Reid puts Nevada in ‘08 spotlight

Sunday, July 23, 2006 | 7:41 a.m.

In the end, it probably came down to Harry Reid.

A committee of national Democrats charged with selecting which state would follow the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucus chose Nevada on Saturday by an overwhelming vote. The decision, made at a Washington meeting, still needs to be ratified by the Democratic National Committee in August, but Nevada is looking like the solid favorite.

As Nevada Democrats sold the state to the national party in hopes of getting an early voice in choosing the next Democratic presidential nominee, they were able to tout Nevada's ascendant labor movement, increasing racial and ethnic diversity and mix of urban and rural populations.

But it was the state's senior senator who made the difference, people close to the process say.

"He made an awful lot of phone calls," said Carol Fowler, a South Carolina delegate who voted for Nevada.

"He fought hard and it couldn't have happened without Senator Reid," said state Sen. Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, who helped lead Nevada's effort.

For Nevada, this decision means the state will likely play a major role in selecting the next Democratic nominee for president. Candidates will be here early and often, and they'll be forced to confront and make promises about important Nevada issues, such as water, education and Yucca Mountain.

The victory for Nevada arose from a decision by the national party, led by former Vermont governor Howard Dean, to change the way Democrats choose their standard bearer. In the past, Iowa and New Hampshire have played outsized roles in selecting the party's nominee, with candidates who did well in those states usually sweeping ahead on the momentum of those victories.

The problem, as Democratic leaders have come to recognize, is that Iowa and New Hampshire are small, rural, almost entirely white states, not representative of either the party or the country as a whole.

That often has led to debacle candidates such as Michael Dukakis, nominated in 1988 before being crushed by George H.W. Bush. Even Sen. John Kerry, despite his narrow 2004 loss to President George W. Bush - or, from another perspective, because of it - was seen by some as the product of a flawed nomination process.

The party sought an early caucus state that was Western, diverse and had a strong labor movement. A race in a state out West would produce better campaigns and better candidates, the reasoning went. Nevada and Arizona were the top contenders.

From the beginning, Reid orchestrated the contest. When Danny Thompson, spokesman for the Nevada AFL-CIO, and Horsford went to New Orleans in April to make the case for Nevada, they didn't go empty-handed. Reid turned to Billy Vassiliadis of R&R Partners - the firm that came up with the "What happens here stays here" slogan for Las Vegas - to produce a video and marketing package.

"Nevada started off with a bang at the DNC meeting in New Orleans when they presented. It was a lavish, well-done presentation, and that impressed the rules committee," said Marc Ambinder, an associate editor for The Hotline, a Washington, D.C., political newsletter that has followed the deliberations closely.

Reid's staff worked with Thompson and Horsford on their presentation and then hit them with prep questions and answers.

The presentation was not Vegas glitzy, though. It studiously avoided portraying the Las Vegas that much of the country has come to perceive. "We just had to explain to people that we have a strong working class, union and minority population," said Pilar Weiss, political director for the Culinary Union, which consulted on the effort.

Thompson said the presentation was "on message" and focused on the criteria that the party had set: strong labor movement, diverse population, a geographic layout that would allow for retail, door-to-door politics.

Nevada was the only state in the running with a growing labor movement, both in absolute terms and in proportion to the working population.

The Culinary Union's membership increased 20 percent to 60,000 last year alone, and overall union membership has grown from 12.5 percent of the working population in 2004 to 13.8 percent now.

Also, the labor movement sees its future in the service industries, where labor here has been growing, in casinos and hospitals in particular.

Although the influence of the labor movement is on the wane nationally, it still has clout in the Democratic Party.

The committee also liked Nevada for its increasing diversity, he said. Hispanics, Asians and African-Americans make up 36 percent of the state's population, according to 2004 national census figures.

Once the presentation was made, the phone calls began from Reid.

"He took this on as something he was willing to work hard for, and he did work for it," Fowler said. Asked if he used any of his vaunted, back-alley political dagger skills, she responded with a chuckle: "He was nothing but a perfect gentleman."

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., also was instrumental, Fowler said, in addressing the South Carolinian's concern that whatever state won the contest would be able to put on a good caucus.

A caucus is an odd electoral process whereby political party members gather on a single night at hundreds of different locations to publicly discuss the candidates, then select delegates representing the various contenders.

It is much different than individuals casting ballots behind the curtain of the voting booth. The effort requires tremendous organization.

Berkley quickly allayed Fowler's concerns, helping to convince her that Nevada's strong labor movement would provide the necessary organizational soldiers.

Ambinder said there was another factor in Nevada's success.

While other powerful Washington Democrats such as Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have privately and publicly clashed with Dean, Reid has stuck by him and agreed - at least in principal - with his long-term strategy to fight the Republicans in all 50 states and on all fronts.

"The DNC loves him because of his relationship with Howard Dean," he said.

"Dean's in this fight with Emanuel and Schumer, but Reid has a good relationship behind the scenes and is even a public supporter of Dean. That was a huge plus."