President Barack Obama will be spending a critical three days in Henderson
before his first debate against Republican rival Mitt Romney, a White House
source confirmed today.
Obama will arrive in Las Vegas on Sunday and will rally supporters at a
public campaign event at Desert Pines High School. Doors open at 4 p.m. and
tickets to the event will be available at Obama campaign field offices
throughout the valley beginning at 9 a.m. Thursday.
He will then travel to an undisclosed location to hunker down for some
much-needed debate preparation.
Neither White House nor campaign officials would confirm the exact
location, but have said it will be in Henderson. Political journalist Jon
Ralston reported on Twitter that Obama will be staying at Lake Las Vegas.
Obama has no other public events scheduled during his time here. He is
scheduled to leave on Wednesday. But a campaign source said he will likely
make some "unplanned" local stops during his time in Southern Nevada.
The first of three presidential debates is Wednesday evening in Denver.
Obama has had decidedly less time to prepare for the debate than his
challenger, a fact that seems to be weighing on the president's advisers,
according to the Los Angeles Times. Both his official and campaign duties have
interrupted his debate preparation time.
Meanwhile, Romney has spent considerable time practicing. Earlier this
month, he took time off in Vermont to run through practice debates with Ohio
Sen. Rob Portman, who stands in as Obama. He also spent time this past weekend
preparing.
That has Obama's advisers downplaying expectations for Obama's
performance, a common pre-debate tactic.
During an editorial board meeting last week, Obama's campaign manager Jim
Messina said Romney seems to be "taking an unprecedented interest in these
debates."
"He stopped campaigning for a week to do nothing but debate prep,"
Messina said.
"I happen to be one of the only Americans who have watched all 23
Republican primary debates, which makes me sad and pathetic and wanting that
time back, but I can tell you that (Romney) is a phenomenal debater. He
understands message, he stays on it."
Messina added that Obama won't necessarily win this first debate.
"In the history of debates, the challenger typically wins the first
debate," Messina said. "So we have a lot of things stacked up against us. That
said, we continue to believe this election is a very clear choice and I think
the debates are going to show that."
Distributed by MCT Information Services
