Eyes on Culinary, Hispanics, as Nevadans vote for President

In a few hours, Nevadans have an historic opportunity to enter the national political spotlight and potentially play a key role in the nomination of the next President of the United States.  Still, in the first caucus that could be truly relevant, there are no guarantees that a huge number of voters will turn out for today’s caucuses.

On the Democratic side, today’s caucus is being viewed as a tie-breaker between Barack Obama, who won Iowa, and Hillary Clinton, the winner in New Hampshire, as they compete for momentum critical February 5 primaries known as Super Tuesday.  The Nevada Caucus is less important for Republicans, who have virtually ignored the Silver State as they keep their eye on South Carolina, which also votes today.

Locally, there are two things to watch that will clearly have an influence over Nevada politics for the next few years: the influence of Culinary Workers Union Local 266 and their leader, D. Taylor, voter turnout among Latino voters, whose population has increased more than 20% since the last census.

If Obama wins, Culinary and Taylor will emerge as extraordinary powerbrokers whose endorsement played a pivotal role in the 2008 presidential elections.  If Clinton wins, Nevada politicians may not be as frightened of Culinary and Taylor as they are right now.

And a strong turnout of Latino voters today may confirm what political insiders here already say they know: that changing demographics is going to change the course of Nevada politics for the next generation.  But a light turnout could limit the increase in political clout for Hispanics, at least for the short term.