LAS VEGAS - Only one person welcomed President Obama to Las Vegas when he stepped off Air Force One Wednesday night: Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman.
According to Mayor Goodman, elected leaders are invited to greet the president when he visits. She was the only elected leader who accepted the invite. She says she did it because of protocol, not politics.
"To have the opportunity to greet the President of the United States, to me, is simply remarkable," she said. "He is our president. It's not Bush, it was Mr. President or President Bush, and it isn't Obama, it's President Obama."
Mayor Carolyn Goodman was also the only person to greet the president during his visit to Las Vegas last fall.
Wednesday night, the mayor took advantage of her very brief meeting with President Obama. After joking that Thursday's 70 degree weather was made just for him, she threw in a nugget of business. It was about foreclosures and the mortgage crisis that has crippled southern Nevada.
"We want his leadership, because he is the president," she said. "Maybe he'll continue, and maybe he won't, but he's President of the United States, and we need his help."
Goodman told the president Las Vegas needs his help to get private lenders and banks to loosen up and help people finance responsibly.
The mayor says she wasted no time welcoming the president, because she wants him to remember Las Vegas is a world class entertainment destination. She hopes Las Vegas will come to mind when he talks about tourism and international visitors.
Goodman also gave the president three, small Las Vegas lapels with flashing lights - one for him and two for his daughters. She hopes he wears his new gift Thursday when he visits a Las Vegas UPS.
