Posted on 01/09/2008 4:19:34 PM PST by I'll be your Huckleberry
Religious groups angry as US election campaign hits Nevada
10 hours ago
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AFP) — The US election campaign is stirring discontent in Nevada, with religious groups saying they will be excluded from voting because Saturday’s presidential caucuses take place on a day of worship.
Jewish groups and some Seventh-Day Adventists have both complained that followers will be frozen out of the Democratic and Republican caucuses because they take place on the Sabbath.
“To schedule these caucuses with no consideration whatsoever for the needs of Sabbath observers effectively disenfranchises a growing portion of the electorate,” said American Jewish Committee counsel Jeffrey Sinensky.
Sinensky said in a statement that because there were no provision for submitting absentee ballots, anyone observing a Saturday Sabbath would not be able to take part in the caucuses.
The Saturday scheduling could affect as many as 60,000 Jews in Nevada.
Adventists — who number around 5,000 across the state — have raised similar concerns.
“Scheduling the caucuses on Sabbath morning marginalizes both the Seventh Day Adventist Christian and Orthodox Jewish Communities,” said James Standish, an associate director of the Adventist Church.
“In an election that is being decided on thin margins, selecting a time that excludes thousands of voters may even change the outcome,” he added.
Ironically, the complaints of religious groups feeling disenfranchised come amid controversy over plans to set up special voting stations near Las Vegas casinos in order to encourage workers at gambling dens to participate.
Analysts say the casino caucuses will benefit supporters of Democratic front-runner Barack Obama, who last week won endorsement from an influential culinary workers union, many of whose members work in Las Vegas gaming halls.
However a state teachers’ union, widely viewed as being allied to Obama’s rival Hillary Clinton, has challenged the legality of the voting stations, claiming in a lawsuit that the centers violate constitutional and state rules.
“Why are extraordinary accommodations being made for people on the (Las Vegas) Strip but not other workers?” Lynn Warne, president of the Nevada State Education Association, told the Las Vegas Sun.
Obama on Sunday accused Clinton supporters of backing the legal challenge.
“I think everybody here knows what’s going on,” Obama told reporters in Las Vegas. “They are looking to disenfranchise not just culinary workers but folks who work on the Strip, dishwashers, cooks and maids.”
Clinton denied that her supporters were behind the suit. “I don’t want to disenfranchise anybody,” she told NBC news on Sunday.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g737d63951E95VTFwqrw5-be0ccg
Las Vegas Sun
January 15, 2008
Most Republicans: There’s a Nevada caucus?
By Brian Eckhouse
The sight of several dozen Ron Paul supporters marching up the Strip on Saturday may be about as exciting as it gets among the Republican presidential campaigns in advance of Saturday’s party caucuses in Nevada.
And Paul, a conservative Texas congressman, didn’t even show up for the march and a later rally at appropriately Texas Station that included a Texas hold ’em poker tournament in his honor.
With the party’s poll-leading presidential candidates focusing on Tuesday’s contest in Michigan and on Saturday’s more important Republican primary in South Carolina, Nevada’s role in the Republican race for the White House has been marginalized.
The Republicans’ general dismissal of Nevada contrasts strongly with the Democrats, who are pouring money and out-of-state campaign workers into Nevada to lend support in the pitched competition this week between New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.
The only apparent activity in Nevada among the Republicans has sprung from the campaigns of Ron Paul and Mitt Romney, each of whom have dispatched staff members here but aren’t planning any TV ads in Las Vegas or Reno.
With an expected Republican caucus turnout of just 30,000 to 40,000, “I can’t believe it’s a good investment,†said Ryan Erwin, a Nevada consultant to Romney.
Paul, who has a strong volunteer base here, appeared at a rally in Pahrump on Sunday night and is to appear in Reno today and in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
Romney’s plans in Nevada hinge largely on how he fares in Tuesday’s critical primary in Michigan a state where his late father, George Romney, was governor.
