Obama backers in 2008 getting geared up for tougher job

Marge Malatesta attended a Las Vegas house party Wednesday night. Guests nibbling on chocolate brownies and mini scones chatted around the dining room table and on the living room sofa.

But most of the talk was over cellphones, as the diverse gathering of more than a dozen men and women, young and old, minority and white, called Nevadans who backed President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign. They asked them to help Obama win a second term in 2012.

A Las Vegas teacher, Malatesta was among several new volunteers for the phone bank at an Obama supporter's home. New recruits mixed with veteran organizers who have kept the community-based engine of Obama's political machine running since it first roared to life in 2007.

Malatesta said she got involved to ensure Obama's re-election as he faces constant criticism from Republicans and disappointment from voters over the economy and high jobless rate -- 9.1 percent nationwide and 13.4 percent in Nevada.

"They keep trying to knock him down," Malatesta said of Obama's GOP foes in Congress and on the Republican presidential campaign trail. "If he walked on water they would say he couldn't swim. I think he sincerely wants to change things and needs more time to finish the job."

In Nevada and nationwide, the Democratic effort to re-elect Obama is revving up as campaign and party organizers in every state reach out to former supporters, community leaders, minority groups and first-time voters who helped the nation's first black president win the White House in 2008.

If Obama can turn out his voters again, he can beat the eventual GOP presidential nominee, who will have to make up ground against an incumbent who already has the entire Democratic Party apparatus and a vast army of paid and volunteer supporters working for his re-election.

"The most compelling argument for Obama is to have neighbors talk to neighbors," said Ben LaBolt, the president's campaign press secretary who came to Las Vegas last week for Obama's 3-hour visit here during a Western tour.

ORGANIZING FOR AMERICA AT WORK

In Nevada, an Organizing for America official said volunteers have made 200,000 phone calls since Obama officially announced his re-election bid on April 4. Volunteers have held 2,000 one-on-one conversations so far. And the organization has received 22,000 preprinted cards from Nevadans who expressed interest in volunteering by filling them out and declaring, "I'm in!"

Obama launched Organizing for America as an arm of the Democratic Party after his Jan. 20, 2009, inauguration. The former U.S. senator and community organizer from Chicago turned his campaign supporters into grass-roots volunteers who could help win support for his policies.

Since he took office, they have held phone banks to promote everything from health care reform to the $787 billion stimulus aimed at ending the recession he inherited from the Bush administration.

"This organization has never stopped," said Alfreda Chapman, a retired principal who started volunteering for the Obama campaign in 2007 in Las Vegas. "It's like a pyramid. You start with one person. You pull in your friends. And they pull in their friends. And it just grows and grows."

Chapman said she had never been active in politics before Obama. She initially supported Hillary Clinton, who lost the Democratic nomination to Obama. Chapman said a friend kept telling her to read Obama's book, "The Audacity of Hope," and "give the guy a look."

"My friend said, 'He's different. I've never seen anyone like him,' " Chapman said. "I just finally felt in my heart he was the one. And now we're fighting again."

Chapman was one of the true believers who gathered Wednesday night at Sue Brooks' home in northwest Las Vegas, a woman on a mission that she believes won't be easy.

"People are frustrated right now, and they want somebody to blame," Chapman said. "Frustration can bring about bad choices. Yeah, it's going to be a battle."

PHONE BANK VOLUNTEERS HAVE SCRIPT

During the phone bank evening, the callers were asking people to urge Congress to pass Obama's $447 billion jobs plan, which GOP critics have derided as "Stimulus II." They also were asking for help with Obama's re-election. Volunteers were given a script, background notes and talking points, although they were urged "to deliver the message in the way that suits you best."

"I would love to (GRAB COFFEE/MEET UP/ETC) to discuss what you can do to help put pressure on Congress to pass the jobs plan and your thoughts on how we can build the president's campaign, and how to get others involved," said the script. "Is there a time we could schedule a meet?"

If the answer was yes, the volunteer would set up a meeting or sign up the person to help the 2012 campaign.

If the answer was no, the caller would ask, "Is there something in particular holding you back?" Whatever the issue -- education, jobs, health care -- the volunteer would write it down. The information can be used for follow-up calls and visits during a later phase of the campaign when volunteers will use issue-based persuasion techniques to argue for Obama's re-election.

Chapman was putting happy faces next to people who agreed to volunteer.

Leisa Moseley, who sat nearby, said only two people on her list responded negatively. A volunteer now, Moseley was a paid field organizer for Obama's campaign in 2008 in Nevada and did the same sort of job for Organizing for America in 2010.

"I think it's going to be a little tougher this time," Moseley said. "I personally think he has done a good job, but some people are disappointed. I think expectations of him were too high."

In the end, Moseley added, "I think he's going to pull it out. People are pretty fired up."

PRESIDENT'S VISIT

Obama's visit last week to Las Vegas reminded supporters he cares about Nevada, where he campaigned more than 20 times during his first White House run. He announced an expanded mortgage refinancing program to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. And he spoke at a fundraising lunch at the Bellagio, where tickets for 300 people ranged from $1,000 to $38,500 each.

Brooks, hostess of the house party, attended the Bellagio event. Her house is decorated with pictures of the president, including one with a computer-generated note from Obama: "To Susan, I truly appreciate the dedication and support you have provided me during my first term."

Brooks pulls out another photograph that has deeper meaning. It shows her with the president and other supporters, taken when he returned to Nevada on a trip following his 2008 election.

"I'm a lifelong Democrat," said Brooks, a former school board member in California who moved to Nevada in 2006 after retiring. "I decided to support Obama because he was the one I felt passionate about. Obama wants to help the middle class. I'm concerned about all this corporate greed."

Yet the president's efforts to boost the economy haven't done enough to bring unemployment down to 8 percent as he promised, leaving an opening for his Republican opponents.

EASY NEVADA WIN IN 2008

The president's popularity has fallen in hard-hit Nevada, a battleground state Obama won by 12 percentage points in 2008. He is running neck and neck with Republican Mitt Romney and is barely ahead of several other GOP presidential contenders, according to a new Public Policy Polling survey.

Obama and Romney each have 46 percent support, according to the automated telephone poll of 500 Nevada voters taken Oct. 20-23. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

The president is doing better against two conservative favorites, leading both Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich 49 percent to 46 percent, according to the poll. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, finished 43-47 behind Obama, while Texas Gov. Rick Perry would lose 41-51 if the election were now.

"There aren't many states Barack Obama won in 2008 where he has fallen as far as Nevada," said Dean Debnam, president of PPP, a Democratic polling firm. "What was an easy win last time looks like it will be a very tough hold in 2012."

Malatesta, the new volunteer for Obama, got a taste of the anger brewing, especially among Republicans who seem just as fired up to replace the president. When she called one woman's phone number, the woman's husband answered. He said he was a registered Republican.

"That rattled me, so I said, 'That's fine. I hope you're going to vote,' " Malatesta said. "He said, 'We will, but not for Obama.' "

Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Follow @lmyerslvrj on Twitter.