SUN EDITORIAL:

Nevada delivers for Clinton

Senator’s strong win here follows solid victory in New Hampshire

Sun, Jan 20, 2008 (2 a.m.)

Sen. Hillary Clinton’s decisive win in Saturday’s Nevada Democratic presidential caucus provided a critical boost to her candidacy and dealt a setback to Sen. Barack Obama’s bid.

Clinton beat Obama handily in Clark County — 53 percent to 43 percent — and this is all the more significant because Obama had the endorsement of the influential 60,000-member Culinary Union. There were concerns that union leaders were placing undue pressure on their membership to vote for Obama, but Clinton did well among Culinary Union members and labor in general.

Another reason why Clinton’s victory was impressive, especially as it regards her national campaign, is that Nevada — unlike Iowa and New Hampshire — better reflects the demographics of the nation and the Democratic Party, including ethnic diversity. Twenty-four percent of Nevada’s population is Hispanic, and exit polling by CBS showed Clinton beating Obama by more than 2-1 among Hispanics. Furthermore, this caucus was the first contest for Democrats in the West, and the Southwest is shaping up as a key battleground in the general election.

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney easily won the Republican presidential caucus in Nevada, although its impact is negligible since most of the other candidates didn’t campaign here because the results were nonbinding. Later on Saturday, Sen. John McCain won the Republican South Carolina primary, as Romney was headed for a fourth-place finish there.

The real news out of Nevada was Clinton’s victory and the incredible turnout by Democrats. Just 9,000 Democrats attended 2004’s caucus, but on Saturday more than 115,000 participated — promising news for Democrats in November and worrisome numbers for Republicans. (More than 44,000 Republicans voted Saturday.)

The Democrats’ next primary is Saturday in South Carolina, where Obama is expected to do well, and the big prize — Super Tuesday — is Feb. 5, when 22 states hold their Democratic primaries.

Clinton clearly connected with voters here — they understood she has the right ideas to jump-start the economy and to provide universal health care, and that she is our best hope to kill a nuclear waste dump planned for Nevada. If she can keep this momentum heading into Super Tuesday, she will be well on her way to being the Democratic presidential nominee.

Discussion: 3 comments so far…

By pm

1/20/08 at 8:53 a.m.

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Thank you so much for your fair coverage to drown out the cacophony coming out of national media and punditry. Watching this primary season one thing is certain -- go directly to the local media, print and TV(if we can get it -- though at the mercy of CSpan) for coverage without spin and blinders. Thanks again!
By Bobbie

1/20/08 at 6:33 p.m.

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I don't understand the title of this article. The strong win is 13 delegates for Obama and 12 for Clinton and 9 apiece in NH? This is a strong win????? I don't understand expecially when I hear Jill say they have not decided who the delegates would be for?????? Sounds more like the Clintons style of politics.
The popular vote DOES NOT decide the candidate, and if you can take your delegates and let a few people decide to change who they are suppose to be for, what is this all about??
By citation

1/21/08 at 12:08 p.m.

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Look, for all you newbies: These early states, Iowa, NH, Nevada, SC--have very few delegates compared to the big states coming up on Feb. 5th.

Hillary is running way ahead in the major states that have tons of delegates (CA, NY, NJ, etc). In the past lots of candidates have won the early states but lost most of the big states and, as a result, did NOT win the nomination.

So, just relax, no nominee has been decided yet. But from how things are going, Hillary will win all the big states, Obama will win the black-dominated soutbern states coming up but overall, Hillary should win decisively