And once the Michigan primary is over, the Republican attention will turn to South Carolina, whose primary on Saturday is more important to the party than the Nevada caucus that day.
“The fact that Nevada and South Carolina are on the same day, it’s tough to split time between the two states,†said Robert Uithoven, a Nevada adviser to Arizona Sen. John McCain, who won the New Hampshire primary.
“They’re 2,500 miles apart.â€
Party insiders see South Carolina as a bellwether for the Bible Belt it’s the state that, in 2000, tripped up McCain and now appears receptive to Baptist populist Mike Huckabee, who won the Iowa caucus, the nation’s first contest. And unlike with the 34-delegate Nevada caucus, the 24 delegates awarded to the winner of the South Carolina primary are binding.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Huckabee and McCain are long shots to visit Nevada this week. Huckabee has a bone-thin staff nationally and is barely rooted in Nevada. Giuliani, who had been the national frontrunner among Republicans, is sticking to his unorthodox campaign strategy: relentlessly canvassing Florida, which has the most delegates of any caucus or primary this month, over the other early states a gamble that has yielded early momentum to his rivals.
“Giuliani was never going to
establish a real organization and do real campaigning in any of the primary and caucus states leading up to Feb. 5 except for Florida,†said Steve Wark, communications director for the Nevada caucus. Among the big states holding their contests on Feb. 5 Super Tuesday are California, New Jersey and New York states Giuliani is polling well in.
McCain initially intended to campaign in Nevada, but a money crunch in mid-2007 prompted him to adopt “a state-by-state strategy dictated by the resources the campaign has,†Uithoven said.
Also, McCain’s push for immigration reform in 2005 proved unpopular with Republicans in the Silver State.
If McCain in Michigan duplicates the results of the New Hampshire primary and edges Romney, some observers suspect that could force the former Massachusetts governor to visit Nevada to help resuscitate his campaign.
“I think it’s crucial for him to do well in Michigan,†Erwin said of Romney. Regardless, “We expect to win Nevada. We’ve been working on this for eight months.â€
In the limited polls conducted of likely Republican caucus voters, Romney and Giuliani have been neck-and-neck. Paul hasn’t polled well here, but he has the largest Republican organization in the state with 11 full-time staffers. Romney has the second-most with five and one consultant.
“Literally 99 percent of participants in the Republican caucus have never participated,†Wark said. “You have to wonder if organization will trump popularity.â€
If so, that could benefit Paul, whom supporters describe in messianic tones. Party insiders expect only the most informed and active Republican voters will turn out Saturday morning to caucus.
Besides employing the largest staff in Nevada, Paul has transcended his early Internet-only stardom: The staunch libertarian appears to have the most eclectic and fervent followers in Nevada of all the Republican candidates.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/jan/14/most-republicans-theres-nevada-caucus/
FACTS ABOUT NEVADA
2006 population: 2,495,529
Change 2000 to 2006: +24.9 percent
White: 65.2 percent
Black: 6.6 percent
Asian: 4.4 percent
Native American: 1.1 percent
Hispanic: 19.7 percent
Median household income: $44,581
REGISTERED VOTERS
Democrat: 40.2 percent
Republican: 39.3 percent
Other: 20.5 percent
STEVEN THOMMA, McClatchy
Newspapers
LAS VEGAS - The 2008 presidential campaign is turning from the familiar political terrain of such states as Iowa and New Hampshire and heading west to a different America.
Nevada features voices and accents that the campaign hasn’t yet heard, feels the promise and problems of explosive growth and is simply a dazzling place that’s reinventing itself so fast that while the politicians all talk about change, Nevada is change.
It’s changing so fast that politicians might find it hard to navigate before both parties hold caucuses there Saturday.”It’s hard to pin down what is really Nevada,” said state demographer Jeff Hardcastle.
