Obama Heads West to Push Housing Proposals in Swing States

Sen. Barack Obama is hoping the housing mess can help sway the November election. The Democratic front-runner pitched his plans to stem the crisis during a visit on Tuesday to Nevada, the state with the highest rate of home foreclosures and a swing state that President Bush narrowly carried in 2000 and 2004.

(WSJ) -- Sen. Obama visited the pink and white one-story home of Felicitas Rosel and Francisco Cano. Ms. Rosel, a maid at the Bellagio hotel, and Mexico-born Mr. Cano, a porter at the Bellagio, bought their first house three years ago after saving for decades. They are now struggling to make payments on an adjustable-rate mortgage and risk losing their home.

"Look, this is a serious problem all across Las Vegas, all across Nevada and all across the nation," Sen. Obama told the couple as they sat around the kitchen table.

The mortgage crisis has played a central role in the presidential primary between Sen. Obama and his Democratic rival, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton. Both have laid out detailed plans to aid families facing foreclosures and criticized Arizona Sen. John McCain, the likely Republican nominee, for his view that the government shouldn't get too involved in the crisis.