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http://www.newsmax.com/politics/campaign_rdp/2008/01/19/65826.htmlClinton,
Romney Win
Nevada Caucuses
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., claps
with hotel workers during a campaign stop at the Mandalay Bay Hotel on
caucus day in Las Vegas, Sat.
-- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won the Nevada caucuses Saturday, powering
past Barack Obama in a hard-fought race marred by last-minute charges of
dirty politics. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney easily won the
Republican contest.
The victory marked a second-straight campaign triumph for the former first
lady, who gained an upset victory over Obama in last week's New Hampshire
primary.
Clinton was gaining roughly half the vote in a three-way Democratic race,
with Obama at about 45 percent and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards
placing a distant third.
Romney said Republicans had cast their votes for change _ and that he was
the man to provide it.
"With a career spent turning around businesses, creating jobs and imposing
fiscal discipline, I am ready to get my hands on Washington and turn it
inside out," he said in a statement issued while he flew to Florida, site of
the Jan. 29 primary.
The Republican caucuses drew relatively little candidate interest. Not so
the party's South Carolina primary, the second half of a campaign
doubleheader, and a duel between Sen. John McCain and former Arkansas Gov.
Mike Huckabee.
Romney was gaining more than half the vote in Nevada, leaving McCain and
Texas Rep. Ron Paul in a close race for a distant second place.
Obama had pinned his hopes on an ourpouring of support from the Culinary
Workers Union, which endorsed him last week. But it appeared that turnout
was lighter than expected at nine caucuses established along the Las Vegas
Strip for the union membership.
The Nevada Democratic contest was intense, despite the absence of negative
television commercials.
The Clinton campaign said their supporters in the union had been the targets
of threats designed to keep them from attending caucuses. Obama's camp said
their backers were receiving telephone calls that made repeated reference to
"Barack Hussein Obama."
Romney's western victory marked a second straight success for the former
Massachusetts governor, coming quickly after a first-place finish in the
Michigan primary revived a faltering campaign.
Nevada Republicans said the economy and illegal immigration were their top
concerns, according to preliminary results from surveys of voters entering
their caucuses. Romney led among voters who cited both issues.
Mormons gave Romney about half his votes. He is hoping to become the first
member of his faith to win the White House. Alone among the Republican
contenders, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas aired television ads in Nevada.
The first scattered returns showed Romney with more than 50 percent of the
vote. Paul, McCain and Huckabee were tightly bunched, far behind the leader.
He also won at least 14 of the 31 Republican National Convention delegates
at stake.
Nevada offered more delegates _ 31 versus 24 _ but far less appeal to the
Republican candidates than South Carolina, a primary that has gone to the
party's eventual nominee every four years since 1980.
That made it a magnet for former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, who staked
his candidacy on a strong showing, as well as for Romney, McCain, the
Arizona senator; and Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas.
McCain, a former Vietnam prisoner of war, appealed to a large population of
military veterans in South Carolina, and stressed his determination to rein
in federal spending as he worked to avenge a bitter defeat in the 2000
primary.
Huckabee reached out to evangelical Christian voters, hoping to rebound from
a string of disappointing showings since his victory in the Jan. 3 Iowa
caucuses.
Romney campaigned on a pledge to help restore the state's economy, much as
he did in winning Michigan.
In South Carolina, the economy and immigration were cited as top issues, and
preliminary survey data indicated a strong turnout by evangelical voters.
Survey data in both states were from polls conducted for The Associated
Press and the television networks by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky
International.
South Carolina primary voters coped with equipment difficulty and bad
weather.
Election officials in the area around Myrtle Beach brought out paper ballots
after some electronic voting machines failed to work properly.
Snow fell in the northern part of the state, which has little snow removal
equipment.
Alone among the major Republican contenders, former New York Mayor Rudy
Giuliani skipped the day's events. He camped out in Florida, the first of
the big states to vote, with a winner-take-all primary.
Obama and Clinton both ran all-out in Nevada, even though only 25 delegates
were at stake.
Preliminary results from interviews with voters entering their caucuses
showed woman voting heavily for the former first lady. She and Obama split
the male vote.
Obama's backing from the influential Culinary Workers Union led to an
unsuccessful lawsuit by some of Clinton's supporters who hoped to ban
specially arranged caucuses along the Las Vegas Strip that could draw
thousands of unionized casino and hotel workers.
Both campaigned to the last moment among casino and hotel workers. Edwards
spoke to a union audience in Missouri, then was heading to South Carolina,
where Democrats hold their own primary in one week.
Obama, hoping to become the first black president, spent nearly $1 million
on television commercials. Clinton, campaigning to become the country's
first woman chief executive, ran nearly $700,000 worth of commercials, and a
union group backed her with nearly $100,000 spent on an independent ad
campaign.
Former President Clinton was a constant presence, as well, in a state he
carried twice on his own in 1992 and 1996.
Remarkably, neither Obama nor Clinton has aired a television commercial
criticizing the other, and both of the rivals stepped back earlier in the
week from a controversy over race. But that didn't prevent almost constant
sniping between the two camps, each pointing out alleged inconsistencies in
the other's record.