It’s part rural West, still with silver mines and the Mormons who helped settle the northern tier. It’s casinos and the glitter of Las Vegas, of course, but the old Mafia-run casinos have given way to corporate-owned resorts.Mostly it’s people:
A crush of newcomers is pouring in, nearly tripling the size of Las Vegas since 1990 and changing the state’s complexion, culture, economy and politics.Pack up, go to NevadaThey’ve come from everywhere — Midwest retirees in search of sunshine, Californians seeking escape from traffic and congestion and creating them anew, Mexicans looking for jobs.
Although the pace has slowed, 50,000 people a year still move to the Las Vegas area. They made Nevada the fastest-growing state in the union for nearly two decades, though Arizona grabbed the title the past two years.
“Nevada is America’s melting pot,” said Billy Vassiliadis, an advertising man and prominent Democrat who has watched the state change dramatically since he moved there from Chicago at the age of 18 in the 1970s.”Most of the people here are transplants like me.
It’s become more diverse, more urban. Sadly, it’s also lost some of the charm of the old West.”That rapid demographic change helped put Nevada in play for the two major political parties and makes it a must-stop for candidates, particularly for Democrats, who want to show that they can appeal to Hispanics and win in a region where local Democrats have been chipping away at Republican dominance.
Will newcomers show?One in four Nevadans is Hispanic, making it the first state with a large Hispanic population to vote.That’s a tempting target for Democrats, who think they can win a majority of the Hispanic vote nationwide in a general election, particularly if there’s a backlash against Republicans for opposing immigration policy changes that would have provided a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the United States.
Yet many Hispanics in Nevada are newcomers, without any ties to U.S. politics. Few dare predict how many Hispanics — or Nevadans — will show up for the state’s caucuses Saturday.”All this tremendous growth has brought a lot of new people who don’t have any political foundation,” said Ken Fernandez, a political scientist at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. “We’re often near the bottom in voter turnout. Why?
We have a very large immigrant population. They haven’t been acclimated or aren’t even citizens.”If there’s a place to look for turnout, it’s the unions. Las Vegas has 60,000 members of Culinary Workers Union Local 226 working in the casinos, hotels and restaurants, and members of the building trades unions are constructing 40,000 hotel rooms,Though northern Nevada still mines gold and silver, tourism in Las Vegas is the state’s economic engine and the magnet for most of the growth.
http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/882887.html
Associated Press
THE RACE: The presidential race for Democrats and Republicans in Nevada.
•••
THE NUMBERS - DEMOCRATS
Barack Obama, 32 percent
Hillary Rodham Clinton, 30 percent
John Edwards, 27 percent
•••
THE NUMBERS - REPUBLICANS
John McCain, 22 percent
Rudy Giuliani, 18 percent
Mike Huckabee, 16 percent
Mitt Romney, 15 percent.
•••
OF INTEREST:
The poll indicates the Democratic race in Nevada is virtually a dead heat between the three leading candidates with less than a week before the state’s caucuses on Saturday. That’s a major change from November, when a poll showed Clinton with 45 percent, Obama 20 percent and Edwards 12 percent.
The poll shows the Republican race also is close. McCain, who hasn’t spent much time in the state, clearly has made great gains. He had only 8 percent support in Nevada in a poll in August. Until recently, Giuliani and Romney had been going back and forth as the GOP front-runner. In November, Giuliani had 29 percent and Romney 22 percent.
The margin of error was plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20080115/ELECTIONS/88631194
January 16, 2008
GOP sends out wrong information to voters
Kyle Magin
Bonanza Staff Writer
January 16, 2008, 6:01 AM
Republican voters in Incline Village were nearly sent 140 miles in the wrong direction to place their votes in Saturday’s Nevada caucus.
Last week, a postcard mailing went out to Incline’s GOP voters alerting them that the closest place to vote in the Republican caucus was in Gerlach, Nev., nearly a three-hour drive away.
The information is incorrect, however, as Saturday’s caucus, which begins at 9 a.m., is taking place at Incline High School.
Jim Clark, Incline Village resident, North Lake Tahoe Bonanza columnist and vice chair of the Washoe County GOP, said the mailing was the result of a mistake made at the Nevada GOP’s Las Vegas office.
