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Road to the End Zone

Clinton Wins Nevada Caucus, Obama Vows to Fight On

By Marc Pitzke in Las Vegas

Hillary Clinton scored a clear victory over her archrival Barack Obama in the Nevada caucus. But the duel is set to continue with unabated ferocity until Super Tuesday.

Sometimes the boundaries between democracy and anarchy get somewhat blurred -- at least in the Tower Ballroom of the Bellagio, the most elegant of Las Vegas' mega-casinos. "Come to Obama!" roars Leroy Manning, a gigantic waiter. "Obama, or else!" He playfully makes a fist for emphasis. His colleague Inez Gomez is unimpressed: "Fuck off," she bawls. "I'm staying with Hillary."

Hillary Clinton's lead in Nevada could already be felt early on here at the Bellagio -- as was Barack Obama's continued refusal to give up despite his opponent's lead. All of this played out in ways that were more reminiscent of a football game than a presidential election. Hundreds of casino employees, including many Latinos, African-Americans and women, had gathered in the giant ballroom to express -- publicly, passionately and loudly -- their preference for the Democratic presidential candidate.

Obama's followers shout on one side of the room, Clinton's on the other. In between yawns a gap covered in thick brocade carpet. As if volume alone would decide the result, the two sides antagonize each other with deafening chants and ridicule. "Hil-la-ry! Hil-la-ry!", chants one side. "Sí se puede!" yells the other, the Spanish version of Obama's "Yes, we can!" battle-cry. The echo carries far, past the wedding party in front of the door to the Café Gelato, where breakfast guests slurp $6 lattes.

Chaos caucus at the casino: This bizarre novelty in US electoral history fits well to Las Vegas, the capital of overblown illusions. The Democrats had set up special polling stations in nine hotels on the Strip especially for the Saturday shift. Everyone who works within a four-kilometer radius is allowed to vote, provided -- as posters in English and Spanish explain -- they have a valid ID. The condition is intended to stop illegal immigrants from voting.

'This Is no Circus'

Thanks to the casino option, the sleepy western state managed to achieve an historic record turnout: About 116,000 Democrats flocked to the caucuses Saturday (four years ago, there were only about 9,000). Of that number, 51 percent voted for Clinton, 45 percent for Obama. It is a clear victory for the former first lady and the second in succession after New Hampshire. Advantage Clinton -- but the race goes on.

In the Bellagio, familiar to movie fans from "Ocean's Eleven," staff queue for hours to vote: maids in uniform, dishwashers in hairnets, pages, cleaners, doormen, waiters, cooks, bartenders, valets, leggy hostesses. Even Eric O'Toole, a steel worker from the neighboring construction site where the luxury CityCenter resort is being built, has come -- in full uniform, complete with protective helmet, workboots and safety vest. "This is my first chance ever to make my voice heard," he says.

Many wear T-shirts of the Culinary Workers Union, the mighty catering trade union, whose pressure was responsible for the casino caucuses coming about. Initially everyone thought the idea was fine -- until the union's leaders came out in favor of Obama. Clinton's camp naturally protested, saying that the special arrangements favored Obama voters. The outcry helped make the union people feel insecure, and as the Clinton victory emerged, they quickly fell silent.

"I gave up $150 in commissions to caucus for Hillary," says the masseuse Julie Beve. Many of the employees have time clock cards with them: Exercising their voters' rights is counted as part of their break time. If it takes longer, the time will be allocated to other days, insists Gordon Absher, vice president of the Bellagio's parent company MGM Mirage. Absher monitored the progress of things himself, BlackBerry in hand. At the end of the day, his company's image was also at stake. "This is no circus," he said. "This is serious business."

Lots of Fuss over a Few Votes

That's perhaps hard to believe on a day when this important vote in the presidential race is taking place not, as is usually the case, in community halls or gymnasiums, but in the shadow of a Roman amphitheatre (Caesars Palace), an Egyptian pyramid (Luxor), a replica Eiffel Tower (Paris) and a dummy Statue of Liberty (New York, New York).

In the Bellagio, the management have donated lunchboxes to the caucus-goers, with a cheese and ham sandwich, potato salad and chips. Many people eat their lunches on the spot, squatting on the ground in groups in the ballroom, turning the caucus into a mass picnic and wasting as little work time as possible.