Goodness the swarms

The state party says 107,000 114,000 Democrats showed up to caucus, which wildly exceeded everybody's expectations and is most impressive. (Lots of people — and a fair amount of confusion —at the Gleaner's caucus, by the way, but not enough people going for Edwards for him to be viable, sniff. After agonizing for at least a fraction of a nanosecond, we went with Obama; Clinton won, just for the record).

Haven't seen the turnout numbers for the War Party side yet, but really who cares because the only thing that would have made their caucus even remotely meaningful would have been a victory by the Libertarian Pixie King.

Comments

[MikeZ]

107K sounds very nice to Harry Reid Inc, but that is a mere 11% of NV voters.

Soooo.....89% of NV voters chose to sit this one out on our side and it speaks to the disenfranchisement of the super-majority of the state. Haven't seen the GOP number yet.

We need to dump this system and move to Primary for 2012.

[NVMojo]

don't forget that casino workers off the strip and in places statewide like Tahoe, Reno, Sparks, West Wendover, Jackpot, Elko ...who had to work today didn't get to show up. Same with our gold miners statewide and everyone else who worked today in stores, restaurants, hospitals, etc.

I am sick. We are being assimilated. Can she beat a Repug? Would it really matter?

[texexnv@yahoo.com]

MZ, I was under the impression that has already been decided fo us.

[texexnv@yahoo.com]

Live (?) caucus results.

[John H]

# 1 Right now on DAILYKOS:

Widespread Cheating & Vote Suppression by Clinton Campaign in Nevada

Here are just a few of the irregularities from the Clinton campaign that have come to my ears, before I tell my own story. Word on the ground is that we have video of some of these shenanigans as well.

No less than four Obama captains (including myself) have reported that Clinton operatives tried to close the doors at 11:30--a full thirty minutes before the doors were supposed to close. In some cases I am hearing they actually succeeded, and voters were turned away before more knowledgeable people could get there to reopen them. The Clinton campaign had obviously told their people to be there by 11:30--and they knew that the higher the turnout, the worse for them.

At least two reports of Clinton operatives telling the uncommitteds and Edwards supporters, once their numbers were deemed not viable, that they had to leave. Whether these tactics succeeded or not, I do not know. Obviously, the Clinton campaign knew that voters not already in her camp were unlikely to join her camp (I know from my own experience that I convinced many more undecideds than my opponent Hillary operative), so they attempted to suppress their vote.

At least one report of Clinton operatives telling Obama supporters with viable numbers that they were not viable, and had to leave. From what I hear, some of those voters did in fact leave.

At least two reports (including my own) of disabled voters being coerced into the Clinton camp against their will, or even having their voter card filled out for them against their will.

A few reports of probable out-of-state Clinton operatives being counted among the voters--though since checking ID is illegal, and other Hillary operatives from in-state would vouch for them, it's impossible to say.

At least one report of two large men standing outside the door checking voters for whom they would support, and telling all Obama people they were at the wrong location.

At least one other report of Hillary operatives doing the check-in, and telling all Obama supporters that they were not on the list, could not register at the location (not true), and that they could not caucus.
At least one report of ballots being filled out in advance for Hillary in mass.

At least one report of Hillary supporters saying that the caucus location was just the Hillary room--and that Obama supporters had to go to a faraway location.

At least one report of a voter registration list only in Spanish, and only with Hillary supporters on it. Obama supporters later found the registration list with the rest of the people--in the garbage can of the ladies restroom.

Several reports of Hillary signs on the registration table, and Hillary supporters in Hillary shirts doing registration.
And there's much, much more. It's only just getting started to come through. How many of these tactics worked is unclear.

Certainly, aggressive Obama volunteers like myself should have nipped many of these in the bud, but we're actually counting on concerned citizens who care--not machine operatives trained to cheat and brought up in the nearly criminal Nevada machine and the ruthless, conscience-less Hillary campaign.

Here's my story:

I got to the location at 10:30am and set up. The Hillary people were already there. In charge of them was a 60-ish woman with a Brooklyn accent. Here were the irregularities in my precinct alone:

The Hillary operative tried to force the doors to close at 11:30am. KK was outside greeting people, and she overheard the Hillary campaign mention that the doors would be closing at 11:30am, and she went to talk to the precinct chair. So we intervened and said that that was absolutely not legal by the rules. She then started screaming at the chair to close the doors. When he read the rules that they were open until 12noon, she said that "that's not what I was told, other campaigns were spreading misinformation." We stood our ground, and the doors remained open.