“Someone in Vegas accidentally sent out the postcards and they were definitely wrong,” Clark said.
“Incline’s republicans are still caucusing at Incline High School.”
He said the Washoe County Republican Party is busy contacting voters to correct the mistake before Saturday’s caucus.
If voters are still confused about their polling place, Clark encouraged them to visit the Washoe County GOP’s Web site at www.washoecountygop.org.
Clark said the information on polling places at the site is up-to-date and accurate.
Nevada is more important than South Caroline in the scheme of the primaries.
Who is the perfect candidate for Nevada?
January 16, 2008, 4:01 AM
Every day this week has brought new and big political names to Northern Nevada and by now those who plan to participate in Saturday’s caucuses should have a much clearer picture of who’s the perfect Nevada presidential candidate.
The problem is that there is no one who fits that description.
Nevada may have the opportunity to speak for the West, to be a tiebreaker so far in the presidential race, but there’s really nothing unique about the issues Nevadans find important. An unscientific poll on the Appeal’s Web site bore that out.
About 1,000 people participated, with about 40 percent saying immigration was the biggest issue to them, followed by the economy at 22 percent, the war at 13 percent and health care at 11 percent.
Issues considered unique to our state, including Yucca Mountain. and water rights, barely registered.
On most of the issues, the viable candidates offer only subtle differences. Those Republicans who favor the candidates with the strictest views on illegal immigration will likely favor Ron Paul or Mike Huckabee. Both support a fence along the border.
Huckabee says he’s against any type of amnesty and Paul is in favor of deporting all illegal immigrants and ending automatic citizenship to babies of illegal immigrants.
The differences are subtle with most of the remaining candidates from both parties, with most favoring the fence and other types of controls, such as more border agents and employment verification systems.
The other issues? If you listen to them, every candidate is the candidate of change, every candidate is opposed to Yucca, every candidate will find a way to successfully end the war in Iraq.
In the end, there may be no way to vote “Nevada” in the caucus. The issues are diverse and so are Nevadans themselves.
But there’s a formula that has been known to work - find the issues that are most important to you and, once you’ve done a little research, you’ll have found the right candidate.
• This editorial represents the view of the Nevada Appeal editorial board
Nevada Appeal - 580 Mallory Way - Carson City, NV 89701
http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20080116/OPINION/279800052
Nevada Presidential Caucus is this Saturday
STAFF REPORT Posted: 1/16/2008
FERNLEY—Nevada’s first-ever 2008 Presidential Caucus will take place this Saturday (Jan. 19) and local political party chairpersons are encouraging Lyon County’s electorate to caucus.
Lyon County Democratic Central Committee Chairman Charlie Lawson said of the caucus, “It’s the only chance people will have to choose a candidate from either party for the presidential election. There is no presidential primary in Nevada.”
He added members of the LCDCC have been preparing for the caucus since May and have held a number of mock caucuses throughout the county and have received training from the Nevada State Democratic Committee.
Lyon County Republican Party Chairman Howard Hirsch also remarked that the caucus was the only place where Republicans can have a say in the selection of the Presidential Republic candidate.
“There is no (presidential) primary in Nevada,” he said and added that at the caucuses voters will also have a chance to chose delegates for the County Republic Convention and submit resolutions to be considered for the Republic platform.
While the Republican Caucus only consists of a straw ballot, the Democratic Caucus is more complex.
Leading up to the date, members of the Lyon County Democratic Central Committee and Fernley Democratic Club have been participating in a number of mock caucuses.
LCDCC and Fernley Democratic Club member Maria Duran said she has attended four trainings through the Nevada State Democratic Committee and attended four mock caucuses.
Now she is a Caucus Temporary Chairperson for precinct 33, and she is hopeful the caucus will be successful.
Duran added there are 200 registered Democrats in that precinct and she is hoping voters will attend.
Hirsh remarked of his party’s caucus, “We’ll give you a ballot and you mark it. Then we count the votes, it’s not binding on anyone.”
