Hillary Clinton grabs momentum in Nevada, builds a strong network

Michael J. Mishak

Saturday, March 24, 2007 | 7:01 a.m.

The winner of the Nevada Democratic caucus will succeed because of the campaign's organizational strength, its ranks of energetic foot soldiers and its knowledge of Nevada.

By those measurements, Sen. Hillary Clinton has a convincing early lead.

In less than a month, Clinton has assembled an organization that is unparalleled in its mix of institutional knowledge, national experience and local leadership.

Clinton's aides say the investment is part of a strategy to build unstoppable momentum going into New Hampshire, which is to hold its primary three days after the Nevada caucus.

"I feel very good about where we are in Iowa, then we come back here and win Nevada, and we're well on our way," Terry McAuliffe, Clinton's campaign chairman, said in an interview with the Sun this month. "Nevada couldn't be any more important. It's going to be the beginning of the weeding-out process."

The nomination, he said, would be decided on Feb. 5, so-called Super Tuesday, when more than 20 states could cast ballots. It's a scenario that puts a premium on victories in the first four contests on the 2008 calendar, and Clinton isn't alone in staking out ground in Nevada.

Former Sen. John Edwards and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson have hired staff here, but neither campaign, while comparable in size, matches the Clinton camp's blend of local and national talent.

Sen. Barack Obama, Clinton's chief rival for the Democratic nomination, has snagged two important Nevada operatives, but the operation is yet to take flight.

All of this gives Clinton an early advantage.

It began late last month when she announced that Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid, who's also the son of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, would lead her Silver State campaign.

About a week later, Clinton added former Nevada Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa as campaign adviser and chairwoman of her campaign in Northern Nevada.

Three days later, she hired Robby Mook, formerly of the Democratic National Committee, who served as deputy field director for Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign in New Hampshire. Mook will oversee day-to-day operations as state director.

Then came the local talent, including two veterans from state Sen. Dina Titus' unsuccessful campaign for governor.

Alisa Nave, Titus' finance coordinator, will serve as Clinton's Southern Nevada political director. Hilarie Grey, Titus' spokeswoman, will run state communications.

Pam DuPre, former executive director of the Washoe County Democratic Party, will serve as the campaign's Northern Nevada political director. Brian DiMarzio, who worked as the state party's canvass director during last year's election, will be Clinton's deputy field director.

The campaign's sense of urgency was on display this month at an informal gathering in a posh condo at The District, an upscale mixed-use development at Green Valley Ranch in Henderson.

Clinton's Nevada team, less than two days old, packed about 20 women into the living room of a second-floor loft as part of the national campaign's outreach to women. There, the crowd dished about the former first lady over wine and hors d'oeuvres.

The goal: to build a network of support among a critical constituency. Clinton's advisers estimate that 60 percent of voters in the 2008 Democratic primary will be women.

Mook said Clinton will campaign aggressively throughout the state to meet as many voters as possible.

The Obama campaign also pledges retail politics, and draws a contrast to Clinton. Obama's advisers see Clinton as their biggest threat, and his aides seek to derail what campaign manager David Plouffe described in The New York Times as "the dominant political organization in the Democratic Party."

Obama's camp paints his campaign as a grass-roots movement for change, eagerly citing the record crowds the senator has drawn across the country.

On Obama's first trip to Las Vegas as a presidential candidate last month, he drew about 3,500 people to a Sunday afternoon rally.

"Barack's campaign reflects the involvement of regular people, not just the political elites," said Steve Hildebrand, an early state adviser to the Obama campaign. Hildebrand ran Al Gore's 2000 Iowa caucus effort. "He firmly believes that this should be a very open process involving people who haven't been involved in politics before."

The campaign is eager to draw a financial distinction as well.

"Because Barack is a first-time national candidate, because he hasn't been planning to run and preparing a campaign bank account for the past few months, he will likely be substantially behind other candidates," Clinton in particular, Hildebrand said.

Still, Hildebrand said the campaign has hired a half-dozen Nevada staff members, including Alison Schwartz, former executive director of the Nevada Democratic Party, and David Cohen, who managed former university system Regent Jill Derby's failed congressional campaign last year.

"Any candidate who's running is going to want to have significant momentum going into New Hampshire," he said. "We're taking Nevada as seriously as the other early states."

Edwards could prove stiff competition in the state, though. He's been courting organized labor in Nevada for the past year, and he has hired a team of Iowa veterans and Hispanic organizers. Still, his campaign lacks Nevada roots.

State director Bill Hyers, who worked on Edwards' 2004 Iowa campaign, promised to remedy that soon, but said the senior staff provides a firm foundation.

"We're not bringing in a bunch of people who are pie-in-the-sky to this stuff," he said.

Edwards also has a kinship with an important constituency in the state. "Labor unions are going to be a big push for us," Hyers said. "Those are his voters."

If there's one candidate for which Nevada is a make-or-break contest it's Richardson.

The New Mexico governor's Nevada team, composed entirely of Nevadans, outnumbers his combined staff in the three other early states. He was the first to announce Nevada hires and the first to open a campaign office in the state.

As an aide to a rival campaign put it: "I expect Richardson to be living in Nevada soon."

After all, he is the sole Westerner in the race. Dave Contarino, Richardson's campaign manager, all but said Nevada was the linchpin to the governor's presidential bid. "Certainly, we're going to have to do well in Nevada," he said. "I don't think we have much expectation for Iowa."

Richardson's next move: raising his Nevada profile and promoting his resume, which includes stints as President Clinton's ambassador to the United Nations and his energy secretary.

"Democrats have nominated liberal senators before and they haven't done well in Nevada," Contarino said of the Democratic field. "Gov. Richardson is a serious guy that can speak to the issues from his experience as a Westerner."