Obama lands another Gen Xer

When Las Vegan Amy Helton heard Barack Obama's campaign was looking for "fellows" to do organizing work in crucial states, she didn't think she would be eligible.

It sounded like the kind of thing college students do -- spending six weeks building a campaign field operation, possibly moving to another part of the country.

A 39-year-old video producer with two kids, Helton didn't think she would fit in.

But a campaign organizer encouraged Helton to apply, and now she's one of about 60 Obama Fellows who started working in Nevada earlier this month.

Nationwide, about 3,500 volunteers in 17 states are participating in the campaign's fellowship program, which draws inspiration from the candidate's background as a community organizer in Chicago. In Nevada, according to the campaign, the unpaid workers range in age from 19 to 70.

With companies cutting back on their marketing budgets in the slow economy, work was slow at Helton's employer, so it wasn't hard to take six weeks off, she said.

Helton, a Nevada native, has been an Obama supporter since early on despite never having contributed to or volunteered for a political campaign before.

"I always felt like my generation didn't have something to believe in the way my mom's generation did," she said. "Then Obama came along and hit me like a ton of bricks. There was finally someone who inspired me."

Hearing the words spoken by so many in the Obama ranks, Helton laughed at herself: "I'm 39, smack in the middle of Gen X. I fit the mold totally from a marketing perspective."

Helton and her fellow fellows are divided into teams, "which sort of lightly compete with each other" to meet organizing goals. They went through a three-day training and now are being put to work registering voters, recruiting new volunteers and reactivating the network of supporters that was created in the run-up to the Jan. 19 caucuses.

On Saturday, each fellow will be tasked with organizing two "Unite for Change" house parties in local neighborhood.

Helton said the grass-roots connections that get made are hopefully good for society as well as part of a winning campaign.

"When you have conversations with people, you connect with them. You get that real human interaction. You can make it clear why we're doing what we're doing and share that with people," she said.

POLLING AROUND

A new Nevada poll by Rasmussen Reports finds that if the election were held today, John McCain would get 45 percent of the vote and Barack Obama 42 percent.

The automated telephone poll of 500 likely voters carries a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points in either direction. It represents a slight tightening from the pollster's May survey, which had McCain leading, 46 to 40. It's virtually identical to the Review-Journal poll earlier this month that put McCain at 44 percent and Obama at 42 percent.

Asked about an issue currently in the news, 67 percent of Nevadans said they support offshore drilling for oil.

SPEAKING OUT

State Sen. Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, announced last week he's putting together a series of "Nevada Speaks" forums across the state to solicit the opinions of people for input as the Legislature looks toward to the 2009 session.

Horsford said he plans to hold at least three such town hall meetings in different parts of Nevada. He's working with the SAGE commission and has invited the other legislative leaders on board for what he hopes will be a bipartisan undertaking.

"I think there is a real interest among voters to engage their government," he said. "We want to bring a common-sense approach to how government works, make it more accountable and ensure it meets the needs of the people it serves. With the events that are happening now with the budget, I think now is the time to act and get input on what Nevadans believe our priorities should be so we can start to develop a road map to get there."

Horsford said he hopes to have the meetings scheduled by the middle of July. The meetings will be collated into a set of recommendations for the next legislative session, he said.

LOAN RANGER

Rep. Shelley Berkley's husband took out a mortgage near the end of last year with Countrywide Financial Services on an investment property in Las Vegas and says he got no special treatment.

Dr. Larry Lehrner's mortgage for the property at 11932 Orense St. was reported on Berkley's recent financial disclosure form covering 2007.

The Senate Ethics Committee is investigating following reports that Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo in 2003 authorized preferential loans for Sens. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Kent Conrad, D-N.D.

Lehrner, working through a Las Vegas broker, identified Countrywide as the most competitive lender for the mortgage, Berkley spokesman David Cherry said. He went through "normal channels" to secure the financing, had no contact with Countrywide executives and got no special deals, Cherry said.

According to Berkley's disclosure, Lehrner borrowed between $100,000 and $250,000. The congresswoman's office wouldn't provide a more precise figure or the loan's terms.

At least a dozen lawmakers have reported mortgages with Countrywide, a lender now in the process of being bought by Bank of America. Consumer advocates have charged California-based Countrywide contributed to the nation's foreclosure crisis by offering risky loans to borrowers with bad credit histories.

COLORING IN

State Sen. Dina Titus' campaign for Congress took a few moves forward last week.

Titus hired a campaign manager and a team of consultants for her congressional bid, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee put her campaign on its "Red to Blue" list of top targets to take out Republican incumbents.

The campaign manager is Jay Gertsema, whose last job was as regional field director for Hillary Clinton in Iowa, according to a Democratic Party news release. Gertsema in 2006 managed the campaign of the Democratic nominee for Idaho governor, Jerry Brady, who lost to Republican former Rep. C.L. "Butch" Otter.

Titus' addition to the "Red to Blue" list was expected. Robert Daskas, the Democrats' previous hoped-for nominee against Rep. Jon Porter, also had been on the list. The program funnels national campaign funds to its top targets.

Not making the list was Titus' fellow candidate, Jill Derby, who is making a second try at defeating Rep. Dean Heller. But Derby got a consolation prize: She was one of 20 put on the Democratic committee's list of "emerging races."

Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault contributed to this report. Contact reporter Molly Ball at mball@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919.