He continued saying each precinct will elect Republic delegates to attend the Republic County Convention on March 1 at the Weed Heights Community Center.
The Democratic caucus system requires supporters of each candidate to place themselves in groups to determine whether their candidate meets a level of viability, and a threshold to continue. Caucus participants who support a candidates that does not meet either the threshold or is viable, could then realign themselves with another candidate. If the participant does not choose to support another candidate they fall into the uncommitted group.
Lawson encourages Democrats to participate even though it might sound complicated as the Democratic caucus system will be reviewed and explained at the caucus locations.
At each caucus, Lawson also noted participates will also elect delegates and submit resolutions to be considered for the party platform at the County Convention on Feb. 23 at Silver Stage High School.
Lawson also reported voters that wish to register to vote can do so at the Democratic Caucus locations by noon on Saturday. He added even Republicans and Independents can register to vote as a Democrat on that day.
Nevada’s Presidential Caucus following the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary and has places the silver state in the limelight.
Some Democratic Presidential candidates have flocked to the silver state, with candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama visiting the Reno, Carson City and Fallon.
Inside an office at 25 E. Main Street, suite #3, volunteers for the Hillary Clinton campaign are manning phones, calling voters to encourage them to caucus for Clinton on Saturday.
“Hillary Clinton opening an office in Fernley is yet another example of her continued commitment to reaching out and listening to Nevadans across our state,” said Hillary Clinton spokesperson Hilarie Grey.
“On January 19th, Nevadans will have a great opportunity to make their voices heard. Hillary Clinton is the only candidate with the strength and experience to bring about the changes that Americans have called for. Our campaign will continue to build upon our support and get Nevadans to caucus for Hillary.”
Clinton visited Fernley back in November 2007 and former presidential candidate Bill Richardson also paid a visit to the city back in July.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton stumped for his wife, and toured an area in Fernley that was hard hit by flood waters, before heading to Fallon.
In a press release, Obama said, “If you caucus for me on January 19 — then you will stand for change to keep the American dream alive for the dishwasher in Las Vegas and the miner in Elko; if you stand for change you can send the cynics a message that we are one people, we are one nation, and our time for change has come; if you stand for change, then together we will begin the next chapter in America’s story with three words that will ring from sea to shining sea. Yes. We. Can.”
The following are the Lyon County
Democratic Party Caucus locations:
The doors open at 11 a.m. and the meeting is called to order at 11:30 a.m.
“¢Yerington (Precincts 1-6) - Yerington Elementary
“¢Smith Valley (Precincts 7-8) - Smith Valley Library
“¢Dayton (Precincts 9, 11, 12, 16) - Dayton Elementary
“¢Dayton (Precincts 10, 13, 14, 15, 17) - Sutro Elementary
“¢Mound House (Precincts 18, 19) - Mound House Fire Station
“¢Silver City (Precinct 20) - Silver City Fire Station
“¢Stagecoach (Precincts 21, 22) - Silver Stage High School
“¢Silver Springs (Precincts 23-26) - Silver Stage High School
“¢Fernley (Precincts 27, 28, 29, 31-34) - Fernley Intermediate
“¢Fernley (Precincts 30, 35-40) - East Valley Elementary
The Republic caucus begins at 9 a.m. at the following locations.
“¢Fernley: East Valley Elementary School; Fernley Justice Court, Fernley High School and Cottonwood Elementary School.
“¢Silver Springs (Precincts 23, 24, 25, 26)-Silver Springs Senior Center or the McAtee Building. (Please look for a sign on the door for the correct location.)
