Las Vegas Sun

By J. Patrick Coolican · February 23, 2008 · 12:11 PM

Remember that chaos at the Clark County Democratic Convention the Sun told you to watch out for? Well, it's all that and more. It's difficult to get reliable information here, but it seems that indeed 8,000 people have shown up, according to Sun columnist Jon Ralston, who got the information from a Bally's security official keeping track for the fire marshall. Unfortunately, the hall only fits 5,000 -- more fodder for the many vocal critics of the county party. When the doors opened, the floor was flooded with delegates and alternates. The campaigns agreed to move the alternates off the floor, so the delegates could do the first round of voting for Sen. Hillary Clinton or Sen. Barack Obama. Once they vote, the hope is they'll leave, at which point alternates can be brought back. (The reason there are so many alternates is because although 7,000+ delegates were elected on caucus day, many weren't expected to show, so the campaigns called supporters and asked them to show up today as alternates.) Ralston also reports that Obama won Washoe by 200 votes out of 1300 cast. He won big up there on caucus day. Getting on the floor this morning was a challenge. The Paris-Bally's parking garage was full, the hallways crowded with people very much on edge, wondering what the heck is going on. Check back through the day for more updates.