A man in a wheelchair came in with his daughter, and said he was an Edwards supporter. When his daughter began to wheel him to the middle of the room, the Hillary operative tapped her on the shoulder, took the wheelchair and took him to the Clinton corner. I rushed over from talking to an undecided voter and objected loudly, but his daughter was a Hillary person. The Clinton operative said, "I don't control what he does; she does." At that point I said to the man, "Nobody controls you. If you want to vote for Edwards, you have every right to go to the center of the room. Do you need help?" He looked at me plaintively, but said nothing as his daughter dragged him farther back into the corner and just shook his head.

The Clinton operative herself had a Brooklyn accent and I overheard her mention having been from New York. When she stood to be counted in the middle of the room, I objected and asked her if she was actually from Nevada. She said yes. I talked to the chair and asked him to ask her name and find her on the list. He asked her her name and checked the list, and she was not on it. At this point the chair said, "well, I can't ask for ID." I said, "She can't participate if no one will vouch for her." At this point a Hispanic man wearing a Hillary shirt said she was his wife. While that's not impossible, it was also improbable--but I had no way to verify or object further.

One voter who hadn't even finished registering said that she was undecided, and the Hillary operative physically escorted her to the Hillary side. I went to talk to the woman, but she was immediately surrounded by 3 Hillary supporters who would not let me in, and I had to attend to others registering at that point (our operatives were outnumbered by hers 2-1).

Hillary supporters were doing check-in, and a Hillary sign was behind them. I forced the sign off the table, and I went to the front desk to verify that everything went according to the rules at checkin--but if nothing else, the necessity of doing so prevented me from doing other needed work.

Even so, KK and I managed to convince 6 undecided/Edwards voters (Edwards & uncommitted both lacked viability in my caucus), while their cheating, ruthless operatives only convinced two--and our caucus outperformed the field, garnering 4 delegates to her 5. It was intense--and it was war. I knew what the Clinton operatives were up to, and they knew I knew. It was bloodless war; I almost feel pity for the goodhearted Obama volunteers who were unprepared for the level of sociopathy that I expected--and encountered--from the Clinton campaign.

--------------------------------------

After being a part of this campaign, doing this work, and seeing this level of viciousness from a supposedly Democratic candidate, it will be a cold day in hell before I do any work for anyone in any way associated with Hillary Clinton. At this point, even my general election vote is in question. I am furious almost to the point of nausea. There are so many young, idealistic activists here who are absolutely crushed--not because we lost here, but because of the way we "lost." Disillusionment is running extremely high--and I doubt very much of many of them will be back in 2008, or ever again. Illegal and immoral campaign tactics like this aren't just reprehensible: they also come at a cost to the party in the long run.

Leaving behind the triangulating, DLC politics of the Clintons, this crap leaves me with just one question: with Democrats like these, who needs Republicans?

[KidFromVegas]

It was a great caucus, nice job Democratic Party of Nevada. Looking at the results, we learned two things: 1) Culinary Bosses can't deliver a vote (Hillary killed in the at-large sites) and 2) They don't like Hillary in the North (or like Chris Mathews, has a problem with strong women). I call it at 5%, even my precinct was 55% HRC and 45% BO. The Culinary lost Obama the election...onward!

And Gleaner, thanks for picking Obama as your 2nd!

Hilary needs to add a thank you line in her victory speech to the culinary union. My god they seemed to help clinton more than obama.

Obama gets endorsed by the RJ and the culinary union, and both end up doing more harm than good.

[texexnv@yahoo.com]

JH, write a letter of complaint to the NVSOS. Do it now while you are still hot and the details are fresh in you mind.

[texexnv@yahoo.com]

What's the hangup in Clark and Washoe counties?

[Vinny Spotleson]

MikeZ-

I think that one hundred thousand plus is an amazing turnout for a first and somewhat complicated NV caucus. Organizing over one hundred thousand people to arrrive at the right place on a saturday before noon, in Nevada (where everyone works all kinds of crazy shifts) is a monumental acheivement on behalf of the state party, campaigns, and local and national media.

There are not one million registered Dems in Nevada, even if the voter file has 500k, it is still insanely mismanaged, outdated, and it doesn't reflect the amount people move in and out, or even those that move within our state. I'm willing to bet the actual number of registered dems, who live at the correct address, that aren't dead or in Ohio with their grandkids or something, is the number we should be alarmed about.

[Danielle Vyas]

I second the comment of texexnv to John H.. Your reports need to be shared with the secretary of state and the media.

I am for Kucinich but couldn't meet viability and went to Obama as I was made a delegate after Obama supporters agreed.

We had Hillary people doing the registration which I thought one had to remain neutral.

This was my first caucus and I really want to make a move toward a primary in 2012! I know of other people who had to go with Obama because of viability that will be loyal to Kucinich as a delegate so the results don't show the actuality.

