Score one for actually playing by the rules.
A Federal Judge has said that the Nevada caucuses can proceed as planned, dismissing the lawsuit brought by the Nevada Teachers Union (which many viewed as a proxy move by the Clinton campaign).
Clinton on the NV lawsuit
Kudos to a local San Francisco ABC affiliate political reporter, who actually asked Bill Clinton about the Nevada Teacher’s Union lawsuit that I mentioned a couple of days ago. Watch Clinton’s testy response:
There are some…..factually challenged bits to that response, however. *If* turnout were incredibly low in the casino caucuses and incredibly high in the regular precinct caucuses, Clinton would be right in warning that votes cast in the at-large casino caucuses could be worth “five times, maybe even more” than votes cast at regular precinct caucuses. However, it’s a flat-out lie that this feature of the Nevada caucuses was only recently discovered. It’s been known for months.
In truth, it’s not just the at-large casino caucuses which is at odds with “one-man, one-vote.” The regular Democratic precinct caucus rules, which have been known for months, state that in rural parts of Nevada, five people are needed to produce one delegate…..but in Clark County (home to Las Vegas), 50 people are needed to produce one delegate.
Democrats in Nevada (and in Iowa, actually) structured their caucuses this way in order to encourage candidates to campaign in rural parts of the state. Everybody knew this, and nobody had a problem with it. Until the Culinary Workers Union endorsed Obama.
A federal judge has set a hearing today to help determine the legitimacy of the at-large casino caucuses, and the Nevada caucuses themselves take place on Saturday.
Here’s hoping that the Clinton machine isn’t able to pull this bullshit maneuver. You don’t change the rules just because it looks like you’re going to lose.