Hello from Nevada! We arrived Sunday to an office packed with people and confusion, but with good reason: an Obama event had been planned for Monday, 1/14 in Carson City. We were immediately told that we would be "working" the event. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven..... The people here are unbelievably positive and hardworking. The advance team that came in with the campaign was young, but highly skilled. It's been impressive.
The event was fabulous! The community says it one of the biggest things that's happened in Carson City for a long time. (Reno gets all the attention.) The Community center was packed with 2400 people (fire marshall was extremely generous), and another 1500 were in the parking lot. Since it was below freezing, all but 200 of those left the event -- but Obama stood outside and spoke to the overflow crowd, and went to the indoor overflow (audio/visual access only) and spoke with them too. It was a town hall meeting, and while I was impressed with his stump speech, it was his his answers to the questions from the audience that reinforced his communication/team-building skills.
He asked those who already supported him to give the undecideds a chance at the questions -- so the questions were tough. They asked about his religion, his race, Medicare, VA benefits....and it was reinforcing to watch/listen to the comments of the people nearby when he finished. All in all, the event was a HUGE success. Now we've moved into caucus mode -- caucuses are on Saturday. Doors open at 11:00 and lock at noon. We're walking door to door, making phone calls to pledges -- doing everything we can to make sure our supporters get to a caucus. While the volunteers are officially finished at 10:00 Saturday morning, Sue and I are staying to see a caucus before we head home. Local polls give Obama a 2% lead over Clinton -- but we all know how accurate the polls are after NH...
Yesterday, Sen. Dick Durbin was in the office. He spoke for about 15 minutes and then took questions from supporters and staff. I think you probably know that the teachers' union has filed a federal lawsuit to block casino sites from being caucus sites. Prior to the culinary union endorsing Obama, the state had approved the use of casinos for caucus sites. Democrats, Republicans, and unions all supported the decision early on because the casinos are a primary employer here in Nevada, and the idea is to give workers 1 hour off the clock to caucus. Well, shortly after the culinary union endorsed Obama, the teachers union started objecting to the use of casinos because it gave Obama an edge. Then, several other unions (all endorsing Clinton) piped in.
A lawsuit was filed last Friday, and will be decided before Friday this week. Durbin says this could "make or break" Obama in Nevada. In a conference call with Harry Reid yesterday morning, Reid told him the Fed. judge hearing the case is a Reagan appointee, and known to be a straight shooter. The hope is that since the unions and other campaigns supported the Casino sites early on, the Judge will not change the caucus venues. Stay tuned to news updates... It's Wednesday morning, and we are leaving directly from our housing to canvass an area between Carson City and Reno.
We'll be back in the office this afternoon. We're working 10-12 hour days (14 the day of the event), so communication isn't easy. I'll try to keep you posted with breaking news. I've also attached some photos.
Finally, if any of you have the ability to volunteer like this, I would encourage you. The campaigns will be moving into California and Utah this weekend (other states, too -- but those are closest to OR). We've had a great time and the experience is one to remember as you watch the crowds, listen to the callers and get an inside view of the amazing structure that has been put together in just over a year. Obama is right: we are in a moment for change, and if we can get the grassroots to hear the message, we will win the nomination and the presidency. Fired up! Ready to go! Holly East
Nevada voters are seeing another facet of early-primary politics: nasty political infighting. Last week the Nevada State Education Association (NSEA), the state's teachers union, filed suit challenging the creation of nine "at-large" precincts in meeting spaces in Strip casino resorts designed to enfranchise hotel employees who can't leave work to caucus in their home precincts.
While the NSEA hasn't endorsed a candidate, some of the group's top officials are Clinton supporters, so the lawsuit is seen as an effort to suppress the turnout of members of the state's largest union, the 60,000-member Culinary Workers Union Local 226, which endorsed Obama last week. The union's secretary-treasurer, D. Taylor, is furious. "I never thought we'd have people in the Democratic Party try to disenfranchise women, people of color and large numbers of working people in this state," says Taylor. "I am sure every single elected official in Nevada will renounce it, and so will the Clinton campaign. If there's not renouncing of it, then there's an agreement with it."
So far, none have done so, although U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, who represents Las Vegas and endorsed Clinton, said, "If I were the Culinary, I'd be madder than a hatter right now too." Clinton has made only perfunctory statements about allowing the courts to decide. But former president Bill Clinton, campaigning for his wife in Henderson, Nev., on Monday, said he supports the lawsuit. Court action on the lawsuit is expected Wednesday.
"If you didn't believe me that this internecine Democratic warfare would be as nasty as any in state annals, this is more evidence," Ralston wrote in an e-mail blast in which he broke the news of the lawsuit late Friday. "By Jan. 20, friendships, alliances and relationships will be destroyed by this high-stakes game."
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