Why Obama Had to Make Peace With Las Vegas
After a remark about lavish corporate retreats in Las Vegas, including a rumored government memo that excluded Las Vegas from suitable meeting places for government officials, President Barack Obama declared, "I love Las Vegas!" to an audience at the city's Aria hotel at CityCenter. The reason? He had to.
Although his journey to Las Vegas was only a short trip on a fundraising tour, Obama knew he had to make peace with Nevada, a state of almost monumental contradictions. Although usually considered conservative, Nevada supported Obama in his 2008 election, and many residents were left bewildered when they felt Obama singled out their state as the most frivolous or worst place to spend money.
BNET (meaning me) first wrote about the remark last year, Feb. 9, 2009, to be exact.
It was only a five-second soundbyte, meant for Wall Street fat cats asking for government bailouts.
"You can't get corporate jets. You can't go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayer's dime, " President Barack Obama said to a town hall meeting in Elkhart, Ind. last week.Goodman, sensing an easy re-election platform, continued his righteous anger for the last year, saying recently that Obama had a "vendetta" against the city, publicly banned him, and then lastly refused to meet with the president when he visited there last weekend.
But the remark caused a hailstorm of anger from Las Vegas officials, members of the travel industry and even residents. And now the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority will launch a six-figure campaign with ads in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and other publications featuring company testimonials."People are telling me that they're not coming to Las Vegas because the president doesn't want them to," Mayor Oscar Goodman told the New York Times. Goodman at first demanded an apology from the White House, but later said he would settle for a clarification.
Goodman may have had reason. Earlier this month, Obama told a New Hampshire town hall meeting, "You don't blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you're trying to save for college." Unfortunate turn of phrase for Las Vegas, but in all fairness, Atlantic City doesn't trip off the tongue as easily.
Since the first remark, many Las Vegas heavyhitters took a crack at Obama, like Las Vegas Sands' Sheldon Adelson who offered a prize for the most boring city, while others wondered if it was true both Las Vegas and Reno were on secret a government travel blacklist.
There's been several news reports about a secret government do-not-travel list where employees are prohibited from conventions or other meetings. On that alleged list are cities like Orlando, Fla., Las Vegas and Reno, according to the Wall Street Journal. Instead, federal agencies are being told to hang out in more sober cities like Portland, Ore. or Fort Collins, Colo. (Snooze!) It all stems from the article that quotes an unnamed source from the U.S. Department of Agriculture who confirmed a government travel ban exists for those party cities.While the Obama administration denied the allegations, it still stoked the embers of resentment and conspiracy. Usually when there's smoke, there's some kind of fire, right? It sure is if your state and largest city have some of the highest foreclosure and unemployment rates, as well as its lifeblood -- tourism and gaming -- is pouring out because of the recession. People with no home and no job tend to want someone to blame.
That's why it was necessary that Obama came to Las Vegas to announce his $1.5 billion foreclosure rescue program and tout the federal stimulus package and Sen. Harry Reid's (D-Nevada) work on it for the people of Nevada (Reid is seeking reelection in November.) Obama's remarks shouldn't cost Reid the election, but in a strange political climate like today, it could.
So, while Obama stopped short of "I apologize," he did manage to convey his caring for the state and Las Vegas. Perhaps he has made some peace.
Photo courtesy of the White House Blog