Las Vegas Review-Journal - News

The former North Carolina senator and 2004 vice presidential candidate was greeted warmly at local union halls for the United Steelworkers of America and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters.

Both organizations have endorsed Edwards nationally. In Nevada, the carpenters have about 12,000 members, and the steelworkers have about 2,500.

Earlier this month, Sen. Barack Obama picked up the endorsement of the state's largest union, the 60,000-member Culinary Local 226.

At all three of his events in Southern Nevada on Wednesday, Edwards, fresh from a rally in Reno, emphasized his underdog status and repeated his commitment to "lift people out of poverty and strengthen and grow the middle class."

Some of his loudest cheers came when he promised to end the war in Iraq during his first year as president.

That pledge resonated especially well with Laura Tietje, a Henderson steelworker who is caring for her granddaughter while her daughter serves a tour of duty in Iraq. She said her son is about to be deployed too.

Tietje told her story to the crowd before she introduced Edwards at the campaign rally hosted by the carpenters union Wednesday night.

Several hundred people crowded into the union hall on Lamb Boulevard for the town hall meeting. Most of those in attendance were union members, among them a contingent of steelworkers Edwards met with two hours earlier.

Carpenters union member Dennis Tims was already at the hall for a mandatory orientation meeting, so he decided to stay and hear Edwards speak because he and his girlfriend thought it would be a good experience for their children.

Tims moved his family to Las Vegas from Pennsylvania two weeks ago. Now he's counting on the union to help him find work.

The 6-foot-3, 295-pound former linebacker for the University of Minnesota said he hasn't picked a presidential candidate yet, but the carpenters endorsement carries a lot of weight with him.

"Everywhere I've gone, the union has been good to me," Tims said.

Edwards' campaign estimated the crowd at more than 600. More than half of the people were forced to stand because the chairs were full.

Joining Edwards on his Southern Nevada swing were his daughter, Kate, and actress Madeleine Stowe, who has been stumping for Edwards across the country but who kept a low profile at Wednesday's events.

Edwards first stop was at the small union hall in downtown Henderson shared by locals 4856 and 5282 of the steelworkers.

Though the union's name evokes images of Rust Belt men in hard hats sweating over vats of molten metal, the largest share of steelworkers in Nevada drive taxicabs on the Strip.

"We're a pretty diverse group," said Local 5282 Vice President Bill Locke, who works at Olin Chemical, just down Water Street from the union hall.

In Laughlin, the union represents some 374 hotel workers.

Edwards' visit to Henderson doubled as a pep talk for the 40 or so steelworkers who have come to Nevada from across the country and turned the hall in Henderson into a call center for the candidate.

"We only have a few days left to the Nevada caucus. We need your energy and strength," Edwards told the union members. "America needs your energy and strength."

From Henderson, the 54-year-old candidate traveled to the heart of Las Vegas' skid row, where he visited with about 40 former servicemen at a charity for homeless veterans.

There, he deftly side-stepped a Nevada land mine when one audience member asked him, "What can you do as president to keep casinos from destroying lives?"

Edwards quickly defended the state's biggest industry, which he said provides jobs that support families.

He went on to say that as president two of his priorities would be to establish a guaranteed funding stream for the Veterans Administration and eliminate the backlog of benefit claims for veterans by his first Memorial Day in office.

"Anybody who served their country, who wore the uniform of this country, ought to be taken care of by this country," Edwards said.

Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0350.