Obama digging in

By J. Patrick Coolican (contact)

Friday, June 1, 2007 | 6:51 a.m.

CARSON CITY - When the crowds stop cheering, and all the books have been sold and signed, and the squeals of young women go silent, Barack Obama will have to get down in the mud of electoral politics.

To win Nevada's Jan. 19 caucus, the Democratic U.S. senator from Illinois must gather caucus-goers and get them to schools, community centers and other caucus sites to declare their support, often in the face of opposition.

The process puts a premium on organizational strength from the ground up. Thus far Obama's Nevada campaign has been largely top down and media-driven.

His swing through the state this week appeared to be a first step in going native, creating an organization to match the one already established by Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., who's racked up some impressive endorsements and opened offices, where volunteers have begun making canvassing calls.

Obama began his day at Comma Coffee, which has become a de rigueur stop for presidential candidates. He had a smoothie and worked the room.

Across the street, outside the Legislature, a small crowd formed.

Nancy Dickson, a Republican aide to Assemblyman Lynn Stewart, had one of Obama's two best-sellers in hand, waiting for him to sign it. "He's got it," she said, comparing Obama to Abraham Lincoln. She and her friends laughed in delight at the digital photos they had taken with him.

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, escorted Obama from the coffee shop to a meeting with Democratic legislators, and later Sen. Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, walked him around the building. Neither has endorsed Obama, but their presence surely sent signals. Both are seen as rising stars in the Legislature and the state party. Moreover, Horsford runs the Culinary Union Training Academy and was a lobbyist for R&R Partners, the influential advertising and public affairs firm.

In short, Horsford and Leslie are the types of well-connected players Obama will need to build an organization.

Next, it was on to the local press. Obama taped an episode of "Face to Face With Jon Ralston."

Ralston asked Obama about his newly released health care plan, which would subsidize coverage for the poor and working classes; mandate coverage for all children; contain costs with technology and better management of chronic diseases; and create a new buying pool for affordable insurance. The plan would keep the system of private insurance in place, and unlike former Sen. John Edwards' plan, it includes no mandate to cover every American.

Issues like this, which might seem arcane and esoteric, can be quite important to caucus voters, who tend to be the most motivated to learn about candidates and their policy proposals.

On health care, as with other issues, Obama carries a cool and moderate demeanor, expressing the need for consensus rather than revolutionary new ideas.

In the "Face to Face" interview, which airs today on Las Vegas ONE, Obama also assured Nevadans he has no problem with the state's leading industry, even though as a state senator in Illinois he expressed reservations about gaming and its effect on poor people.

After more time posing for photos, including one with Republican Sen. Maurice Washington, Obama went to a private house party for local and rural activists, a move to develop a core of local volunteers who know the terrain and can deliver precincts.

Then, it was off to a rally in Reno. Today he meets in Las Vegas with Culinary workers, who are in contract talks with MGM Mirage and Harrah's Entertainment.

The Culinary Union, with its 60,000 members, will provide organizational muscle to whichever candidate it endorses.

The Culinary address will be an important test. Clinton showed intimate knowledge of the contract negotiations in her Wednesday speech to the union; if Obama is well prepped, he'll speak with the same fluency.

(Edwards, the third leading Democratic candidate in Nevada this week, will address the Culinary Union on Saturday.)

Obama is no stranger to grass-roots politics, having cut his teeth as a community organizer in Chicago, the city of the Daley political machine.

And, indeed, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley is an early backer.

The Clinton family, however, is a political machine unto itself, and they are rapidly setting up shop in Nevada. The question for Obama is whether he can match it.

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