Democratic presidential debate draws supporters to Las Vegas Strip
About a hundred people gathered Wednesday evening outside Paris Las Vegas, mostly in support of the Democratic candidates, before and during the presidential debate.
One group of supporters gathered an hour or so before the start of the 6 p.m. debate with signs and shirts pledging support for former Vice President Joe Biden. They cheered and chanted, handing out stickers and flyers to passersby.
The group dispersed around 5:30 p.m. “to keep the focus on the debate inside,” supporter Grace Blea-Nunez said.
Terrisa Bukovinac, founder and executive director of Pro-Life San Francisco, said she has been traveling to debates around the country to demand a pro-life Democratic candidate.
She gathered in front of Paris with four others from Democrats For Life of America, chanting, “Abortion extremism ends now,” with a lifelike model of a 22-week-old fetus.
“We’re out here calling on our party to take a more moderate position on abortion that actually reflects the majority view of the constituents,” Bukovinac said.
Yang supporters hang around
Michael Kim stood in front of the casino with a “Yang for Us” sign and an Andrew Yang mask.
He said he was devastated when Yang suspended his presidential campaign last week.
“He may not be in the race anymore, but he’s still pushing for his ideas,” Kim said. “So I’m out here to push for those ideas too.”
He said he’d like to see other candidates adopt Yang’s idea of a universal basic income. “I can’t support anyone else until they adopt the UBI,” Kim said. “It’s really important to me.”
Education a priority
Cyrus Hojjaty joined a handful of others supporting teachers and calling on presidential candidates to take a stand on education and teacher funding.
He said the candidates in Wednesday night’s debate have not done enough to support teachers.
Hojjaty and his group had signs addressing multiple Democratic candidates, including Biden and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, urging them to “stand with our teachers against greedy unions.”
Republican showing
The Republican National Committee purchased a mobile digital billboard to roam the Strip from 5 to 10 p.m., according to a statement from Keith Schipper, the committee’s Nevada communications director.
One graphic praises President Donald Trump’s record on the economy, while another shows a chair being thrown at Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez in reference to an alleged incident in which supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders lifted chairs above their heads during the Nevada Democratic Party’s 2016 convention.
The Nevada Republican Party has also been driving its “DNC big rig,” a truck featuring a crossed out photo of Sanders, to local events this week. The Republicans claim their Democratic counterparts are not pleased with Sanders’ status as the front-runner for the nomination.
Timothy Lynn, Ty King and Sheila Herckis were outside Paris during the debate with a “Trump 2020” flag. Lynn, a Henderson native, said he brings the flag to the Strip every other Sunday, and that he saw more support on Wednesday night than ever before.
“I was surprised there weren’t more Trump supporters demonstrating out here, but like 99 percent of the people walking by were cheering for us,” Lynn said as a man stopped to ask if he could wave the flag.
King, who is in town on vacation from the Bay Area, said she cares more about fairness than party lines.
“The thing about the Democrats is that they’re so busy trying to beat Trump that they don’t see the big picture,” King said.
She said she thinks the Democratic Party has drifted too far left, and she just wants to see politicians focus on issues that help the people.
“I just want them to do their job and debate the issues,” Lynn added. ”Right now, they just don’t have any patriotism.”
Contact Alexis Egeland at aegeland@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0335. Follow @alexis_egeland on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Rory Appleton contributed to this report.