What Makes Nevada a Swing State? Local Panel on Key Issues in 2012 Election

Bret Baier stopped by Hash House A Go Go restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada and sat down with a local panel to get their insight on the 2012 presidential election. Unemployment statewide is above the national average, at 11.6 percent. Also, one out of every 313 homes in Nevada had a foreclosure filing and the state is the third highest when it comes to foreclosures nationwide.

President Obama won the state in the 2008 election by 12 points, though it is considered a swing state this time around. Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Laura Myers explained that during the last presidential election, Democrats had a voter registration advantage but that gap has since narrowed.

Hash House A Go Go restaurant owner Brandon Rees said his biggest concern going into the election season is, “Government involvement in small businesses.” He went on to say that the health care law is a huge issue because they are constantly expanding and have seven restaurants now.

Elizabeth Crum from the Nevada News Bureau outlined the top issues in Nevada to be, “The economy and jobs number one for working class people, but obviously the economy for business owners as well, the ObamaCare mandates -- which don’t go into effect until 2014 but business owners already I think looking ahead, trying to calculate what that cost will be to their businesses.”