LAS VEGAS - A federal judge yesterday ruled that Nevadans may vote tomorrow in caucuses set up in casinos, delivering a big boost to Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, who was endorsed by the powerful union representing the casino workers, and frustrating Senator Hillary Clinton's supporters, who argued that the special voting sites were unfair.
Members of a local teachers' union had challenged the creation of the nine "at large" caucus sites, saying they wrongly gave an advantage to people working on the Las Vegas Strip. The sites were established to ensure that casino workers - for whom Saturday is the busiest day of work - would be able to get to a location to select presidential nominees at 11 a.m., when the caucuses begin.
But federal district court Judge James Mahan rejected the teachers' eleventh-hour effort to scuttle the sites, saying the caucus procedure was up to the party to decide. "State Democrats have a First Amendment right to association, to assemble, and to set their own rules," Mahan said.
The Obama campaign applauded the decision.
"While the Clinton camp clearly believed the voices of workers should be silenced in service of their perceived political interest, they enjoyed a 25-point lead two months ago and have much of the party establishment in their camp. So, despite their inherent advantages, we are pleased this should be a close and competitive contest Saturday," said Bill Burton, Obama campaign spokesman.
The teachers said it was wrong for the party to set up special sites for one type of worker while doing nothing for others who have to work on Saturday. Further, they said, the system wrongly allocates more delegates from the at-large sites than from other caucus precincts, a provision that former President Clinton alleged would give the at-large caucus-goers as many as five times the number of delegates, if there was a full turnout.
Clinton's campaign said the setup, approved by the national party last summer without incident, was unfair, but insisted that the campaign had nothing to do with the lawsuit.
Clinton supporters, meanwhile, contended that the casino workers' union federation was running Spanish-language radio ads accusing Clinton of not respecting Latinos - who make up a substantial portion of casino workers - by trying to prevent them from caucusing this weekend.
"It is so far from the truth that it makes my mouth drop," said Maria Echaveste, former White House deputy chief of staff under Bill Clinton. "We need to be clear that we were not involved in the lawsuit, that this was not Hillary Clinton's lawsuit. The caucuses are going forward."
The campaign of former North Carolina senator John Edwards, which has wooed union voters but studiously avoided getting involved in the dispute over the caucus sites, declined to comment on the case yesterday.
The feuding over the caucus locations underscores the new importance of Nevada, whose caucus was moved up in the presidential nominating calendar to bring more attention to Western and Latino issues. The Silver State has become a coveted prize for Democrats, with both Clinton and Obama hoping to gain momentum and Edwards seeking a first win to rejuvenate his campaign.
Republicans have made few visits to the state, instead focusing on upcoming contests in South Carolina and Florida. Polls and endorsements in Nevada have favored former governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, who political analysts believe has an advantage because Nevada has many Mormons.
But all three leading Democratic candidates have been campaigning hard in Nevada, seeking to appeal to labor union members and Hispanic voters. Obama's endorsement by the 60,000-member Culinary Workers Union, which represents the vast majority of casino workers, is a huge prize in a state where turnout has been low and the caucus system can be confusing.
"The casino workers' endorsement is important, because it helps level the playing field" in a state where Clinton has several natural advantages, said Erik Herzik, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Reno. "She has the organization. She has the money, she has the backing of the mainstream of the Democratic Party, and she had a double-digit lead a month ago."
Clinton is hoping that her popularity among Latinos will erase any advantage Obama might get from the culinary workers' endorsement.
"The people in the Latino community don't know who he is," said labor leader Dolores Huerta, an ardent Clinton supporter. "They say, 'Cómo se llama?' 'What is his name?' "
The lawsuit caused a heated argument among Nevada Democrats, with the state party and a major union at war with another union. The Nevada State Education Association, which has not endorsed a candidate, joined several pro-Clinton teachers in the lawsuit.
Other precincts will have predetermined numbers of delegates awarded, despite individual turnout. But the at-large sites, which are expected to draw many more voters, will get more delegates, a rule that drew an angry response from Bill Clinton.
"Do you really believe that all the Democrats understood that they had agreed to give people who worked in the casino a vote worth five times as much as people who voted in their own precinct?" Clinton, wagging his finger angrily, said in response to a TV reporter's question Wednesday.
But Obama supporters alleged that Clinton's supporters tried to change the rules only after the Culinary Workers Union endorsed Obama.
"These were the rules that have been in place since March," said Obama campaign manager David Plouffe. "We firmly believe that as a party and as a country, we should be encouraging participation."
Most recent polls have largely suggested that Obama, Clinton, and Edwards are in a dead heat in Nevada, although Clinton held a 9-point lead in a poll released yesterday. But because turnout for the caucuses has traditionally been low, political analysts say, it is impossible to know who will actually turn out to vote.
