Below is an excerpt from the offical press released today:
The Nevada Democratic Party will partner with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and IMPACTO, 100 Black Men of America, and the College of Southern Nevada to hold the second Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas. The debate will be telecast live by MSNBC and held at the Cashman Center in Las Vegas on Tuesday, January 15, 2008 from 6:00 – 8:00 pm Pacific Standard Time. Nevada, the second state in the nation to hold a presidential caucus and the first in the West to host an early window nominating contest, was chosen as an early state in part because 40 percent of its population is minority, primarily Hispanic and African-American. Issues affecting these communities such as economic development, education, health care and the war in Iraq will be highlighted during the debate. With 11 days between the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 8th and the Nevada caucus, the Silver State could be the a circuit breaker that halts the momentum of the candidate that wins both earlier contests; the tiebreaker if two candidates split the New Hampshire primary and Iowa Caucuses; or the validator for a candidate who wins all three. “Nevada will play a critical role in the selection of our nominee as the first test in the West and the first test of the Hispanic vote,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. “We’re proud to announce this debate and applaud NBC and MSNBC for recognizing the important role of Nevada’s diverse electorate. We thank our co-sponsors – the U.S. Hispanic Chamber and IMPACTO, the 100 Black Men of America and the College of Southern Nevada – for helping to host this historic event in Nevada.” “We are happy that the voters of Nevada will have another opportunity to hear from our candidates before the January 19th caucus,” said Democratic Party Chair Jill Derby. “I’d like to thank IMPACTO, a nonpartisan political action committee affiliated with the Las Vegas Latin Chamber of Commerce, and the African American Democratic Leadership Council for the work they did to secure this important debate in Nevada.” The Executive Committee of the African American Democratic Leadership Council, which includes many of Nevada’s Democratic African American elected leaders, has worked since January to secure a debate that would highlight issues important to Nevada’s minority population.
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