Obama pitches for himself, others

HENDERSON, Nev. -- Before he asked the crowd of 15,000 people filling the local high school football stadium here Saturday morning to vote for him, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama had another candidate to recommend.

"We need a little help in Congress. I expect everybody who is in the 3rd Congressional District to send Dina Titus to Congress," he said. He was referring to this state's most heated House race, in which Titus, a university professor, is trying to unseat three-term Republican Rep. Jon Porter.

It's a measure of the Democrats' confidence that Obama has been playing pitchman for his party's House and Senate candidates as he hopscotches across the country on the final weekend of the campaign.

Obama insists he does not regard his own election as a foregone conclusion. "Don't for a minute think this election is over," he warns his supporters at every stop.

Nonetheless, the Illinois senator has begun to turn his attention to expanding his party's majority in the Congress, a place he'll have to cajole into supporting his agenda if he's elected president.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid who warmed up his home state crowd here for Obama. Afterward, he said that he believes voters drawn to the polls by the Democratic presidential candidate will help the party's candidates vying to take over Senate seats in Republican strongholds.

"He's got those long coattails, like Lincoln used to wear," quipped Reid of Obama, referring to the 19th century frock coats favored by Abraham Lincoln, the nation's 16th president.

Among the Senate contests where Reid said an Obama surge could make a difference for Democrats:

•Georgia: Obama just began advertising in the state this week. Democrat Jim Martin, a Vietnam veteran and former state legislator, is challenging first-term Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

•North Carolina: Obama is focusing considerable resources on trying to win the Tar Heel State. Democrat Kay Hagen, a veteran state senator, is mounting a strong challenge to Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole.