Mitt Romney meets with distressed homeowners in a Nevada neighborhood Friday. | AP Photo Mitt sees Vegas home crisis

NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Mitt Romney wants Americans hit by the housing crisis to know he feels their pain.

In between private meetings with his many donors and supporters who keep the nearby Las Vegas Strip's lights on, Romney — dressed in Gap jeans and a Brooks Brothers shirt with no tie — stopped to meet with Dave and Kathy Tyler at their home here about 15 miles north of the city's glittering casinos.


The Tyler's neighborhood — rows of neat, long-slung houses with Spanish tile roofs, many of which sit vacant or have squatters living behind broken garage doors — sits on the edge of the desert, next to a new outdoor shopping plaza where a grocery store and a Kentucky Fried Chicken are the only two tenants amid a sea of "for lease" signs.

The Tylers' house has dropped more than $200,000 in value since the recession hit — putting them under water and leaving the house worth less than that.

Romney and Nevada Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki — a longtime Romney backer — met with the Tylers at their home before Romney took a walking tour of the neighborhood to take stock of the economic devastation that has left one in every five North Vegas homes under water.

"This is a national crisis," Romney told the handful of reporters gathered outside a foreclosed home on North Diazo St. "The tragedy of unemployment statistics, it's not just a number. It's real lives, real people.

"The impact of unemployment is really far greater than just the 14 million people who are out of work," he added. "It's really a tragedy."

Romney accused President Barack Obama of failing to take sufficient action to stem the economic recession, and said his policies on health care and the economic stimulus have made the country's economic problems worse. He also hit the administration for celebrating Friday's economic reports that showed the unemployment rate dropping from 8.9 percent to 8.8 percent.

"I"m afraid some people are becoming conditioned to unemployment rates about 8 percent," Romney said. "The idea that we celebrate 8.8 percent — I mean my gosh. I'm happy for the good news but recognize we have a long way to go."

Romney chatted with the the Tylers as he walked around the block, always steering even their casual conversation back toward economic concerns.

"How hot does it get here on an August day?" he asked. When he was told the desert temperatures can hit 120 degrees, he remarked to Kathy Tyler: "Your summer bills must be so high."

This type of event, though carefully scripted, was a rare public appearance for a man who insists he isn't yet running for president but who has been meticulously raising money, hiring staff and courting donors in advance of the 2012 race. Romney spoke at a New Hampshire dinner in March and attended the Conservative Political Action Conference in February.

Romney's neighborhood tour is part of a two-day stay in Vegas. Saturday morning he'll address the Republican Jewish Coalition's winter meeting, where he said he plans to talk about foreign policy.

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