Leaving the glitz out

Michael J. Mishak and J. Patrick Coolican

Thursday, Feb. 8, 2007 | 7:07 a.m.

The state Democratic Party is concerned that presidential candidates will avoid Nevada's caucus for fear that it is a bad photo-op waiting to happen - the candidate alongside a showgirl or a craps table or something dodgier.

So the party has issued a booklet to the presidential campaigns. It is full of facts and helpful information. But the real message is between the lines, and it speaks loudly about two problems the state party faces with the coming 2008 presidential caucus: Candidates need to sidestep some realities about Nevada, and the state party isn't yet ready for prime time.

If it were, the 48-page booklet wouldn't look like a church program - black ink on yellow paper, stapled. As a Democratic source close to the state party groused privately this week, it looks like a "book report."

Inside its simple cover is information that - with apologies to Mark Twain - might gratify some people, and astonish the rest.

The state known worldwide for its gambling, desert expanses and the Strip is portrayed as a place of snow-capped mountains and trees. Gambling and the Strip are scarcely mentioned.

It lists seven "Clark County Hot Spots." The Palms, Pure, Cirque du Soleil?

Try Harrie's Bagelmania, Hash House A Go Go, Omelet House, the Coffee Pub, Paymons Mediterranean Cafe, Triple George and Bagel Cafe.

Those places are similar to what candidates find in Iowa and New Hampshire, and that is precisely the point, state party spokeswoman Kirsten Searer said. Candidates are comfortable in those two familiar early-voting states and need to feel the same in Nevada, with no risk of Strip risque.

Another factor also is at work, Searer said. The Strip is filled with tourists. Candidates need votes from locals. "Candidates are not going to be campaigning in casinos," she said. "They need to meet Democrats who will vote in the caucus."

And what about the booklet's church-program appearance?

As the Democratic source said: "If you're going to put out information, it needs to be as complete, detailed and attractive as possible."

Sensitive to the criticism, the party insists that it has sold the caucus to candidates, citing news that seven White House hopefuls, including Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former vice presidential candidate John Edwards, will appear at a candidate forum in Carson City on Feb. 21 and CNN will host a debate at UNLV in November.

Searer said Democrats scrambled to compile the booklet swiftly after receiving requests from candidates. Because the party plans to add to and revise the document regularly, hiring a professional designer would have increased costs, she added.

South Carolina found itself in a similar situation after it moved its primary ahead four years ago. Its information kit wasn't slick, South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Joe Erwin said.

"Once you've secured the event, it's not about glitz," he said. "What's most important to the campaign is the information."

Still, the national spotlight is bright. "First impressions are important," said David Damore, a political science professor at UNLV. "These kinds of things create perceptions about the seriousness of the Nevada caucus."