Richardson Is Counting on Nevada, a State He Has to Himself

"It's a little bit of a wait-and-see game to see how it turns out, but we're taking it seriously," said Steve Hildebrand, who oversees Obama's strategy in the early states. "It's very new, and all the candidates are trying to get a handle on how they campaign here."

To be sure, the candidates are investing far more in Nevada, compared with most other states and with spending in Nevada in 2004, when the state was virtually ignored in the nomination process. Former senator John Edwards (N.C.), Obama, Clinton and Richardson have installed state directors and field organizers. Nevada Democrats argue that all of this early work will help their party win a state in November 2008 that Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.) lost narrowly in 2004.

The Nevada GOP seems worried about that possibility and moved its caucus up to Jan. 19, although the move happened so quietly that even some campaigns of the leading Republicans did not know until recently and have done little in the state.

Edwards, Clinton and Richardson have sought the endorsement of Oscar Goodman, the Las Vegas mayor best known for his work in the '70s as a lawyer, when he defended clients accused of being mobsters, and more recently for the martini-making class he teaches. His advice for the candidates: Pronunciation is key. The A's in "Nevada" are like the A in "cat," and the area where the state's residents don't want nuclear waste dumped is Yucca Mountain, said like "yuck" rather than "uke." Lamenting that Kerry mispronounced both in his 2004 campaign stops, Goodman said, "By the time I got him straightened out, the election was over."

Goodman is only one part of the unusual political situation that is Nevada. The state has long held caucuses, a process by which voters, rather than casting ballots as in a primary, meet and discuss the various candidates and then divide themselves into groups based on whom they support.

But Nevada, which has historically had low voter turnout in Democratic caucuses, had just one caucus in each county in 2004. Now, with much higher turnout expected, the Nevada Democratic Party will increase its number of caucus groups from 17 to 1,700.

There are obstacles to winning the state through Latino support. Not only are many Latinos in Nevada not registered to vote, but also there is no Spanish equivalent for "caucus." Party officials met with Spanish-language media in the state to figure out terms they would use to explain the voting process.

Nevada's cities are scattered, with the two biggest, Reno and Las Vegas, about eight hours apart by car. The rural communities in between are also far apart.

In Las Vegas, many people work at the casinos at night, meaning an early-morning visit from a campaign might wake them up. Richardson's campaign says there are enough casino workers that it will try to hold some events there, but Edwards aides said it would not be not worth the hassle of wading through tourists -- most of whom cannot vote in the caucuses.

"The casinos themselves are just too messy to campaign in," said Bill Hyers, Edwards's Nevada director. "To go into a casino and hand out leaflets would be a nightmare."

The candidates seem to agree on one thing: The most important person in Nevada right now is D. Taylor, the head of the state's Culinary Workers Union, which has 60,000 members. Every candidate who stops in the state for even a day seeks to meet with him.

The math in this is simple: The state has about 400,000 registered Democrats, and with caucus participation expected to be 10 to 20 percent, the backing of even half of the union members could win Nevada.

"They don't want to just see the candidates come in and kiss babies," said Pilar Weiss, the union's political director. She noted that the union's membership is 45 percent Latino, and many of those voters are closely watching the presidential hopefuls' positions on immigration.

Polls in Nevada, like those nationally, show Clinton with a double-digit lead, and she has already picked up major endorsements, including one from Reid's son, Rory, a Clark County commissioner. As in other states, her campaign has focused on making her seem like the inevitable nominee, releasing long lists of endorsements from Hispanic and black activists in the state.

Richardson says he understands Nevada -- from the problems of a dry climate to the large Latino population -- better than other candidates because of his time as New Mexico's governor. "This is a state where I must do well," Richardson said in an interview. "I've got to show some strength here."

But even Richardson says he knows where presidents are made, and at least for now, that's not anywhere near the Strip. The governor loves to catch the fights of boxer Oscar De La Hoya, but he missed the May bout at the MGM Grand because he was in New Hampshire campaigning.

"South Carolina and Nevada are players," he said. "Iowa and New Hampshire are in a class by themselves."