Some good news in Nevada regarding elections

[LadyShea]

Nevada is a battle ground state. In 2000, Bush won here by about 4% and the polls are slightly in favor of Bush. Although most outsiders assume we are a liberal state, we are mostly conservative....all but Reno and Vegas are old western rural rancher type lands. Clark County, where Las Vegas is, is the only majority democratic region and we are just slightly over half of registered voters. We don't have a huge number or electoral votes, but enough that both candidates have been here several times. Anyway, a couple snippets that make me feel a bit more hopeful about the upcoming elections....the Republicans appear to be getting desperate in some situations. Early voting started yesterday, and I plan to vote today so here we go!

An unprecedented number of unregistered voters lined the hallways at the Clark County Government Center on Tuesday, the final day to register for the Nov. 2 general election.

"The news that we were a swing state got me to come down here," Biddulph said. "I'm a Republican voting Democrat, and that's sad."

A massive spike in voter registrations has placed Clark County on a pace to lead the nation in the percentage of new voters and has resulted in Democratic gains that could affect the general election in a key battleground state.

In the past eight weeks, about 100,000 new registrations have been filed, more than 13,000 this week alone.

The UNLV Student Senate voted to use student fees to get controversial filmmaker Michael Moore to come to campus Friday and speak.

UNLV senior Sherrelle Blood, student affairs director, is a Republican supporter who worked to bring Moore to UNLV. She said she doesn't respect Moore, but she likes the political discussions he's fostered on campus. She has tried hard, writing letters and e-mails, to bring conservative speakers to campus with little success.

A late challenge to 17,000 Democratic voters in Clark County by a former Republican operative was blocked Monday when Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax said all would be eligible to participate in the Nov. 2 election.

Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates, who is also chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee's Black Caucus, told the crowd of about 300 that Republicans have twice tried to pull "shenanigans."

She referenced the attempt to remove 17,000 Democratic voters from the rolls by a Republican and the recent allegations of Republican operatives destroying Democratic voter registration forms.

"They stole the election four years ago in Florida, and we're not going to tolerate it Nov. 2," Atkinson Gates said.

The 20,000-plus members of AARP who are convening in Las Vegas represent the most courted age group in presidential politics. On Wednesday, they overwhelmingly thought Sen. John Kerry won the final presidential debate, and many said the Democratic nominee also will win a showdown for their hearts today when he addresses the group. President Bush also will be in Las Vegas, but will not speak at the convention.

Las Vegas Review Journal