Romney, Clinton Win Nevada Caucuses

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton beat Sen. Barack Obama in the Nevada Democratic caucuses today, while former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney prevailed earlier in the Nevada Republican caucuses.

With 88 percent of the vote counted, Clinton led with 51 percent to 45 percent for Obama (Ill.). Former senator John Edwards trailed far behind with four percent.

"I guess this is how the West was won," Clinton told cheering supporters in Las Vegas. The victory was her second straight, coming after an upset win in the New Hampshire primary.

Despite Clinton's six-point victory margin, the race for delegates to the national convention is far closer. The Obama campaign contends that it will wind up with 13 delegates as compared to 12 for Clinton., due to the way in which delegates are apportioned throughout the state. The Associated Press is reporting the delegate apportionment out of Nevada as 15 for Clinton and 13 for Obama.

"We came from over 25 points behind to win more national convention delegates than Hillary Clinton because we performed well all across the state, including rural areas where Democrats have traditionally struggled," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton.

Obama's campaign manger, David Plouffe, said the campaign has reports of more than 200 incidents of "trouble" at caucus sites that may have kept Obama's supporters from offering their support at the

caucus. He blamed the incidents on premeditated "Clinton campaign tactics" that he said "were part of an entire week's worth of false, divisive, attacks designed to mislead caucus-goers and discredit the caucus itself."

Clinton told her supporters that any hard feelings spawned by the primary battle would fade by the fall general election campaign. "We will all be united in November," she said, as the crowd chanted "HRC, HRC."

Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe asserted in an interview on MSNBC that his candidate's focus on the economy was crucial to her victory. "It's Hillary that's going to deal with the economic issues," McAuliffe said in an interview on MSNBC moments after the network called the race for Clinton.

Preliminary entrance polling seemed to back up McAuliffe's contention, as the economy was the most important issue on the minds of Democratic caucus goers and Clinton won that group by double digits.

As in New Hampshire, the foundation of Clinton's win came from women. Females accounted for 59 percent of all caucus-goers, and Clinton won that group, 51 percent to 38 percent, over Obama. Clinton has now won women by double-digits over Obama in New Hampshire and Nevada after losing among that demographic cohort in the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses.

Obama's support from the Culinary Workers Union proved far less important than was first believed. Union members made up three in ten Democratic caucusgoers in Nevada but Clinton won that crucial voting bloc 45 percent to 44 percent. The nine casinos along the Las Vegas Strip -- where the workers are almost all members of the culinary union -- largely went for Clinton.