“¢Stagecoach (Precincts 21-22): Stagecoach Community Center
“¢Dayton (Precincts 9-10): Dayton High School
Precincts 11-12: Legado Country Club
Precincts 13-17: River View Elementary School
“¢Moundhouse (Precincts 18-19): Well of Worship Church
“¢Silver City (Precinct 20): Silver City Fire Station
“¢Yerington, Wabuska, Mason Valley (Precincts 1-6): Weed Heights Community Center
“¢Smith Valley (Precincts 7-8): Smith Valley High School
http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080116/FERNLEY01/801160370/1044/FERNLEY
I also have to strenuously object to this caucus process because the active military serving away from home cannot be involved. The GOP was it's usual foolish self by moving to a caucus. But of course they want to follow Pinky where ever he goes.
I talked with one of the Republican officials yesterday (Carson City) and this thing is up for grabs.
No one has any idea who will turn out on Saturday morning - how they will vote or which candidate has the momentum.
Ron Paulites have been omnipresent for months - but I believe my neighbors will do the right thing and make good choices.
I can’t quite figure out the talking heads/MSM insisting South Carolina is more important than Nevada.
Nevada has ten (10) more delegates at stake than SC from what I’ve read.
Did you read my post about the religious leaders complaining about the Saturday date?
Nevada results just have meaning to Nevada as far as influence to other states.
‘Nevada results just have meaning to Nevada ‘
One is ‘theory’ that being South Carolina is a ‘good indicator’.
The other, Nevada having 10 more delegates than SC, is fact.
Its about the delegate totals in the end, as it always is.
Romney loses SC to Huckabee, but picks up Nevada, he increases his two to one margin in the delegate count.
Beers Predicts Good GOP Caucus Turnout
Karen Woodmansee
Appeal Staff Writer
Members of the Nevada Republican Party held caucus training events on Monday to instruct their members how to caucus.
Sen. Bob Beers, R-Clark County, who attended the caucus training sessions in Carson City and Virginia City, said some people had never attended a caucus, and with the large GOP field, it was important to let them know how.
“We just wanted to let them know what to expect,” he said, adding that 16 people showed up for the Virginia City caucus, though he had no numbers on the Carson City event.
“It is a complicated process, and we had some people that had never been to a meeting. We had people that never participated in anything.”
Beers said in the past caucuses were not so complicated since the GOP nominee was usually known long before Nevada held its event. This year, with the caucus date moved up to Jan. 19 and eight candidates in the running, the process is more complicated.
Instead of voting for candidates, something the state party could not do without seeming to endorse one, the caucus trainees voted for their favorite television shows.
Boston Legal, 30 Rock, Monday Night Football, CSPAN and NoTV were the contestants, and Boston Legal won, with 30 Rock second and Monday Night Football and CSPAN as alternates.
Juanita Cox, of McCarran, came to caucus and ended up being elected county Republican chairman.
“I think it was a blast,” she said. “This is the first time we have a real caucus.”
Beers said that state Democrats, who have been doing mock caucuses since the summer, “are more showy in what they do and they do hoopla better. But on Jan. 19, I bet we have an equal number of Democrats and Republicans participating.”
Beers is supporting Fred Thompson for president.
“I was holding out for Ronald Reagan, but I came to the conclusion he’s not coming back,” he said.
He would not make a prediction on the upcoming election.
“This appears to be more flux in this election than any I have seen in the GOP for a long time,” he said. “Anyone who makes a public prediction on the race at this time is maliciously egomaniacal.”
He was not concerned with recent reports that Democrats had moved slightly ahead in voter registration in Nevada, since after “purges” he thought the Republicans would end up on top.
“I think it was Elko that just had a purge,” he said. “A purge is when the county elections official sends out postcards telling you where to vote. The real reason is to send postcards out first-class, so if no one is there, they bounce back to the post office. Then the election official can mark you inactive.”
He said voters who are inactive for two elections are dropped from the rolls, and Democrats move more frequently than Republicans do.
“Whenever they do purges, the GOP makes big gains,” he said.
He said someday he might make a run for statewide office, but not against Gov. Jim Gibbons.
“I had more fun last year than grown-ups are allowed to have,” he said.
On an issue of import to rural counties, the tax cap, he admitted it is a thorny issue.
