Obama makes big gains in Reno
Posted February 23, 2008
Today's caucuses in Vegas were a disaster. So were the Reno caucuses -- but only for Clinton supporters.
Click here for more from the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Today's Clark County [Vegas metro area] caucuses were adjourned due to excessive turnout. There wasn't enough room for all of the delegates to fit, so they canceled the meeting.
But in Washoe County [Reno metro area], Obama collected 59 percent of the vote -- 8 points higher than expected.
But weren't the Nevada caucuses in mid-January? That was only round one. Essentially, city and county caucuses picked delegates to attend county caucuses (Round 2). The county caucuses will select delegates to attend the state convention (Round 3). And the state convention will select delegates to the Democratic National Convnetion. were selected to attend county caucuses (Round 4).
In round 1, Obama won 51 percent of the Reno metro area vote, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal. But in round 2, that figure jumped to 59 percent. This suggests that, in northern Nevada, at least, Obama has momentum, that he's gained strength since mid-January in the Silver State. If a similar shift occurs in Las Vegas, Hillary Clinton's in trouble. At this point, it's not out of the realm of possibility that Obama could eventually emerge as the winner of the Nevada caucuses.
A further wild card: Some of the delegates elected in mid-January were uncommitted or pledged to John Edwards. The shift in the Reno area may be attributed, in part, to Edwards supporters or uncommited delegates shifting their support to Obama.