'I'm Afraid for Obama'

What are unemployed "union painters" to do when faced with the reality their hero if probably going to lose next year? Worry about themselves and try to get a job? Of course not. Sit around fretting about poor Obama, of course.

This is really pathetic.

Look no further than Nevada—and this swing voting city—to understand why President Barack Obama may not win re-election next fall.

Unemployment has grown to 13.4 percent, well above the national average, in recent months. The state has the highest foreclosure rate and record bankruptcies. And shuttered casinos collect dust along the glittering Las Vegas Strip that's usually a robust artery of jobs.

"Obama's hope hasn't done anything," grouses Larry James, a security guard who moved here from Philadelphia for work a decade ago, back when the state was booming.

It's so bad here that even the president's fans worry about the country firing him—and Nevadans helping.

"I'm afraid for Obama," frets Linda Overby.

The state is filled with people like Overby and her husband, who lost their union painting jobs and began paying their mortgage with unemployment checks in April. They'd like to look for work elsewhere but they are "underwater"—they owe more for their mortgage than what their home is worth. The value has dropped from $330,000 to $88,000 in six years. And her household income has declined from $2,000 to $650 a week.

So their lives are a mess and who do they worry about? The one guy chiefly responsible.