve push.

Ahead of the rally, Angle from a distance reminded Obama and Reid of Nevada's dire straits. She put the blame squarely on the Democrats and warned that voters would go against them at the ballot box.

"Welcome to Nevada, Mr. President," Angle said in a statement issued several hours before Obama arrived in town. "It's good that you're here to see first-hand what your and Harry's 'recovery' has done to our state. ... You and Harry together have destroyed the Nevada economy.

"There will be a time when the American people hold you accountable for what you have done to them, but you're not on the ballot this year -- Harry Reid is," she added. "In 11 days, we'll start a real recovery when he's fired and your agenda comes to a screeching halt once and for all."

Obama and Reid have taken criticism from Republicans who say the $787 billion stimulus bill didn't reduce the jobless rate, as promised. The GOP also opposed the Democrats' signature health care law, which a majority of Nevadans would like repealed.

Angle and other Republicans want to fully extend the Bush-era tax cuts, including for the wealthy, as a way to give companies more confidence to start spending money and hiring again. Obama and Reid say the rich shouldn't be included in any extension, but only the middle class.

The crowd of largely die-hard Democrats clearly came to see Obama and not Reid, who spoke for 10 minutes at Orr Middle School Park and introduced the president, who talked for 30 minutes.

As Obama addressed the gathering, admirers chanted, "Obama! Obama! Obama!" The president urged them to shout Reid instead, trying to turn attention back to the senator's fate.

"I appreciate everybody saying Obama, but I want everybody to say 'Harry Reid, Harry Reid, Harry Reid,' " Obama said, and the crowd took up the call, chanting, "Harry Reid" three times in response.

Obama acknowledged that Reid is "not the flashiest guy" or a charismatic campaigner.

"You know, Harry kind of speaks in a very soft voice," the president said. "He doesn't move real quick. He doesn't get up and make big stem-winding speeches. But Harry Reid does the right thing."

The president also said he knew the outcome of the race isn't certain. Pundits predict Republicans will take over the House and will likely make big gains in the Senate.

"There is no doubt that this is going to be a difficult election," Obama said. "And that's because we've been through an incredibly difficult time as a nation. And nobody's been hit harder than Nevada."

The last time Obama was on the ballot, in 2008, about 100,000 newly registered Democrats in Nevada helped drive him to victory. Since then, however, the Democratic rolls have dropped. Now the party holds only a 60,000 registered voter edge over Republicans, who appear more enthused.

Reid said Angle talks about wanting "to take the country back" but he said she would really take the country "backwards" while he and Obama want to build a better future with clean energy jobs.

"If Sharron Angle is elected we'll be walking backward into the future," Reid said. "I'm not interested in taking our country back to the same ideas" that he said "crashed our economy."

"We don't want to take the country back. We want to take the country forward," Reid said. "We're moving forward, not fast enough, but we're not going to give up."

Both Obama and Reid urged voters to get themselves and others to the polls.

"I can't do it alone," Reid said. "I need your help."

Early voting began Oct. 16 and continues through Oct. 29.

The crowd, sitting in bleachers and standing on the lawn, appeared to number no more than 5,000. Organizers distributed a crowd count of 9,000, based on a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police estimate.

Police Lt. Jason Letkiewicz, who put out the estimate, said it was unscientific and based on a U.S. Secret Service report that 8,750 people had gone through security magnometers. But he said it's likely that people came and went, leading to double-counting.

"I don't usually put out crowd counts because they get used for political reasons," Letkiewicz said. "But they wanted one, although it looked like about half that to me."

The mood was festive, even though some people waited up to six hours to see the president. Like most rallies, participants stood, cheered and waved "Vote 2010" signs.

Dave Sivinski, 61, clad in a self-described "goofy" umbrella hat to protect him from the sun and potential rain, said he came from his house down the street because he couldn't pass up the chance to see another president in person.

"I've seen Johnson, George the first, Carter and Clinton," he said.

Sivinski said he didn't need to be encouraged to vote for Reid.

"It's a no-brainer," he said. "He's the most powerful man in the Senate. You don't take out your best pitcher in the final inning of the World Series."

Murchelle Jackson brought her twin 8-year-old sons to see the president "because it feels good to have my boys see someone who looks like them in the presidency."

"It's historic and they needed to see this," said Jackson, 36.

Harvey and Carol Ann Robicheau, married 32 years, said they left satisfied, if exhausted.

"We heard what we wanted to hear," Harvey, 72, said. Obama "Is real, and he is for us."

"He's an inspiration," Carol Ann, 66, said. "I think this appearance energized people and that it will make a difference" at the ballot box.

Outside the rally, demonstrators were sparse, if passionate.

Mike Sciullo, 27, wore a garish Uncle Sam costume and stood at an intersection telling passersby the government could make good choices for them and wisely spend their money if they would just hand it over.

"I'm doing a little bit of satire," said Sciullo, a volunteer for a group called Young Americans for Liberty. "You either get it or you don't."

Before Obama's arrival the audience heard from several Democratic candidates who urged those gathered to go vote at a nearby mall after the rally, and to reject Republicans up and down the ticket.

"We are not going to let them take our country back," said Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., who's in a close race with Joe Heck, her GOP challenger. "You are my army. You are my family. And we need you now more than ever to help Democrats in this election."

Titus also played off Angle's debate-born challenge for Reid to "man up" on everything from the economy to Social Security, saying Democrats tackled many difficult issues.

"I don't think the Democrats are wimps. I don't think we have to man up," Titus said.

Rory Reid, the senator's son who's running for governor, appeared on stage before Sen. Reid and Obama were on the scene. In what appeared to be a sleight, Obama failed to mention the younger Reid, although he acknowleged every other Democrat running at the top of the ticket.

The Reids have avoided appearing together at campaign events, each caught in their own difficult race and worried about dragging down the other, especially with the senator's negative ratings so high.

The younger Reid, a Clark County commissioner, said he understood the anger of voters upset about the bad economy. But he urged them to "convert that anger into energy" at the polls.

"We are not the party of anger. We are the party of ideas," said Reid, who is running far behind his GOP challenger Brian Sandoval.

Review-Journal reporters Lynnette Curtis, Benjamin Spillman, Scott Wyland and Brian Haynes contributed to this report. Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919.