Caucus reformers face naked politics

Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2006 | 7:21 a.m.

WASHINGTON - It drives them nuts - the prospect that strippers and gamblers, coffee shop waiters and blackjack dealers could play a central role in choosing the next Democratic nominee for president.

Ever since the Democratic Party announced plans to give Nevada a slot early on the 2008 presidential primary calendar, Iowa and New Hampshire have had hardly anything to say about the Silver State.

They bash Nevadans as civic slackers - people who care more about slot machines than voting machines. They complain that the state has no abiding tradition of political involvement or activism, and is unlikely to develop any by 2008.

The nation would be better off, they say, if selecting the next president was left to the professionals - you know, the voters in Iowa and New Hampshire.

"We find the decision to make that contest Nevada's caucus almost laughable," the Sunday Portsmouth Herald said in a July 30 editorial. The paper noted that election turnout is lower in Nevada than New Hampshire and that Nevada has fewer high school and college graduates, which the newspaper argues makes Nevada's populace less prepared for the incisive questioning and shrewd judgments required for voters to make sound choices.

Just 2 percent of Nevada's 400,000 registered Democrats voted in the 2004 presidential caucus, which was held well into the primary season. But boosters say that with a major organizational push, a lot of fundraising and the political prowess of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, the state might sparkle as brightly as the Strip at midnight.

Putting Nevada on the schedule in the third week of January 2008, immediately after the Iowa caucuses and just before the New Hampshire primary, would be a strategic move by a Democratic National Committee trying desperately to take back the White House. Democrats believe that the Intermountain West, traditionally a Republican stronghold, is edging toward the Democrats and will be in play by 2008. A candidate who wins the West could well win nationwide, they say.

Party leaders say Nevada's advantage in the primary sweepstakes is its racial diversity and strong union roots, which can help balance out Iowa and New Hampshire, where voters are predominantly white and the union presence is not as strong. The Democratic National Committee is expected to formalize the decision on the Nevada caucuses on Aug. 18. But until a final decision is made, Iowa and New Hampshire have a glimmer of hope, which helps to explain why they are arguing their case.

"They're bashing everything and everybody," said Donna Brazile, a Democratic consultant and member of a DNC panel that chose Nevada last month.

"I'm not moved by their criticism of our choice. What they don't see, and what many don't see, is the potential to send a red state to a blue state." Nevada voters favored President Bush by a 2.5 percentage point margin in 2000, but that slipped to 2 percent in 2004.

But in New Hampshire, miffed pundits and others say the trade-off is not worth the price of leaving a critical early choice to Nevada.

"Nobody's going to say Nevadans are not smart," said Shim Haberman, the Portsmouth Herald's managing editor for news. "They just don't have the expertise to be first in the nation."

The comment was not a gratuitous swipe. New Hampshire and Iowa voters take their role in the election process seriously. Their populations have a history of deep political involvement.

"What makes more sense," the newspaper's editorial asked, "to have a racially diverse population that is not engaged in the political process or to have a predominantly white population that is politically involved and active?"

That lack of involvement also could lead to a poorly organized vote, warned Harry Levine, whose center-right New Hampshire group has been staging Protect Our Primary events. "It's not as easy as it looks."

In Iowa, the venerable political columnist David Yepsen mused in a Sunday column in the Des Moines Register about the prospect of the Democratic Party's contenders practicing retail politics amid the craps tables and bordellos. The column foreshadowed the attitude that the international press corps would bring to its Nevada coverage. Be assured - they won't leave their stereotypes at the border, which might or might not be a good thing for Democrats.

But beyond that, his comments and those of other critics raise legitimate questions about the ability of the Nevada Democratic Party to put on the biggest political event in its history. Not since 1908 has the presidential contest been so wide open. For the first time in a century, the executive branch will have no representative seeking the nomination - neither a sitting president nor vice president will be running.

Yepsen said the DNC's pending decision to push Nevada closer to the action is only the beginning of the state's battle for legitimacy. Nevada's Democrats must prove they can organize and execute a successful caucus.

States get one chance to get it right. If the Nevada caucuses seem poorly organized, candidates are unlikely to spend time in the state. If the caucus voting itself doesn't go smoothly and quickly, the state might not get another chance in 2012. Caucus voting is tabulated by the party itself, unlike primary elections, which are run by governments.

"The dog is chasing the car - now you caught it, what are you going to do with it?" he said in an interview. "They are going to have to put together a process that is fair, that is accurate, that is fast."

The Nevada Democratic Party said it is well aware of the challenge. The party is hiring a seasoned political strategist who will help organize and stage what some say could be a $1 million undertaking.

The party plans to increase voter turnout as much as tenfold, setting up 1,000 caucus sites where Democrats can make their selections, up from just 17 sites in 2004.

The party plans to hire thousands of workers and enlist as many volunteers - all without financial help from the DNC.

"It's going to be a whole different ball game," said Kirsten Searer, spokeswoman for the state party, which has been dashing off missives to the editorial writers who have been bashing Nevada.

Even more, the state can count on Reid, who has bolstered the party in recent years to a full-time operation - and clinched the deal to bump Nevada up in line.

"Sen. Reid is going to do whatever it takes to make the 2008 caucus well run and make Nevada and the Democrats proud," his spokesman said.

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