“If citizens were to approve a tax hike, I have a lot less heartburn,” he said. “I believe government is best when it’s closest to the people. But when government revenue is down, when the economy is stalled, people have enough trouble. It doesn’t make sense for government to raise taxes on them.”
We’re not the most important primary state in the South but I would put us right behind Florida. Their primary is ten days after ours.
In 2000 South Carolina was responsible for derailing the "unstoppable" McCain Express. Some on the web still curse us to this day.
‘In 2000 South Carolina was responsible for derailing the “unstoppable” McCain Express. Some on the web still curse us to this day.’
South Carolina didn’t stop McCain, McCain stopped McCain when he decided he didn’t need Republicans to win a Republican Nomination.
Dumbest political strategy I ever saw in 2000.
Even dumber today, given McCain had EIGHT YEARS to correct his original mistake. Of course, he thinks being buddy’s with Chris Mathews is more important....(eyes rolling)
A look at Nevada, which holds caucuses on Saturday for Republicans and Democrats.
___
NUMBERS
Population: 2,565,382
AGE
Median age: 35.6
Percentage of population 65 and over: 11 percent
Percentage of population 85 and over: 1 percent
RACE
Race: 73.6 percent white, 7.3 percent black, 5.9 percent Asian, 24.4 percent Hispanic or Latino origin.
LANGUAGE
Language other than English spoken at home: 26.9 percent
EDUCATION
High school graduate or higher: 83.9 percent
Bachelor’s degree or higher: 20.8 percent
Advanced degree: 7.2 percent
MONEY
Median household income: $52,998
Families below poverty level: 7.6 percent
Home ownership rate: 62 percent
DELEGATES
25 pledged Democratic, 31 Republican
ELECTORAL VOTES
Five
2004 PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS
George W. Bush, 50 percent; John
Kerry, 47 percent.
REGISTERED VOTERS
Republican, 499,8543
Democratic, 480,437
Undeclared, 189,112
WORK FORCE
Hotel-casinos, leisure-hospitality: 27 percent.
Trade-transportation-utilities: 18 percent.
Professional and business: 12 percent.
Construction: 11 percent.
Government: 12 percent.
ECONOMY
Gross state product: $111.3 billion
_ Accommodation, food services: $19.5 billion.
_ Real estate and rental and leasing: $14.2 billion.
_ Manufacturing: $4.1 billion
_ Government: $10.6 billion.
_ Health care and social assistance: $5.5 billion.
_ Retail Trade: $8.4 billion
_ Finance and insurance: $10.3 billion
_ Professional and technical services: $5.5 billion
___
Largest nongovernment employers (all hotel-casinos) as of November 2007: Bellagio, Wynn Las Vegas, MGM Grand hotel-casino, Mandalay Bay, Caesars Palace, Venetian, Mirage, Rio Suite, Paris hotel-casino, Flamingo Hilton, Luxor, Harrah’s-Las Vegas.
_
NEVADA QUICK FACTS
_ Fastest-growing state in the nation.
_ Tourist-connected industries, such as hotels, casinos, amusement and recreation facilities, make up the largest employment category.
_ Gambling- and sales-related taxes are the main revenue sources for the state. There is no state income tax.
_ Nation’s largest gold-producing state. Nevada mines produced 6.3 million ounces of gold in 2006.
_ At more than 110,000 square miles, Nevada is the nation’s seventh largest state — and 87 percent of its land is federally controlled. On federal land at Yucca Mountain, the federal government wants to open a high-level nuclear waste dump.
It’s Neh-VA-duh, not Neh-VAH-duh
Story by: Natalie Savidge
1/16/2008
Anyone who’s watched or listened to the 2008 presidential campaigns and local caucus news coverage lately has heard many politicians, journalists and even some of our neighbors within Nevada butcher the Silver State’s name.
“NBC anchor Brian Williams broadcast Nightly News from Las Vegas this week and apparently pronounced Nevada several different ways, and boy did we hear about it,” said Martha Caskey, a producer with NBC News.