[JoeyM]

Same this happened at C.W. Woodbury but luckily there were a bunch of informed Obama people there to make sure it ran smoothly. In the precinct area next to mine 7326 (i think). The chair there was so OVERLY Hillary it was sicking...so as she started to voting she was trying to pull supporters from Edwards and the Undecided. The overall vibe in the location was that HRC was gettin all the "more experienced" people out for her. A majority of the Obama supporters were first timers. I don't know...The whole process made me quite sick. Her peoples tactics make me not even want to participate in the GE. I really hope shes not the nominee.

[d'Oh!]

HAH HAH HAH HAH! Idiots....

"...But the biggest problem has been in the basic execution of the [GOP] caucus. Thousands of postcards sent by party officials to registered Republicans directed them to the wrong precinct location. To make matters worse, the official website, nvgopcaucus.com, was also giving people wrong information..."

[Hillary but not Clinton]

I was a precinct captain for John Edwards (1137 - Silverado Ranch area). Here are my comments from the trenches:

1. NDSP and/or County Party let us all down. The whole event was poorly organized. Most of us had a very difficult time finding the right rooms for our precinct. There were only 2 people present to "run" things, the temporary chairperson and one person from NDSP. They were clueless about many details. If I had not been properly trained and informed by the Edwards campaign and was not there, who knows what would have happened. Our chairperson did not know how to perform her duties beyond the count (selecting delegates, party platform suggestions, etc.) and generally lacked training and information. I am very disappointed overall in the lack of organization, which had nothing to do with how many people turned out. Just finding a precinct map to direct voters to their correct precinct became a major search mission. Clearly, the party volunteers were not provided with adequate training or guidance, and there were not nearly enough of them.

2. The Hillary Clinton supporters did try to pull some stuff, but so did the Obama people. Because the Party did not provide enough volunteers, attendees were roped into manning the voter registration table and helping set up. Both Hillary and Obama people were sporting campaign wear and handing out their stickers as voters were registering. We were told no election signs could be posted in the room, but the Obama people posted a lot of signs anyway. When I complained, I was essentially called a "bitch" for insisting that everyone follow the rules. One of the Obama supporters who was working the registration table later turned out to be from another state, not a caucus participant,and he was the most strident of all about his "rights" to effectively electioneer at the registration table. At least the guy didn't try to be part of the count. I don't understand why an out of stater was registering Nevadans to vote in the Nevada caucus. Just seems wrong.

3. There were very few uncommiteds, and I heard from a few other precinct captains that they had none.

4. I heard several complaints about precincts where the caucus area did not have handicapped access. That just stinks! Fortunately, mine did. We had a few voters in wheelchairs and they were able to participate.

5. Several of my friends from other precincts have advised me that the Clinton people told them Edwards had already been determined non-viable and/or that you could not remain uncommitted. Those friends went with Obama, so the Clinton lies didn't necessarily work in her favor, but very much hurt Edwards. I have also heard that Clinton people were telling Edwards voters that he had withdrawn, an outright lie. I myself did not see or hear this.

6. My precinct went to Obama (2 delegates), with 1 each to Clinton and Edwards. Edwards made viability after talking the 4 only uncommitteds onto our side. We would have been non-viable without them. I knew before I heard any results that this was a bad omen, and sure enough, Edwards got his butt kicked here.

7. Nearly half my precinct stayed after the votes were counted to work on the party platform. That was impressive. And I'm happy to report that every platform suggestion we adopted was straight out of Edwards' policies, so in my mind, Edwards won over their hearts and minds, but it didn't translate into votes. His message won, but not the candidate. I chalk that up to John being marginalized by the media from the get-go.

8. Overall, most people were civilized and followed the rules. It was only a few clearly entrenched campaign operatives who seemed to be trying to screw things up, but fortunately, our precinct stood up against that crap. I am proud of my precinct for our high turnout! It was an involved and engaged group. Many people joined the comments when we were talking about platform points. There are plenty of people out there who care and want a voice, they just don't know how to get it heard. The caucus offered them a shot.

In general, I thought it was an amazing opportunity to see politics in action. I liked the caucus process and would like to see it continue, albeit with far better organization than this event. The opportunity to have direct input into the party platform is unique to the caucus process. We would lose that with a primary.

For the record, I am still in Edwards' camp with Obama as my runner up. I have seen a lot of questionable behavior by Clinton supporters for the last few months at several events, and the stuff that went on today was absolutely indefensible. I am starting to become a "Hillary hater" and that's pretty hard to do when your own name is Hillary!

[texexnv@yahoo.com]

1. Clearly the #1 platform should be "No more caucuses'. There's probably not single happy person in the whole state over this mess. We have to clean it up and stop the next one on our own.

