Harvey Munford

Democratic party leaders and elected officials declare their unified support of Ill. Sen. Barack Obama for president.: Politicker Photo.LAS VEGAS – Democratic party leaders and elected officials assembled in both Las Vegas and Reno today in a show of unity behind Ill. Sen. Barack Obama’s bid for the presidency.  In Las Vegas, an entire platoon of Democratic leaders assembled for a photo opportunity at the state party headquarters, headed by state Sen. Steven Horsford (D-Las Vegas), the leader of Obama’s Nevada campaign, and Clark County Commissioner Rory Reid, formerly head of N.Y. Sen. Hillary Clinton’s effort in the state.

Both Obama's and Clinton's campaigns struggled at every stage to secure Nevada's delegates to the Democratic National Convention. At times, particularly during a lawsuit to shut down at-large caucus sites on The Strip and following an aborted Clark County Convention, the rivalry brought accusations that many predicted would fester after the primaries.

Today's photo opportunity, held one day before Obama's first visit to Nevada since securing his party's nomination, was an attempt to allay those concerns.

The Bally's ballroom, site of the 2008 Clark County Democratic ConvetionLas Vegas- “Clown shoes” was how one delegate to the Clark County Democratic Convention described the scene Saturday, echoing the thoughts and words of many in the packed-beyond-overflow ballroom of Bally’s Hotel and Casino.

Trouble started before the convention even began as thousands of people waited in line for hours to be granted entrance to the ballroom.  The capacity of the room was only 5,000, according to a Bally’s spokesperson, but more than 7,400 delegates had been elected from the precinct caucuses last month, not counting alternates.  A fire marshal threatened to shut the event down only minutes after it officially began and when the doors were shut to all comers, hundreds of people still remained outside.