Biden, Dodd, Richardson supporters feel the love from front-runners

Democrat Mike Selvage found himself in the "dreaded undecided" camp after his candidate, Joe Biden, dropped out of the presidential race.

A week after the Iowa caucus results that put Selvage in this position, he was caught between his wife's lobbying for John Edwards and e-mail from dozens of friends who support Barack Obama for the party nomination.

"You should see my in box," said Selvage, of Las Vegas. "Man, are they aggressive. It's a real nightmare at home."

For more than a year, the Obama campaign has had little presence at official state Democratic Party meetings or at the club level. Yet last week, with just nine days to go before Nevada's caucus, the Obama campaign was working the room at the Red Rock Democratic Club meeting, looking for the dozen or so people such as Selvage who can now be won over.

For most of the year, Obama's campaign ignored these meetings as part of the establishment. The Obama campaign preferred to target a new coalition of voters, particularly young people and those who have never engaged in politics.

But now, Obama is joining the battle for the soul of the party -- the activists who knock on doors in their neighborhood and meet monthly at various social clubs, union halls and libraries.

Omar Khan, who had become a well-known face at the activist level after coming to Nevada to work for Biden last year, showed up at the Red Rock meeting Thursday with his usual roll of duct tape. Only this night, he was sticking an Obama sign to the wall.

Khan walked past his former state director, Ronni Council, now manning the table with the Hillary Clinton literature. Both just smiled. Another day, another campaign.

There's the top-down approach the Clinton campaign is employing to win over the Biden, Chris Dodd and Bill Richardson supporters. It snatched away Council and state Sen. Bob Coffin, who had both backed Biden.

Then there's the bottom-up style of the Obama campaign, finding the field organizers such as Khan and bringing them into the fold to find new support. He wasted no time in his new assignment, bringing Obama's national field director, fresh from Iowa, to the meeting.

Cuauhtemoc "Temo" Figueroa drew laughs when he said he could not say his own name until third grade or spell it until college. But he made a serious play for Dodd, Biden and Richardson backers, each time with the same refrain: "The Barack Obama campaign would like your support."

Then a slightly more aggressive message: If Edwards doesn't reach the 15 percent viability threshold in your precinct caucus on Jan. 19, come with us.

Figueroa called Obama the most electable of the Democratic candidates, noting he was asked to come to red states such as Virginia and Missouri to campaign for Democrats in 2006.

The Clinton campaign dispatched its new heavyweight to the meeting, but Rep. Shelley Berkley largely spoke to the crowd of 200 about turning out for the caucus.

From the back of the room, an Obama supporter yelled: "Fired up, ready to go."

Still, Council was having some success. From the start, Clinton has had strong support at the club level, and a few Biden voters have come into the fold.

Gary Musser placed a Clinton sticker atop his Biden T-shirt. "After Joe, I've been a Hillary supporter all the time," Musser said.

Council said that after she switched allegiances, she was surprised to see the strength of the Clinton campaign's organization. She said most Biden voters will end up with Clinton because of her depth of knowledge.

"It's experience," Council said. "You want change, but without chance."

Outside the meeting at the Sahara West Library, one former Richardson supporter said he would now be caucusing for Obama.

"I still think Richardson had the best resume in the race, but now I just want to win (the general election)," said George Aguero, who lives in the Lakes. "It looks like Obama is the candidate who can win those independents and maybe even a few Republicans."

Aguero didn't even realize Richardson was scheduled to speak to the club at the library that night. Ann Perkins, another Richardson supporter who knew about the meeting, came anyway.

"I figured I could get an Obama sticker," she said, walking out with one.

Clinton took her case door-to-door earlier that afternoon, canvassing a neighborhood and reaching out to Latino voters who might have been supporting Richardson, the Hispanic governor of New Mexico.

But Obama appeared to be winning voters over without even being in the state.

Francisco Lomeli said he had been supporting Clinton, but decided the morning of the Iowa caucuses to walk into an Obama office. He said he thinks Clinton would be trashed in a national campaign, but that Obama could build the kind of coalition that could get him to the White House.

"She can't win," Lomeli said, sporting an Obama shirt.

Carole Fishman, a New York transplant who still pronounces the state Ne-vah-dah, encouraged her fellow club members to vote for Clinton, noting the senator won most Republican counties in New York during her re-election bid in 2006 and has sponsored legislation with some of the most conservative Republican senators.

"Yeah, she can work with everybody," Fishman urged.

Although Clinton maintains strong party support, Obama's campaign has picked up momentum here with the Culinary union endorsement.

Even Las Vegas Assemblyman Tick Segerblom, a self-described unrepentant liberal who has aggressively campaigned for Edwards, said he thinks Nevada may now be Obama's to lose. Still, Segerblom encouraged Red Rock Democrats to stick with Edwards, noting the nomination process was but one week old.

Then, the attorney's closing argument, with a little smile: "If you're for Obama and don't reach the (viability) threshold, come for us."

Contact Erin Neff at (702) 387-2906, or by e-mail at eneff@reviewjournal.com.