2. Sit down while you're still hot and write a letter of complaint to the SOS. Enough of them could lead to a ban on this unAmerican form of candidate selection.

[HR]

Hillary wins hard-faught Nevada caucuses, beats the pundits, from Erin Neff upwards...

Sorry, D. Taylor, your power-play effort failed.

You and your Culinary union lost this one, big time (or should I say "Borg Time").

I was just at the Clinton rally at Planet Hollywood -- lots of uniformed, union cocktail waitresses at work serving drinks, and wearing Hillary Clinton buttons on their uniforms!!

That took courage, my friends.

Lots of courage on the Strip, in the face of the Culinary's abusive tactics.

Word is that Hillary WON 7 of the 9 "at-large" precincts on the Strip!!!

Taylor, Pilar, you can't force your members to vote how you want anymore.

Yeah!! Bravo Nevada!!

[texexnv@yahoo.com]

Obama Wins Most Delegates

[HR]

Texex -- You are a hypocrite and a wimp and worthless.
After all of your excessive, moronic screeds about the Nevada State Democratic Party's mistakes, you then you gleefully cite one of the party's asinine rules that supposedly gives Obama one delegate more than Clinton, after Obama lost the popular vote by 5 points statewide, and delclare hin the "winner." Talk about a parting shot of stupidity for a disasterous nomination process in Nevada!

But now that the caucuses are over, why don't you and your butt-buddy MikeZ hold hands on your way to weekend in Hawaii together?

[MikeZ]

Hey, I'm amazed at the turnout too. Kudos to Harry. I had 33% turnout in mine. I still hate caucus and will now work to Primary. Super-majority in all four of mine want to dump this caucus--people were pissed--esp old folks.

Elko was amazing for my guy-- Douglas and Washoe too. I delivered all four of my West Valley precincts but we were only one delegate ahead there.

I was basing my total on the entire registration as we allowed cross-over/same day. Huge problem and our lists only Active voters and they cut it off at 10/31, not 12/31.

Poorly run, poorly managed, poorly planned.

Voter fraud complaints filled my emails from down here. We likely will ask the NVSOS and local BOE's to impound new registrations to ensure we did not register improperly.

I have always been worried about the at-large sites where we had no list to go from. We really have no idea who voted there.

Tex, I was kidding about 2012, nothing decided, but DNC will not come back uless we primary--suit was big black eye to NV.

[MikeZ]

We violated NV law in how we handled same-day registrations. I believe we have a responsibility--since we specifically order no one to ask for ID or address verify-- I don't think we can turn these in.

We never settled this at NSDP and we know that we increased our ineligible total today...we just don't know by how much.

17 NV county BOE's will be flooded with dupes, bad addresses, and some fraud. I had 33 of the 93 that showed up either new, re-reg or switch. I asked for phone on all and got it--tuff what the rules said.

Now that was something to go to court and sue on. Couldn't say the before, but both state and fed court would have forced NSDP to follow NV law in voter registrations.

We'll discuss with NVSOS Monday and get their take on things.

[texexnv@yahoo.com]

Hey, HR, go argue with The Nation. You do know how to go read the link, don't you?

From what I can tell, this is hardly a HRC "Victory". She barely eeked out 5% when she led the early polls by 25-30%.

But this isn't about a 5% popular vote; it's about delegates to go to the national convention and that is what The Nation link refers to. We still have to have the county and state conventions. If the JEs go BO then its a tie or perhaps goes to BO as The Nation states.

OK, MZ, I owe 'ya one. heh heh heh

[HR]

Here's where I sgree with MikeZ - I was at a Dem caucus and the whole thing, the state party rules and phoned-in rulings when they ran out of commitment cards, voter reg forms early, etc., was disorganized and seat-of-the-pants and people were complaining.

People were bored and tired and some left before the final caucus count was taken. There was much confusion, resentment.

Stop the damned nonsense. This was like Florida in 2000! We need a statewide primary in 2012!!

Good God, is anyone in the NSDP listening?? There's been one embarrassment here after another, and the national media saw it and reported it.

[HR]

And, texex, your "BO" stinks up the board and can be smelled all the way in Clark County.

[texexnv@yahoo.com]

Latest update: TPM says AP says: Obama officially won the delegate count.

So, HR, now go argue with TPM and the AP.

It's all about the delegates....

[NVMojo]

Just a reminder, SOS is closed on Monday, MLK day.
At least, I've been told not to come to work at the State office I work at.

I also wanted to add that we did not have to show id's at all. Never even saw people registering to vote showing ids let alone whether they were in the country legally or not.