Obama and Clinton split union vote in Nevada

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/node/7735

By Jesse Russell

It was close in Nevada on Saturday with New York Senator Hillary Clinton taking home the popular vote, but Illinois Senator Barack Obama winning the majority of delegates. Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards admitted on Sunday that he had “his butt kicked” coming in a distant third. But how did the hotly debated union vote come down? On Friday former President Bill Clinton claimed that the special caucus sites agreed to by the Democratic campaigns last March would hurt rural voters voting for Hillary. Turns out Bill was wrong – exit polls show that the union vote in Nevada split between the two top candidates. Hillary carried the Clark County, home to those special caucus districts Bill was so afraid of, and Obama carried the rural parts of the state. Obama carried 11 counties in all, while Hillary only six. Hillary took the senior vote, the Latino vote, and the women’s vote. Obama took the youth vote, the independent vote, and the African American vote. As for how many came out to vote? For the fourth time in four states, Democrats turned out in record numbers. Nevada Senator Harry Reid had projected more than 50,000 Democratic voters turning out – in the end it was more than 100,000.

[Clarkansas]

1. That's pretty good for Obama. I would have expected Edwards to do better there. eom

[demgrrrll]

2. Didn't Edwards walk the picket lines with union members? Why did he

get so little support? I find this very puzzling. Neither Obama or Clinton will feel that the unions were as integral a part of their successes as Edwards would have if he had won. Makes no sense to me at all.

[asjr]

3. I think the media has tried to program all of

us into thinking it is an either/or race meaning Clinton-Obama or Obama-Clinton and Edwards sort of falls by the wayside. He needs more coverage.