Nevada's key role in Democratic presidential nomination process: "Tilting Democratic blue"

San Francisco Chronicle: Nevada's key role in Democratic presidential nomination process
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
Sunday, November 25, 2007

....From the Vegas strip malls to the high desert towns, from the Wal-Mart hamlets to the dazzling billionaire playground resorts, the pressing day-to-day concerns at home are resonating as much with Nevada voters as the war in Iraq.

The 2008 presidential election is fast approaching Nevada - a state that could have a surprising influence on the campaign for the White House. Democrats have pegged the state's caucus on Jan. 19 - third in the 2008 lineup - in the hopes of injecting a new dynamic into the primary race. The scheduling of an early primary and the recent CNN debate of Democratic presidential candidates held here underscore how important Nevada and the West will be for the party's general election prospects.

About 40 percent of Nevada's new residents - estimated at 5,000 per month - are coming from California. The changes may mean a renewed political focus on bread-and-butter issues important to both neighboring states: water, the environment, immigration, education and the challenge of handling a booming new population....

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From hamlets like Pahrump, where legalized brothels still operate, to sprawling "exurbs" like Laughlin to the environmental jewel of Lake Tahoe, Nevada's issues and melting pot represents a new political dynamic. It melds the fastest-growing populations of elderly and Jewish voters, a rapidly growing population of Latino immigrants, and a vast army of construction, hotel and casino workers who form the base of strong labor unions being wooed for endorsements in the presidential contest.

A new study by the Brookings Institution suggests that in just four decades, Nevada and the Mountain West, encompassing growing urban areas such as Phoenix, Tucson, Albuquerque and Denver, are poised to surpass the Midwest as the country's "next heartland." The political shifts have already begun: Nevada's once-red Republican profile has recently tilted Democratic blue - with Democratic voters surpassing Republicans for the first time since 1992, studies show. And those shifts have sparked speculation that Nevada could help shuffle the presidential field in the Democratic primary and next year's election....

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/11/25/MNHITFAT5.DTL