Hillary Clinton's Nevada stop ends up mostly off the radar

L'affaire John Edwards blotted out virtually all other political news Friday after word surfaced that he'd copped to adultery; events the story overshadowed included Hillary Clinton's first solo campaign stop for Barack Obama.

Perhaps, for Obama, that was just as well.

What coverage there was of Clinton's speech in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, Nev., underscored that the reconciliation between the two camps that competed so mightily for the Democratic presidential nod remains a work in progress.

And, at this stage in that process, greater attention to the image of her standing behind a podium emblazoned with Obama's campaign slogan may have proved more aggravating than anything else to many Clinton partisans across the nation.

The Times' Ashley Powers covered Clinton's appearance and, in her dispatch, noted that it was clear the New York senator "was speaking to a crowd still lukewarm toward" Obama.

The Associated Press story reported: "The crowd let her know they still held her in high regard. They cheered Obama's name and waved his campaign signs, but no mention of him won as loud a roar as Clinton's introduction."

But if the effort to meld Clinton supporters into Obama backers is proceeding fitfully in Nevada, as elsewhere, a different trend is evident at the purely grassroots level in the state. According to Sunday's "Political Memo" column in the Las Vegas Sun, the Obama forces are creating nothing less than an "organizational juggernaut" in the fight for the state's five electoral votes.

Eric Herzik, a political scientist at the University of Nevada-Reno, says in the piece that Obama's "on-the-ground organization looks real good. (John) McCain’s is very quiet up here. If I’m a Republican strategist, it would scare me."

Herzik, a registered Republican, cautions that it remains unknown whether impressive registration gains by Democrats in Nevada translate into strong turnout by these new voters on election day. And the article points out that Obama "will have to overcome his fairly conventional liberal voting record in a state with an electorate that detests gun control and higher taxes."

Still, it's worth remembering that organizational prowess is a key reason Clinton was speaking on Obama's behalf last week, and not vice-versa.

-- Don Frederick

Photo credit: Getty Images 

Comments

[anonymous]

Puhlease! Lukewarm toward Obama?

I'm grass roots, I'm for Obama, and you couldn't pay me to listen to Billary.

Try lukewarm towards Billary.

[Scootmandubious]

I am very dismayed at the level of enmity I have seen directed at Barack Obama by former Clinton supporters. In fact, I am a bit shocked that there are certain people extremely close to me (Democrats, I might add) that will, essentially, not even consider voting for him.

On many of the message boards I have posted on I have seen alleged Clinton supporters (though, in this case, I believe many are GOP plants) that are actively pushing for her former supporters to vote for McCain.

I didn't like Hillary's campaign at all, which is one of the reasons I switched my support from Clinton to Obama after the New York primary. I have had issues with some of Obama's position 'adjustments' in recent weeks, and have even considered not actively supporting him after FISA, but rationality has taken over.

The bottom line here...if Hillary had won the nomination, despite my distaste for some of her own tactics (some of her supporters act as if she was the sole victim, but did no attacking of her own), I would have been a fierce and loyal advocate for her candidacy.

I say that, because a rational progressive sees the disaster a McCain presidency would be.

Despite my annoyance at some of Obama's positions, I realize that there are light years of difference in policy between he and McCain.

I am so tired of Democrats shooting ourselves in the foot. We must unite together against John McCain in this election, whatever it takes.

A woman who supported Clinton has to have a bit of a streak of masochism to say they would now vote for McCain. What logic is there to support a candidate who makes it very clear he wants to stack the Supreme Court with justices who will take away a woman's right to reproductive choice, as well as strip away any progressive gains that have been made in civil rights over the years, such as equal pay for equal work?

This may anger people, but when alleged Democrats who say they are not going to support Obama and start using messages like, 'it's because of Rev. Wright', or 'because they think he is really a muslim,' or they think he is 'uppity,' I know exactly what the problem is.

Scrabble players, here is a clue...it's a 6-letter word that begins with 'r', ends with 'm.'

Spell it out...because I'm beginning to think the shoe fits.

[Nick in Vegas]

I was there. The crowd was luke warm to obama they were there for Hillary and she got a resounding round of applause and ovation.

She has called for unity, but -for me- if Obama doesn't put Hillary on the ticket, then he will not get my vote.

[Do some research]

Scootmandubious, please do some research on Obama's policies, lack of record and lack of judgement before recklessly playing the race card on any Democrat who chooses not to support him. Also, voters are outraged over the undemocratic manipulations that have gone on and continue to go on during the primary. MI and FL, caucus fraud and an irresponsible media all working hand and hand with the DNC. The media called the winner before there was one. Obama choosing to move the convention to a stadium designed to intimidate delegates. Now this nonsense about Clinton's name not being in nomination - that is unprecedented! There is ALWAYS A ROLL CALL. Even Howard Dean himself was in nomination in 2004 with 114 delegates, what a sham. So some people are choosing to opt for saving democracy over electing a candidate that they don't believe in and rewarding the party for this behavior. McCain is a moderate republican that John Kerry was considering for his VP just four short years ago. If the GOP was running anybody else, it would be a different story. At this point, the only way for this corrupt party to redeem itself is to nominate Clinton at the convention to win.

[Marilyn Atkins]

We, here in Nevada, are still with heavy heart. Hillary deserved the nomination, but many factors ran against her, sexism. masogyny, playing the race card against Bill, the media, the DNC favoring Obama, and the Michigan, Florida unfair rulings fiasco.
The only way most Hillary supporters will vote for Obama is if she were chosen as Vice President. 18 million voters would ensure a Democratic victory. Is the Obama campaign so stupid they can't see that? Lets use some good judgement Obama, and take our damn country back! ENOUGH!