Vegas veteran takes his fight to D.C.

Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007 | 7:11 a.m.

WASHINGTON - Former combat Marine Elliot Anderson was having a moment.

After watching the parade of Democratic senators leave their weekly policy luncheon in the Capitol on Tuesday , Anderson gushed over what the Nevada veteran considers the rock stars of his world.

Jon Tester. Jim Webb. Bob Casey. Sherrod Brown. (For those not following political celebrity, they are among the new senators elected last fall in the Democratic take over of Congress.)

Anderson's trip to Washington the past few days had been filled with such moments as he and other war veterans lobbied to end the war in Iraq.

Tuesday, he stood by Sen. Harry Reid's side at the majority leader's weekly news conference. When it was Anderson's turn to speak, he told reporters that the country needs to refocus on the "real war on terror " - the hunt for Osama bin Laden and al Qa ida.

"What we're doing in Iraq right now is we're over burdening our military and we're not taking care of the business we need to be taking care of," he said.

Reid called him and a fellow activist from Vote Vets, a national group opposed to the war, "my friends" and draped his arms over their shoulders.

Anderson , 24, wanted to stick around and talk politics, but he had a plane to catch to get back to his day job in Las Vegas, dealing craps at Hooters.

The Wisconsin native moved to Las Vegas after he was discharged from the Marines because he loved the energy of the city and the desert climate. He worked as a security guard until he learned dealers made more money. He got the job at the craps table. He also enrolled at UNLV.

Since arriving, Anderson also has become one of the state's leading veterans against the war and an increasing voice on the national anti-war stage.

He protested Vice President Dick Cheney's visit on behalf of Republican Rep. Jon Porter in 2005 and campaigned for Porter's challenger in 2006 - showing up in his military uniform in a TV ad that led to a reprimand from the Pentagon.

Last Memorial Day, he delivered the Democrats' national weekly radio address, saying the best way to honor the troops is to end their involvement in Iraq.

"Our military really needs our help right now," he said Tuesday.

Through much of his military service, Anderson considered himself a moderate Republican. He had signed up to be a Marine infantryman just before the Sept. 11 attacks, and served seven months in combat in Afghanistan.

But when he got out of the military in 2005, he watched New Orleans suffer the devastation of Hurricane Katrina while Bush praised his emergency director for doing a "heck of a job" handling the disaster.

Anderson said he had always given his commander in chief the benefit of the doubt. But it was clear to him then that the country needed new leadership, at home and in the war.

He walked into the Nevada state Democratic Party office and asked how he could help.

For a guy who visits the National Archives every time he comes to the capital because the nation's founding documents make him "feel I'm in the presence of God," seeing those senators Tuesday put him "in complete awe."

"I watched them all walk by - my Lord," he said.

His trip forced him to miss a few days at UNLV, where he is studying political science. This morning, after the night shift at the craps table, he has classes in U.S. foreign policy and American constitutional history.

He is thinking about becoming a lawyer.

Or a politician? "I already am - I'm just not elected."