Women, Latinos Propel Clinton To First Place

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The Nevada Caucus and South Carolina Primary

Presidential candidates campaigned up until the last minute to gain votes in the Nevada caucuses and the South Carolina Republican primary on Saturday, January 19, 2008.

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Despite a late endorsement by the powerful Culinary Workers Union, Obama did not win enough support from Nevada's hourly laborers -- or any single demographic -- to produce new momentum after his initial burst of success in Iowa. Since his first-place finish there, the senator from Illinois has struggled to outpace Clinton in consecutive contests and is now banking heavily on a victory next Saturday in South Carolina, where as much as half of the Democratic electorate will be African American.

But Obama's advisers said that, under the complex apportionment rules governing the Nevada caucus process, he will wind up ahead of Clinton by one delegate in the state. Clinton currently leads in the overall national delegate count, including the "super delegates" who can choose their preferred nominee without waiting for any individual state results but may also change their minds at any time.

The caucuses yesterday met to select about 11,000 delegates for a series of local and state party nominating conventions later this year, leading up to the decision on awarding the state's 25 delegates to the Democratic National Convention this summer. David Plouffe, the Obama campaign manager, expressed confidence that Obama will take the majority. "This is a very close contest, and we obviously both did a good job at turning out voters," Plouffe said, adding, "I do think that increasingly this is going to turn into a contest of delegates, and I think that's an important measure."

Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson rejected the rival camp's claim. "Hillary Clinton won the Nevada caucuses today by winning a majority of the delegates at stake," he said. "The Obama campaign is wrong. Delegates for the national convention will not be determined until April 19."

Perhaps the clearest winner of the Nevada caucuses was Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid, who secured the early spot on the calendar for his state and boldly predicted turnout of 100,000 -- more than 10 times the Democratic turnout in the 2004 Nevada caucuses. That forecast appeared to come true, with upwards of 114,000 caucusgoers reported. Reid was neutral in the race, but his son, Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid, served as Clinton's Nevada chairman and helped her to lock down support from the Democratic establishment.

Turnout was less impressive along the Strip, where the famous skyline of soaring casinos and neon-lighted hotels drew hundreds, rather than thousands, at nine at-large sites. Clinton won the caucus at the New York-New York Hotel and Casino 93 to 69, for example; at the Wynn, which had expected 1,000 participants, Clinton won 189 to 187. Obama won at Caesars Palace 82 to 79 and also carried the Luxor.

Polling director Jon Cohen and staff writer Paul Kane in Washington contributed to this report.