Sunday, March 30, 2008

Election Flashback: Presidential Race 2004

I pulled this from the archives in lieu of the current election.....interesting to see how things have elvolved (or fallen) since the last presidential election.

LAS VEGAS – October 2004

Democrats rallied Tuesday evening at the Rio Hotel and Casino hoping to celebrate Senator Kerry’s win in the presidential election but the evening ended tensely as President Bush pulled ahead.

In a mirror image of the close electoral votes, Nevada precincts also reported shifting results as Kerry supporters at the election party alternatively cheered and lamented as projections flip-flopped.

“I’ve been pounding the pavement for a week straight,” said Kari Rosage, 29, of Las Vegas. “I want to revel in our victory and be around people who will rejoice or mourn with me.”

Rosage said she stands on the opposite side of every issue from George Bush and is against corporate control of the government and the war in Iraq.

Her brother Jesse Swafford, 19, volunteered for the U.S. Army after the war started and is currently stationed in Iraq. Though the experience has made him more responsible, Rosage said, her brother hates the war.

“My family is so proud of him in one respect, but we’re worried about his safety,” Rosage said. “The war is an unwinnable war, another Vietnam.”

Deidre Radford, 33, said that another Bush victory will mean a draft and going to war with other nations in the Middle East and possibly around the world.

“I don’t like to drop bombs on innocent women and children for oil,” said Radford, an office manager in Las Vegas. “I think Kerry will bring other countries and the United Nations into the conflict and it will be a peace-keeping force.”

Foreign policy is the key issue for Canadian citizen Chris Guertin, a civil engineer who has lived in Las Vegas for the past five years.

He couldn’t vote, but Guertin worked on the Democratic campaign driving volunteers from California, canvassing, poll-tracking and working as a precinct leader.

“I care about how this country relates to the rest of the world,” said Guertin, 48. “I think Kerry would be a great president like Roosevelt, a great world leader like Churchill.”

Partway through the festivities, Nevada Sen. Harry Reid spoke to thank supporters for their votes in the election and to pledge his attention to education and health care for Nevada.

“Nevada leads the nation in those that are uninsured and that’s got to change,” said Reid, 64. “Healthcare should be a right in America, not a privilege.”

Reid, who served as the Senate Democratic lieutenant since 1998, is a strong candidate to become the new senate minority leader. Sen. Tom Daschle, the current Democratic Senate leader from South Dakota, was defeated in Tuesday’s election.

For Kari Rosage, Reid’s focus on healthcare verbalized her own concerns if Bush is re-elected. Kerry will revolutionize health care by looking at Canada and Germany, who have socialized health care, Rosage said.

“We are the richest country in the world,” Rosage said. “Why are there millions of Americans without health care?”

Ben Castillo, a Latino union representative from Los Angeles, spent the past week in Las Vegas talking to union members about the importance of involving their entire households in the voting process.

“Kerry is for working families and brings a message of hope to working families that have been oppressed by the current administration,” Castillo said.

For several Democratic supporters attending the party, the reality of Bush in office for a second term was almost unthinkable.

Canadian Chris Guertin, who is eligible for American citizenship next month, said he refuses to support Bush if he becomes president.

“I will not become a United States citizen if Bush wins and I will seriously reconsider returning to Canada,” Guertin said.

“I haven’t even allowed myself to think that Bush could win until recently, because it’s too painful,” said Jan Sobel, a 32-year-old construction worker from Big Bear, California.

Sobel, a registered Green Party member who voted for Nader in 2000, worked in Reno and Las Vegas canvassing with Americans Coming Together (ACT), a political fund-raising group.

“I didn’t think he could cause this much trouble, let alone win a second time,” Sobel said.

California lawyer Mike Cousins attended the Las Vegas Democratic election party after canvassing for MoveOn.org, a network of more than two million online activists encouraging voter participation. Cousins echoed Sobel’s sentiments.

“I was very surprised that Bush governed catering to the far right once he was elected,” said Cousins, 58. “I’d be more surprised if he gets re-elected after doing so.”

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