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Obama swaps debate prep for Hoover dam
The president has been staying in a secluded Nevada resort as he hones his skills for the first of 3 debates with Mitt Romney.
Tue, Oct 02 2012 at 5:52 PM
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The horseshoe-shaped concrete dam is a symbol of public works projects undertaken in the aftermath of the 1930s Great Depression. (Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP)
President Barack Obama on Tuesday broke out of his debate camp and toured the vast bulk of the Hoover Dam, on the eve of his head-to-head showdown with Mitt Romney.
The horseshoe-shaped concrete dam, on the Colorado River on the Nevada and Arizona borders 30 miles west of Las Vegas, is a symbol of public works projects undertaken in the aftermath of the 1930s Great Depression.
Obama said he had had no idea the dam was so close to Las Vegas, where he has been a frequent visitor over the last four years, until he was told by a staff member.
"It's spectacular and I've never seen it before. I said, 'well, we've got to go check it out.'"
Obama was told by Rob Skordas, the assistant dam manager for history and operational logistics, that the dam was built by 28,000 men.
It was dedicated in 1935 by then president Franklin Roosevelt, who took office in the Great Depression and has been mentioned by Obama as he seeks to steer the U.S. economy back to health following its worst crisis since the 1930s.
The president has been staying in a secluded Nevada resort as he hones his skills for the first of three debate clashes with Republican Romney in Denver, Colorado on Wednesday.
He ignored questions shouted to him by reporters about how his debate practice was going.
Copyright 2012 AFP American Edition
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If you have the opportunity and are not one of the huge masses of droids whose intellect is minimal and view entertainment as the typical drivel spewing from your always-on TV I recommend a tour of that monolithic structure, the outside and the innards where the massive turbines turn those magnets and coiled wire to create the electricity needed to power your TV set and a trillion Las Vegas lights.