Nevada caucuses at Brave New Films

Corrine Plugs Nevada

2008-06-26T15:58:04Z

Corrine plugs UpTake Nevada coverage.

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Hillary Wins Nevada, Wait, Obama gets Delegates, Wait...

2008-06-26T15:58:03Z

Nevada Caucuses! Reporting confusion. Who wins? No one knows yet.

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Meet Protesters Against Undocumented Workers in Nevada

2008-06-26T15:58:03Z

Royce D'Orozio meets a small but vocal group of protesters outside the Hillary Campaign celebration in Nevada.

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"The West Is The New Frontier Of The Democratic Party"

2008-06-10T15:35:37Z

Nevada's Democratic Party Chair Jill Derby tells The UpTake that turnout for the Nevada Caucuses exceeded all expectations. She tells The UpTake's Corrine McDermid why Nevada was chosen to be one of the early states in the nominating process. And Corrine tries to sort out what it all means.

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Barack Obama one point ahead

2008-01-19T15:09:19Z

Just heard on MSNBC, it's a virtual tie, Barack at 39%, Hillary at 39%, missed the rest of the numbers.

Only 3% reporting in.

CORRECTION: Those weren't percentages, those were state delegate numbers. Here are percentages: Obama 48%, Clinton 46%, Edwards at 5%.

UPDATE: 50%-44%, Hillary Clinton over Obama. Edwards, 4.87%.

UPDATE: 50%- 45% -5%, 35% reporting. More: Democratic winner should be called within the hour.

Bill Clinton claims to have witnessed voter suppression

2008-01-22T13:08:37Z

I'm already so tired of all the negative election news. Here's more:

Bill Clinton, speaking at a Vegas YMCA last night, made more charges against Obama and claimed to have, with Chelsea, personally witnessed voter suppression by the Culinary Workers:
Today when my daughter and I were wandering through the hotel, and all these culinary workers were mobbing us telling us they didn’t care what the union told them to do, they were gonna caucus for Hillary.

There was a representative of the organization following along behind us going up to everybody who said that, saying 'if you’re not gonna vote for our guy were gonna give you a schedule tomorrow so you can’t be there.' So, is this the new politics? I haven’t seen anything like that in America in 35 years. So I will say it again – they think they're better than you.

Here we go, the back and forth:

And the Vegas papers haven't found any evidence of the kind of straightforward voter suppression Clinton reports. The Obama campaign has suggested the Clinton campaign file formal complaints if it has evidence.

Here's what Culinary Workers political director Pilar Weiss said:

"The fact that they lost a lawsuit aimed at suppressing workers' votes, and that now they're trying to hold on to these baseless claims is ridiculous," she said.
Weiss also said Clinton's claim is "technically impossible." Clinton supporters can ask union organizers -- who are actively promoting Obama's candidacy -- to add their names to the lists of workers who will take time off to caucus today. But signs posted around the casinos advertise another avenue to get the time off: Workers can go around the union and ask their managers directly.
"We have found it shocking that President Clinton has gotten so engaged in promoting these accusations," she said.

This isn't helping anyone.

Tables turned: Republican party bites itself in the...disenfranchisement

2008-01-18T22:48:34Z

Tsk tsk tsk. How does it feel when the caucus is on the other foot? Er, when the shoe is on the other ballot? Um...

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is asking Nevada election officials to consider postponing Saturday's GOP caucuses there after discovering what the campaign calls "multiple inconsistencies" in the process.

::rubs eyes in disbelief:: Huh? "Inconsistencies" in the voting process in connection with...Republicans? There must be some mistake.

“The inconsistencies, errors and multiple changes in the rules reek of playing politics with the what should be a neutral process,” said Ron Paul 2008 campaign manager Lew Moore. “The people of Nevada deserve to know exactly what the rules are and to know that those rules are being fairly enforced. This has not happened up to this point, and the caucus appears to be in chaos.”

Chaos? Chaos?? U.S. elections are never in chaos! How could such a thing happen? Ask for a recount! No, don't ask...demand!

The problem of multiple rule changes is being compounded by other inconsistencies and errors in the process. Many Nevada Republicans have received postcards with incorrect information about their caucus location, and the Nevada GOP website had incorrect caucus locations listed as late as Wednesday, January 16.

Impossible! Somebody's crying wolf! Why, the very idea of a voter getting misinformation about his or her voting location is simply out of the question!

The Ron Paul campaign has learned that the Nevada Republican Party has changed the rules for eligibility requirements for caucusing three times since January 9. [...] The Nevada Republican Party is changing the rules from week to week, and currently the rules will not even be uniform across the state, as eligibility rules may differ from county to county.

Quick! This is a job for Katherine Harris! Someone text her, stat! She could fix any election--er, election problems!

[T]he Ron Paul campaign is concerned that the confusion surrounding the caucus will both disenfranchise voters and make the election particularly susceptible to vote fraud.

Welcome to our world, Ron.

Bill Clinton gets testy with press about Nevada lawsuit

2008-07-09T17:22:44Z

Now, now, Bill, temper, temper:

Bill Clinton became visibly combative with a reporter Wednesday after being questioned about a lawsuit in Nevada that is seeking to ban caucus meetings in nine casinos on the Las Vegas strip.
The lawsuit, filed by the state teacher's union — an organization that has backed Hillary Clinton's White House bid — came Friday, shortly after Barack Obama was officially endorsed by the Culinary Union. Culinary Union members primarily work in casinos, and could constitute the majority of participants at caucuses held at those locations.

So why all the anger?

The teacher's union is claiming the at-large caucus sites would unfairly have more weight in terms of delegate allotment than caucuses throughout the rest of the state. The lawsuit also takes issue with caucuses being held midday at those sites – which could make it easier for culinary workers to caucus than it will be for other Nevadans.
Critics of the lawsuit say it is a clear attempt to suppress Obama’s support, a notion with which the former president sharply disagreed.

This is a primary. They're allowed to get "heated" about this kind of thing, right? Then in the general election, they can direct all that pent-up heat at the opposing party. So, for now at least, release your inner rage, Bill. Own your anger. Express yourself. Oh, but I kid the former president...

Clinton also maintained that his wife’s campaign had "nothing to do" with the lawsuit," and claimed the reporter was taking an "accusatory tone."
"Get on your television station and say, 'I don't care about the home mortgage crisis, all I care about is making sure that some voters have it easier than others should count five times, and when they do vote, when its already easier for them, their vote should count five times as much as others," Clinton said in a raised voice.

See for yourself; watch the video. It's short. But don't let it get you "heated".

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