Edwards Moving Staff Out of Nevada

Democratic presidential candidate and former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., speaks with the media before kicking off a bus tour in the parking lot of his Iowa campaign headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa, Monday, Aug. 13, 2007. (AP Photo/Kevin Sanders) (Kevin Sanders - AP)

WASHINGTON -- Presidential hopeful John Edwards is moving staff out of Nevada to focus on other early voting states as he deals with limited resources and uncertainty about the Western state's prominence in deciding the Democratic nomination.

The Edwards campaign said Wednesday that the Nevada staffers were being relocated to New Hampshire, South Carolina and in particular Iowa, where he is hoping a victory will propel him to the nomination. The campaign would not disclose how many staffers were being moved and neither would Edwards in a telephone interview.

"I'm sure we'll continue to make adjustments of how many people we have in particular places depending on what the needs are at the moment, and we're going to compete very hard in Nevada," Edwards told The Associated Press, noting he has campaigned in the state more than any other candidate. "I will continue going there and competing very hard."

Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid, the architect of Nevada's new role in the Democratic presidential primary, responded with a warning.

"I have always said that for a Democrat to win the White House they have to win the West," Reid said in a statement. "Any candidate who chooses to ignore Nevada and its rich diversity does so at their own peril."

The Democratic National Committee allowed Nevada to schedule its 2008 caucus on Jan. 19, between the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary. But New Hampshire has said it may go earlier than the Jan. 22 date set by the DNC to maintain its historic role in choosing the nominee, possibly moving Nevada back in the voting order.

Nevada was granted the early nominating date with the hope that a Western state with a large population of Hispanics and union workers will bring fresh perspective to the presidential race. Many in the Democratic Party had expressed concern that two predominantly white states such as Iowa and New Hampshire were not representative of diverse interests in the party.

Edwards has visited Nevada 10 times since beginning his second White House campaign, hoping that his appeal to labor would help him. But Edwards rivals' have been delivering the same pro-union message, particularly in stops at the 60,000-member Culinary Workers Union hall.

The union that represents many casino workers is seen as key to winning in Nevada, but has no plans to endorse early and has stressed that it is looking closely at candidates' viability.

On that front, the Edwards campaign in Nevada has lagged behind New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. It hasn't been able to secure high-profile endorsements and has drawn considerably smaller crowds.

The most recent Nevada poll, taken in late June by Mason-Dixon, showed Edwards in third place with 12 percent of the vote. Clinton was leading with 39 percent, followed by Obama with 17 percent.

The move by the Edwards campaign comes as Clinton, Obama and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson are beefing up their Nevada operations. A few hours after the news broke about Edwards, Richardson saw an opportunity to move up from his fourth-place standing and put out a statement announcing seven new staff hires in Nevada.