After an outpouring of phone calls, emails and weblog messages, the Nightly News team made their way to Reno Jan. 14 to do a story about how the state’s name is pronounced and mispronounced.
Valerie Fridland, associate professor of linguistics in the University’s Department of English, was asked to set the record straight. She sat down with Nightly News Correspondent George Lewis.
“What is the correct pronunciation of the name of the Silver State?” Lewis asked.
“It is neh-VA-duh, with a short ‘a’ as in cat, not a short ‘o’ like cot,” Fridland explained. Neh-VAH-duh is typically the east-of-the-Rockies pronunciation.”
The Nevada Commission on Tourism now includes a pronouncer on its logo to emphasize the local usage.
“The name of the state comes from a Spanish word, is that right?” Lewis asked.
“It does, meaning snow-capped,” Fridland said.
Americans who populated the mining camps in the late 1840s and 1850s probably anglicized the Spanish pronunciation of Nevada when they reached the Sierra Nevada range.
It’s not uncommon for names of cities, states and nations of Spanish origin to have a different pronunciation in English.
“We don’t say TAY-haas or Pai-REE for Paris, Texas,” Fridland explained.
“And I guess when you go to the Sunshine State it’s no longer FLOR-ee-dah or New MEH-hee-ko, Lewis agreed. “But across the border where I live, we have a governor who says
‘Call-EE-for-nee-a’ and we don’t seem to mind that.”
“But you hear it all the time made fun of, right, because he’s the one person out of millions of hoards that pronounces it differently?” Fridland asked.
“Most locals pronounce it California, but with the ‘governator,’ it’s something that’s sort of a cute, quaint oddity of his speech and because we recognize him as a foreigner, it’s okay that he has a foreign accent.”
A lot of what we say, Fridland said, is about establishing some sort of relationship with people, creating bonds within communities and adhering to social obligation.
“Why are people so passionate about Nevada?” Lewis asked.
“It’s like your own name,” Fridland said. “It’s personal and it’s a symbol of status and solidarity. If someone keeps mispronouncing your name, eventually you’ll get a little teed-off about it. If they don’t bother to try to pronounce your name the right way, after a while, it gets to be an insult.”
And such is true with businesses and politicians, Fridland continued.
“When people are coming to our
state and wanting business or votes and they’re not accommodating to the local norms or sort of making fun of us for having it, it makes a statement on what they think of us and how badly they want our business,” she said. “This is a very independent state and it strikes people the wrong way.”
“So political candidates beware,” Lewis forewarned.
“Right,” Fridland confirmed.
“We really don’t hurt people here until they do it knowingly or we have set higher expectations of them,” she joked.
Fridland pointed out the last presidential election cycle included some pronunciation potholes.
When George W. Bush came to Nevada in 2003 and repeatedly mispronounced Nevada, he was criticized by local media. In 2004, Democratic presidential candidates Howard Dean of Vermont and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut made the same mistake while campaigning in Las Vegas. On Feb. 21, 2007, the crowd booed ABC television host George Stephanopoulos when he mispronounced the state’s name during a Democratic presidential forum in Carson City.
With some apparent research and coaching, most presidential hopefuls have performed very well this season.
Fridland explained that by searching online, you’ll find a list of prominent newscasters and politicians who have mispronounced the name, and to be fair, those who pronounce it correctly.
“It’s a list of those who should be commended and those to be condemned and Brian Williams, I hate to say, is on that list.”
The Nightly News team hopes this story will serve as the anchor’s penance.
“So, somebody’s keeping track,” Lewis said.
“I’m afraid a lot of people are.”
Lewis closed the interview with a remembrance of a book, long ago, that existed in the NBC studios.
“There used to be an official NBC handbook of pronunciations, now out of print, that says ‘Nevada;’ listing the correct pronunciation,” Lewis said.
“See, somewhere, someone knew, way back then,” Fridland celebrated.
The interview is scheduled to air locally on Nightly News, Wed.,
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