On Saturday afternoon, the Reno Gazette-Journal -- the second largest daily newspaper in Nevada -- cut ties with President Barack Obama and endorsed Governor Mitt Romney for President of the United States. Here’s the most salient excerpt from the devastating editorial:

However, while he had to contend with a Republican Party that was determined to deny him a second term at any cost, Obama cannot avoid the consequences of poor decisions and misplaced priorities. Foremost among them was his early focus on an overreaching health-care reform plan that wasted 12 very valuable months of his and Congress’ time and cost him precious political capital. The manner in which the legislation was drafted violated Obama’s pledge to govern openly, and its passage — leveraged through a supermajority — served to further galvanize the partisan divide in Congress. Fear of the impact of that reform and the costs associated with it continue to play a major role in preventing businesses from hiring new employees at a time when nearly everyone agrees that jobs must be the president’s foremost goal. A vote to re-elect Obama promises four more years of the same. In the two debates between the two candidates so far (a third, on foreign affairs, is scheduled for Monday), the president has shown little understanding of how his failures are affecting the nation, and he hasn’t offered any tangible proposals to change course.

Nevada has the highest unemployment rate in the nation. Thus, it probably comes as no surprise that the influential and widely circulated newspaper felt compelled to abandon its support for the incumbent -- a candidate they believe has no “tangible solutions” or credible proposals to solve the nation’s economic problems. Still, it’s rather difficult to gauge how many Nevadans will actually read the Journal’s editorial, let alone heed its advice. Meanwhile, recent polling suggests that the race is essentially tied, which is why both candidates will travel to Nevada next week after Monday’s third and final presidential debate:

Las Vegas will host both presidential candidates next week, as Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama make back-to-back swings through town to drum up support as voting gets under way. The Obama campaign announced Saturday morning that Obama will make a late-night grassroots appearance in Las Vegas on Wednesday, as part of a two-day “America Forward!” tour. Obama will start the tour in Iowa on Wednesday morning and travel through Denver for a rally before arriving in Las Vegas. The whirlwind tour of swing states continues with the president flying overnight to Tampa, Fla., for another grassroots rally Thursday and finally stopping off in Richmond, Va., before heading home. No further information about the Las Vegas event was available. On Thursday, First Lady Michelle Obama will follow up on her husband’s performance with another rally in Las Vegas, as reported earlier this week. The Obama duo will come into Las Vegas on the heels of Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan, who will hold an event Tuesday morning at the Henderson Pavilion, as reported earlier today. It is the first time Romney and Ryan will appear together in Nevada.

While Nevada only has six electoral votes, it’s a state that George W. Bush won in 2004 -- by a razor thin margin. So, perhaps with this endorsement -- and a little bit of luck -- Romney will move one step closer to winning the Silver State.