Pool Report of Obama Meeting With Las Vegas Family on Housing Crisis

TIME: 10:30am PT

EVENT: Barack Obama Visits with Family in Las Vegas struggling with home foreclosure crisis

Pool Report – No. 1

Las Vegas, Nevada

May 27, 2008

NO NEWS. HE DID NOT TAKE QUESTIONS.

Senator Barack Obama arrived at a small home on Isabelle Avenue – about a 10-minute drive from the Las Vegas Strip – and took a seat at the kitchen table to discuss the issue of home foreclosures.

It was about 10:30 a.m. By the time your pool walked in, Mr. Obama's suit jacket was hanging on the back of his chair and he was already in conversation with Felicitas Rosel and Francisco Cano. They bought the home three years ago, they told the senator, but now are struggling to make the payments and fear it will be foreclosed upon.

“Have the mortgage lenders been wiling to negotiate? Have they been cooperative?” Mr. Obama asked. Later, he added: “When you first bought the house three years ago, did they explain to you that interest rates could be going up.”

The couple, both of whom work at the Bellagio Casino, shook their heads no.

(Spokeswoman Jen Psaki distributed a fact sheet about the couple's situation, which you should have.)

For about 15 minutes, Mr. Obama had a quiet conversation with the couple, who was joined at the table by their teen-age daughter. It was simple small talk, really, about mortgage payments and what they intended to do to make their payments. Mr. Obama urged them to get help from a mortgage counselor and told them they were not alone.

“Look this is a serious problem all across Las Vegas, all across Nevada all across the nation,” Mr. Obama said, hoping to draw attention to the statistic that this state had the highest foreclosure rate in the nation last year, with 3.4 percent of households receiving foreclosure filings, according to the campaign. That tally is more than three times the national average.

“A lot of this wouldn't have happened if we would have done a better job regulating banks,” Mr. Obama said, adding that legislation was slowly making its way through Congress to help people in similar situations.

The home, a pink and white one-story, had several religious pictures and symbols hanging from the walls. The white refrigerator in the kitchen was covered with magnets and stickers, including one that said: “I voted.”

As it turns out, of course, Felicitas voted for Mr. Obama in the January Nevada caucuses. She said she saw him from a far – at a Culinary workers rally – but sitting around her kitchen table was a far different experience.

“I didn't get to say hi up close,” she said, speaking softly to the senator.

At the Bellagio, she works as a maid and Francisco works as a porter. Mr. Obama praised the casino, saying: “It's a wonderful hotel.”

“The only problem with me is when I come to Las Vegas, I'm not allowed to have fun,” Mr. Obama said. “Everybody knows me. If I start playing blackjack, I'll get in trouble. All these cameras will follow me.”

He pointed to a gaggle of cameras hovering in the adjacent living room and the kitchen.

“You're lucky,” she replied.

With that, Mr. Obama put on his jacket, posed for a photograph and walked out of their home. A few neighbors waved as his motorcade drove away from Isabelle Avenue.