Romney Win
Nevada Caucuses
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., claps
with hotel workers during a campaign stop at the Mandalay Bay Hotel on
caucus day in Las Vegas, Sat.
-- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won the Nevada caucuses Saturday, powering
past Barack Obama in a hard-fought race marred by last-minute charges of
dirty politics. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney easily won the
Republican contest.
The victory marked a second-straight campaign triumph for the former first
lady, who gained an upset victory over Obama in last week's New Hampshire
primary.
Clinton was gaining roughly half the vote in a three-way Democratic race,
with Obama at about 45 percent and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards
placing a distant third.
Romney said Republicans had cast their votes for change _ and that he was
the man to provide it.
"With a career spent turning around businesses, creating jobs and imposing
fiscal discipline, I am ready to get my hands on Washington and turn it
inside out," he said in a statement issued while he flew to Florida, site of
the Jan. 29 primary.
The Republican caucuses drew relatively little candidate interest. Not so
the party's South Carolina primary, the second half of a campaign
doubleheader, and a duel between Sen. John McCain and former Arkansas Gov.
Mike Huckabee.
Romney was gaining more than half the vote in Nevada, leaving McCain and
Texas Rep. Ron Paul in a close race for a distant second place.
Obama had pinned his hopes on an ourpouring of support from the Culinary
Workers Union, which endorsed him last week. But it appeared that turnout
was lighter than expected at nine caucuses established along the Las Vegas
Strip for the union membership.
The Nevada Democratic contest was intense, despite the absence of negative
television commercials.
The Clinton campaign said their supporters in the union had been the targets
of threats designed to keep them from attending caucuses. Obama's camp said
their backers were receiving telephone calls that made repeated reference to
"Barack Hussein Obama."
Romney's western victory marked a second straight success for the former
Massachusetts governor, coming quickly after a first-place finish in the
Michigan primary revived a faltering campaign.
Nevada Republicans said the economy and illegal immigration were their top
concerns, according to preliminary results from surveys of voters entering
their caucuses. Romney led among voters who cited both issues.
Mormons gave Romney about half his votes. He is hoping to become the first
member of his faith to win the White House. Alone among the Republican
contenders, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas aired television ads in Nevada.
The first scattered returns showed Romney with more than 50 percent of the
vote. Paul, McCain and Huckabee were tightly bunched, far behind the leader.
He also won at least 14 of the 31 Republican National Convention delegates
at stake.
Nevada offered more delegates _ 31 versus 24 _ but far less appeal to the
Republican candidates than South Carolina, a primary that has gone to the
party's eventual nominee every four years since 1980.
That made it a magnet for former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, who staked
his candidacy on a strong showing, as well as for Romney, McCain, the
Arizona senator; and Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas.
McCain, a former Vietnam prisoner of war, appealed to a large population of
military veterans in South Carolina, and stressed his determination to rein
in federal spending as he worked to avenge a bitter defeat in the 2000
primary.
Huckabee reached out to evangelical Christian voters, hoping to rebound from
a string of disappointing showings since his victory in the Jan. 3 Iowa
caucuses.
Romney campaigned on a pledge to help restore the state's economy, much as
he did in winning Michigan.
In South Carolina, the economy and immigration were cited as top issues, and
preliminary survey data indicated a strong turnout by evangelical voters.
Survey data in both states were from polls conducted for The Associated
Press and the television networks by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky
International.
South Carolina primary voters coped with equipment difficulty and bad
weather.
Election officials in the area around Myrtle Beach brought out paper ballots
after some electronic voting machines failed to work properly.
Snow fell in the northern part of the state, which has little snow removal
equipment.
Alone among the major Republican contenders, former New York Mayor Rudy
Giuliani skipped the day's events. He camped out in Florida, the first of
the big states to vote, with a winner-take-all primary.
Obama and Clinton both ran all-out in Nevada, even though only 25 delegates
were at stake.
Preliminary results from interviews with voters entering their caucuses
showed woman voting heavily for the former first lady. She and Obama split
the male vote.
Obama's backing from the influential Culinary Workers Union led to an
unsuccessful lawsuit by some of Clinton's supporters who hoped to ban
specially arranged caucuses along the Las Vegas Strip that could draw
thousands of unionized casino and hotel workers.
Both campaigned to the last moment among casino and hotel workers. Edwards
spoke to a union audience in Missouri, then was heading to South Carolina,
where Democrats hold their own primary in one week.
Obama, hoping to become the first black president, spent nearly $1 million
on television commercials. Clinton, campaigning to become the country's
first woman chief executive, ran nearly $700,000 worth of commercials, and a
union group backed her with nearly $100,000 spent on an independent ad
campaign.
Former President Clinton was a constant presence, as well, in a state he
carried twice on his own in 1992 and 1996.
Remarkably, neither Obama nor Clinton has aired a television commercial
criticizing the other, and both of the rivals stepped back earlier in the
week from a controversy over race. But that didn't prevent almost constant
sniping between the two camps, each pointing out alleged inconsistencies in
the other's record.
