Early buzz for caucus eludes Nevada

Thursday, Jan. 11, 2007 | 7:02 a.m.

If only the national media would recognize all the great restaurants that call Las Vegas home.

Then maybe they would parachute into the Silver State with their obscene expense accounts and give a little more buzz to the Democratic Party's early presidential caucus.

That's the half-joking verdict of Charlie Cook, presidential prognosticator and editor of the Cook Political Report in Washington.

As it stands, Iowa and New Hampshire - two other states early on the presidential selection calendar - seem to be sucking up much of the oxygen in the presidential campaign.

Both are already whirring with presidential activity. Top candidates, including Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., are drawing huge crowds. Even minor wannabes, such as Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., are getting news coverage from the local media.

Candidates are developing organizations in those states, securing early endorsements and writing op-ed pieces for local newspapers, which have devoted reporters and bloggers to focus solely on the presidential contest.

As for Nevada, the two Democrats who have announced - former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and 2004 vice presidential candidate John Edwards - have made swings through the state on their announcement tours. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and former NATO Commander Wesley Clark will be here this month. And, campaigns have been calling the state party and local political experts and activists to map out a Nevada strategy.

Still, there is less activity here than in Iowa and New Hampshire, according to political analysts. These experts say those states have the advantage of long traditions on the presidential scene, and they are much closer to the New York-Washington political and media power centers.

"Part of the difficulty is that both the candidates and the media are well trained in the ways of Iowa and New Hampshire. It's a habit," said Nathan Gonzalez of the Rothenberg Political Report.

The early dominance of Iowa and New Hampshire underscores the big task ahead for the Nevada Democratic Party, which has to raise money, organize and ensure the caucus is fair, well-attended and captures the attention of Democrats nationally.

Nevada Democrats are clearly aware of the challenges. On Saturday, Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Shelley Berkley will appear at UNLV with national labor leaders to announce a high-profile commission to ensure the caucus is a success.

Jean Hessburg, a veteran of the Iowa caucus hired by state Democrats to run the Nevada caucus, downplayed the talk about Iowa and New Hampshire. "I do hear this and I laugh to myself," she said. "It's an unfair statement to say there's nothing happening in Nevada. I guarantee Nevada will have a great caucus and people will come out here."

Hessburg said candidates may be focused on Iowa and New Hampshire now because they know how to play the game there, while Nevada remains something of a mystery. She said the state party is preparing information packets to help candidates find office space, hire talent and plan campaign trips.

Uncertainty is the biggest impediment in Nevada, analysts said, although they praise the hiring of Hessburg. No one knows how much media attention the caucuses will garner, how to campaign here, the mechanics of the caucus, the issues or the pool of local expertise available.

For the moment, the campaigns are keeping their ears to the ground to determine how much significance the national media place on Nevada. In 1996, for instance, Pat Buchanan won early Republican caucuses in Alaska and Louisiana, which both came before Iowa and New Hampshire that year, but the press ignored them, so Buchanan's victories were largely meaningless.

"It's new and very hard for people to get our brain around what it means and what it should mean," said Marc Ambinder, an editor at The Hotline, a political newsletter in Washington. He also noted the sheer distance many D.C. reporters have to travel to get here, and tight news budgets.

Billy Vassiliadis, a leading Democratic adviser in Nevada, said the state has no reason to worry about being ignored. He said he's already received at least 10 phone calls from national reporters asking for interviews. He said he suspects that at the moment, they're more focused on the new Congress and President Bush's Iraq plan.

There's also uncertainty about New Hampshire. Some in Nevada suspect New Hampshire politicos, whose primary is scheduled to take place a few days after the caucus here, are actively trying to undermine Nevada. New Hampshire has threatened to move up its primary to precede the Nevada caucus, hoping to expand New Hampshire influence. Some here allege New Hampshire officials are telling candidates not to campaign in Nevada.

Eric Moskowitz, a reporter covering the New Hampshire primary for the Concord Monitor, said the Granite State remains concerned that it will lose its status as a key player in the presidential race. But with New Hampshire already buzzing with campaign activity, much of the worry seems to have passed, he said.

Cook said Nevadans should look upon their caucus as if waiting for a first date: "The date will show, and it will be worth a second date, and you should doll up for the next time."