LOOKING IN ON: WASHINGTON

Tuesday, June 20, 2006 | 2:24 a.m.

Even breakfast on the Hill for constituents of House members is not bipartisan

Nevada's congressional delegation served up a strong breakfast blend of partisan infighting on Capitol Hill last week when word got out that the state's two Republican House members have been hosting weekly coffee klatches for visiting constituents without inviting the state's lone Democrat.

Republican Reps. Jim Gibbons and Jon Porter have been welcoming any and all Nevadans for the joint Wednesday breakfasts, drawing two to three dozen constituents each week. Groups, individuals and vacationing families have stopped in for coffee, bagels and OJ, and the chance to talk about an issue or snap a picture for the family album.

Anyone can attend, that is, except Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley.

"It's not about trying to exclude anybody," said Gibbons spokeswoman Melissa Subbotin. "We didn't want it to become a partisan issue. That's not what the breakfast is about."

Porter spokesman T.J. Crawford poured it closer to the brim: "Congresswoman Berkley has made it very clear she doesn't want anything to do with Congressman Porter and Congressman Gibbons, which is why she wasn't invited to the breakfast meetings."

Berkley, miffed that visiting Nevadans only have access to one side of the political aisle, served it back. "I would hope they treat the guests at the breakfast better than they treat the representative of Nevada's First Congressional District," said spokesman David Cherry.

Porter will be taking center stage Wednesday night at the third annual congressional blues festival "Blues on the Hill," where his band, The Second Amendments, will be jamming through the hits for the charity gig.

The band includes an all-congressional, albeit bipartisan, lineup that includes Porter on keyboards; Collin Peterson, D-Minn., on lead vocals and rhythm guitar; Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., lead guitar; Dave Weldon, R-Fla., bass; and Kenny Hulshof, R-Mo., drums.

They plan to warm up the crowd for the headliner, blues guitar great Taj Mahal, and may break out their typical playlist of classic rock standards such as "Mustang Sally" and "Freebird."

The band, named after a precursor group The Amendments that broke up, also happens to include all Second Amendment supporters, Porters office said. The group played for the troops in Iraq over the winter holidays.

Tickets are free, but money raised from event sponsors supports a nonprofit organization that recognizes and financially supports often forgotten blues legends.

For those who miss the show at the Mellon Auditorium, there is always a chance to catch the band during Tuesday night rehearsals in a Longworth House Office Building storage room. Porter has no immediate plans to quite his day job.

Porter's main challenger in the upcoming November election for his 3rd Congressional District seat, Tessa Hafen, made the rounds in Washington last week, including an all-star Democratic fundraiser hosted by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, her former boss, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California.

Hafen also made stops at the House's Democratic Caucus, where she was given about two minutes to make her case, a meeting with environmentalists and a labor breakfast, among others.

The 30-year-old former press secretary to Reid promises a "very aggressive" campaign in the district that pollsters have targeted as among the most competitive in the nation.