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Nevada, now early in '08 calendar, needs Caucus 101

Political parties and campaigns are racing to train voters, holding mock caucuses or 'mockuses.' Glitches are common in these sessions since trainers themselves are newbies to the caucus system.

By Ben Arnoldy | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

from the December 14, 2007 edition

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Las Vegas - The DJ spins the Jackson 5's "Sugar Daddy" as grown-ups get out of their chairs to line up behind their favorite candy. Some head for Snickers, others gravitate toward Milky Way.

No, the National Confectioners Association convention hasn't rolled into Vegas. This is a mock caucus – a "mockus" – designed to educate voters, with candy as the substitute for honey-tongued presidential candidates.

How to caucus isn't well known in the Silver State because in past presidential elections Nevada voted too late to matter in the nomination process. Not this year: The state will caucus Jan. 19, just after Iowa and New Hampshire hold their contests.

Whether Nevada finds its voice in national politics as the representative of the high-growth, heavily Hispanic, Intermountain West depends on the ability of party and campaign organizers to teach voters and volunteers that a caucus is no quick trip to the voting booth.

"It's a huge education challenge, [and] I suspect to some degree the campaigns themselves may not have thought just how hard this really is," says David Redlawsk, professor of political science at the University of Iowa. "With 40 years of [caucus] experience in Iowa, say what you will, folks understand how it works."

The same is not true in Nevada, where only 9,000 voters caucused in 2004 – up dramatically from past contests that drew less than a rodeo in Pahrump. Since then the state grew 10 percent, welcoming another quarter million people – often young or retired and uprooted from the kind of community connections that foster political engagement.

Figuring out who the likely voters will be is trickier than usual for pollsters. On the Republican side, a poll released Dec. 7 by the American Research Group found Mitt Romney with 29 percent, Mike Huckabee with 23 percent, and Rudolph Giuliani with 17 percent.

On the Democratic side, American Research Group has Hillary Rodham Clinton with 45 percent, Barack Obama takes 18 percent, and John Edwards garners 14 percent. Another poll, however, from Mason-Dixon found Mr. Obama closing the gap to within eight points of Mrs. Clinton.

In a Las Vegas living room, a dozen neighbors have gathered to hear volunteers from Clinton's campaign tout the Democratic candidate and explain the caucus. Ryan Williams stands in front of a flip chart that reads, "#1 show up, #2 stand with Team HRC, #3 be counted" but it isn't long before he's interrupted by several questioners suddenly realizing that there won't be a ballot with Hillary's name on it.

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