John McCain – Reporting from a new generation of journalists.

Nevada Rural Voters See Influence Wane

November 11, 2008 – 11:58 am

Republican support in rural communities remains strong as rural voters’ influence statewide is declining
Once upon a time — say, way back in 2004 — overwhelming Republican Party support in rural Nevada offset the Democratic advantage in densely-populated Clark County. Swing county Washoe, Nevada’s second most populous, often determined who won statewide campaigns. John Kerry won [...]

By rjrivera | Posted in The Western Edge | Also tagged Barack Obama, Battle for the West, Clark County, Democrats, Elko, Las Vegas, Nevada, Republicans, rural communities, rural voters, Washoe | Comments

Latinos Turn Out for Obama, Help Flip States from Red to Blue

November 7, 2008 – 12:30 pm

As expected, the Latino vote went two to one for now President-Elect Barack Obama, and the turn-out was high enough to help Obama win several swing states.
About 10 million Latinos voted in this election, or about 8 percent of the electorate, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. Latinos make up about 15 percent of [...]

By Amy Crawford | Posted in Immigration: New Voters, Old Fears | Also tagged Barack Obama, Columbia, Immigration, Latino vote | Comments

Battle for the West: Front Page News

November 5, 2008 – 9:35 am

For more front pages from around the globe, visit Newseum, The Interactive Museum of News

By rjrivera | Posted in The Western Edge | Also tagged Barack Obama, Battle for the West, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, newspapers | Comments

Notes From Battleground State Voters

November 4, 2008 – 3:25 pm

Huffington Post’s Off The Bus project asked readers to weigh in on their election day voting experiences. I parsed through some of the raw data and highlighted some of the responses from swing states. My introduction below; voter impressions after the jump.
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Hundreds of reports on your election day experiences have poured into OfftheBus, and in [...]

By rjrivera | Posted in The Western Edge | Also tagged Barack Obama, election day, swing states, turnout, voting | Comments

Waning Influence of Colorado Springs Evangelicals

November 4, 2008 – 12:33 am

Anti-abortion activists rally against Sen. Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention in August (Getty Images)
Salon’s Mike Madden visited the New Life megachurch in Colorado Springs on Sunday and found the political energy muted. The evangelical Christians he spoke with were lukewarm on McCain (though excited about Sarah Palin) and appeared to be bracing for [...]

By rjrivera | Posted in The Western Edge | Also tagged Barack Obama, Battle for the West, Catholics, Christians, Denver, Evangelicals, Evangelicals For Obama, Focus on the Family, James Dobson, pro-choice, pro-life | Comments

Truth Behind A Swing State Newspaper Endorsement

November 3, 2008 – 11:13 pm

New Mexico’s largest newspaper the Albuquerque Journal became one of the last papers to endorse a presidential candidate this year, announcing its support for Republican Sen. John McCain on Sunday placing it among the minority of newspaper endorsements nationwide, according to Editor & Publisher. As of today, 273 papers have endorsed Sen. Barack Obama and [...]

By rjrivera | Posted in The Western Edge | Also tagged Albuquerque, Albuquerque Journal, Barack Obama, Battle for the West, endorsements, New Mexico, newspapers, swing states | Comments

Quick Hit: Slate Checks Out Purple Virginia

November 3, 2008 – 6:17 pm

News 21 readers are by now familiar with the purpling of Virginia, a state that was long part of the solid conservative south, but where Barack Obama is now slightly ahead of John McCain. Some of this shift has to do with Asian and Latino immigrants. Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick takes a look:

[T]here are more than [...]

By Amy Crawford | Posted in Immigration: New Voters, Old Fears | Also tagged Asian vote, Barack Obama, Columbia, Immigration, Latino vote, virginia | Comments

Battle for the West: Obama’s Last Stops

November 1, 2008 – 11:39 am

Sen. Barack Obama campaigns in Southern Nevada for the second weekend in a row (Getty Images)
“You don’t need to boo. You just need to vote,” Sen. Barack Obama told his supporters who booed when he mentioned his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, this morning at a campaign rally in Henderson, Nevada.
Early voting in Nevada and [...]

By rjrivera | Posted in The Western Edge | Also tagged Barack Obama, Battle for the West, Colorado, early voting, exit polling, Henderson, Nevada | Comments

Battle for the West: Obama Heads West For Final Push; Colorado Voter Purge Lawsuit Settled

October 30, 2008 – 3:19 pm

Obama Looks To Cement Lead In Polls With Final Visit West
In the latest AP-GfK poll released Wednesday, Obama leads Sen. John McCain 50 to 41 percent in Colorado and 52 to 40 percent in Nevada. Looking at the complete data set, the Obama campaign’s push to turn out early voters appears to be working. Of [...]

By rjrivera | Posted in The Western Edge | Also tagged Arizona, Barack Obama, Battle for the West, Colorado, early voting, Nevada, polling, Polls, Rolling Stone, voter suppression | Comments

Battle for the West: Latinos Are the Key to Victory

October 29, 2008 – 9:55 am

A study published earlier this month by the William C. Velasquez Institute looked at statewide polling data and determined that if the election were held today, “Latino voters would provide the margin of victory for democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico.”

Swearing in at a Denver naturalization ceremony this summer
Though most [...]