Saturday, July 14, 2007 | 7:04 a.m.
It's hot at the Williams home in Las Vegas, and as the crowd arrives, the air becomes stifling, pungent with the smell of packed humanity. But no one is moving because Barack Obama is expected soon.
Melinda Gallien has never worked on a campaign, and has voted only once, but she's such an active volunteer that she's been invited to this private party of 150 people.
Why the devotion to the Obama campaign?
"Obama," she says, looking flabbergasted at the question. She has a 4-year-old, and Obama is the best hope for change, she says.
They have come with their books, his books, "The Audacity of Hope" and "Dreams of My Father." They are tethered to him with an emotion bond.
Christine Carroll saw him on "Oprah."
"I feel like this is what it must have been like to meet John Kennedy," she says, although she notes it's more than just his personal appeal. She echoes the others: best hope for change.
Many, most actually, seem to have never volunteered for a campaign.
This is a mixed blessing - yes, remarkable that he's drawing these newbies, but they have no experience, no experience in the fairly complicated ways of the Jan. 19 Nevada caucus, in which people will meet in public places and voice their support for a candidate, mixing it up with neighbors.
There's two trays of shrimp warming on the kitchen counter, which is a concern.
He's now in the doorway, and the magnesium glare is intense, flashes of camera light hitting his face from every direction.
He's wearing his signature open - collar shirt, and there's a crush of people in the hallway, and there are hugging and the signing of books. It's a 10 - minute journey, the type that would leave awful sweat stains all over most people, but Obama loves the heat, according to his staff.
He rose to prominence with a speech before more than 15,000 at the 2004 Democratic National Convention - it was the one about there not being a blue America and a red America, but one America. But this venue, a living room, suits him just as well.
"Y'all know how to do heat," he says breezily.
He remarks on the diversity of the crowd, and it is diverse, maybe half white, half black. "This is what America is all about, and this is what this campaign is all about."
The crowd is with him: "Amen! Obama! Say it! All right!"
Las Vegas is notorious for its political apathy, but this party, which is essentially the first of its kind here, is an introduction to the new activists, and maybe, a new activism.
Obama calls the government of President Bush "a can't do, won't do, won't even try style of government."
"Talk about the teachers," someone yells.
"Oh, I'll get to the teachers," he quips.
There are the issues, although there's almost universal agreement among the Democratic front-runners, Sen. Hillary Clinton, former Sen. John Edwards, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
Health care is a mess. Fund "No Child Left Behind." Expand the Earned Income Tax Credit, which is a cash subsidy for the working poor. Make college affordable. Shut down the prison at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba .
On Iraq, he deftly notes that the war "never should have been authorized," a subtle dig at Clinton and Edwards, who both voted to give Bush the authority to go to war in Iraq.
He was criticized earlier in the campaign for being thin on the issues, and he's shored up that perceived weakness. It hardly matters, though. For him, it's not really about the issues. Obama isn't selling a program, he's selling his character. As another writer noted recently, this is a new thing for a Democrat, more of a Reagan thing, a Bush 43 thing.
"We're not going to win an election ; we're going to transform a nation."
These people are in - forceful applause, tears in eyes, more "Amens."
Whether the rest of Nevada Democrats want to be led by this man is another question. He trails Clinton in the polls by double digits .
More hugging, books to be signed, and so on .
Outside, people are cooling off in the misters. A member of the staff notices the grass surrounding the swimming pool in the back yard and remarks, "How can they have grass here?"
In the guesthouse, the Sun is granted a seven-minute interview.
The first thing to notice is the ease, the preternatural grace of his speech and movement. It's the opposite of the plasticized weirdness of most politicians.
He says he doesn't know enough about the proposed water pipeline from White Pine County, but lays out general principles of his approach to water in the West.
He's eating carrots.
"As president I want to listen to all local interests and stakeholders. I think it's dangerous when Washington makes decisions without knowing the lay of the land.
"With water, like all natural resources, it's critical that we balance the incredible economic growth of the West with a long-term view on preservation of the natural resources upon which that growth depends." He praises our water authority for giving people cash for ripping up their lawns.
Next, a question about coal-fired power plants, which are major polluters and emitters of the greenhouses gases that are causing global warming. There are plans to build some in Nevada.
"We are not going to be able to shut down all our coal-fired power plants."
He suggests new technology, called "carbon sequestration," because plants would burn cleaner. Most industry professionals, though, say large-scale commercial sequestration is at least a decade away.
Why his fixation on coal? Southern Illinois is filled with it. Environmentalists aren't thrilled with this part of his candidacy.
Still, he's a co-sponsor of a bill to reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050, which he calls the toughest climate change bill in the Senate.
Now, a question about people feeling connected to their neighbors, that sense of community often missing not just in Las Vegas, but all over suburban America.
This is a sweet spot for him.
The federal government should encourage, through budget decisions, denser and more pedestrian-friendly towns and cities.
But also, "Politics can be a way to make people feel engaged again. That's why people who haven't been involved in politics in years have gotten involved in this campaign. Politics can be a tool for building community."
That's all well and good, but the nastiness is coming, surely he knows.
He'll respond forcefully and truthfully, he assures. He won't be "swift boated," a reference to the attacks on Sen. John Kerry's war record, which buried his 2004 campaign.
He misses writing, and often muses about a journal of this "excellent adventure," he says, showing some Gen-X chops. He has asked his staff for more time for reading and writing, "But once you get on this treadmill, it's tough to get off."
Finally, to a reporter: "Take your jacket off, man," he says with a chuckle.
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