Reid taunts Republicans in caucus talk

Firing the first volley in the White House battle to win Nevada, U.S. Sen. Harry Reid on Saturday mocked the GOP presidential contenders one by one as nearly 12,600 Democrats held caucuses across the state to support President Barack Obama's re-election.

"Those candidates are pretty interesting," Reid said, smiling and warming up for the attack.

"We've learned recently that one of the candidates believes in free love," Reid said, drawing laughter from about 300 caucus-goers at Cheyenne High School in North Las Vegas.

Reid was referring to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, whose second wife accused him of asking for an "open marriage" so he could continue an affair with the woman who became his current wife. A conservative stalwart, Gingrich has denied the claim, which surfaced last week.

While Nevada Democrats held precinct meetings to organize for Obama, voters in South Carolina went to the polls and gave Gingrich a stunning GOP primary victory over Mitt Romney.

The outcome promises to extend the fight for the Republican nomination through Florida's Jan. 31 primary and likely beyond. And it raises the stakes for Nevada's GOP caucus on Feb. 4, where Romney needs a victory to hold off any Gingrich surge. Romney, who won the GOP caucus here in 2008, is the favorite, although Rep. Ron Paul of Texas has a loyal following and expects a strong finish, too.

Four years ago, the Nevada Democratic caucus was the center of national attention as Obama and Hillary Clinton fought for the nomination. More than 116,000 Democrats turned out in 2008, and the party registered 30,000 new voters that day, paving the way for Obama to win the state.

The turnout Saturday was thin with Obama running unopposed in the primary. Mostly, the party faithful turned out, a total of 12,593 Democrats statewide in 118 precincts. Some 98.3 percent of the elected delegates were awarded to Obama with the rest uncommitted, Democrats said.

"I think he's doing a good job," said Lucille Piper, who said she caucused for Obama four years ago, too. "If we could just have him for another four years, he can get things smooth. It's hard for him to get anything done with those Republicans dead set against him."

WON'T BE EASY

Democratic officials said they were satisfied with Saturday's showing. They noted the Democratic caucus turnout was four times the 3,000 who caucused in Nevada for Republican President George W. Bush in 2004 when he had no GOP competition and when the party meetings drew little attention.

Reid thanked the Democrats for coming, saying, "None of you have to be here."

"We're here because we believe we'll have an opponent and we want to be organized," Reid said, adding he knows a "little bit about organization" after winning re-election in 2010 against the odds.

The Senate majority leader seemed to relish making fun of the GOP contenders, although he aimed serious criticism at Romney, who is seen as the strongest threat to Obama's re-election.

Reid slammed Romney for saying the housing market has to "hit the bottom" before the economy can recover, which didn't go over well in Nevada because of record home foreclosures. Romney made his comments in October to the Las Vegas Review-Journal editorial board.

"To have someone come to our state and say, 'Let it crash,' we can't support anyone like that," Reid said, then hit Romney for suggesting he wouldn't block a plan to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. "Yucca Mountain, folks, is dead no matter how much they talk about it."

Without naming names, Reid dismissed the rest of the Republican field.

In a reference to Paul, Reid said, "You talk about someone not being in the mainstream of American society, that guy is it."

As for former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Reid poked fun at the candidate's well-known fashion statement, saying, "His claim to fame is he sells sweater vests on the Internet."

On a serious note, Reid said Democrats must turn out for Obama in the November general election just as they did four years ago. Playing the class warfare card, he said big money GOP interests will do all they can to defeat the president to protect the richest 1 percent of Americans.

"Don't think for a minute that this election is going to be easy," Reid said, telling caucus-goers they're the 99 percent who must fight to help Obama win a second term. "The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer and the middle class are getting squeezed."

A CLEAR CHOICE

Across town, U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley pumped up the troops at Palo Verde High School in Summerlin, where Democrats excited the gathering by shouting, "Fire up! Fire up!"

"There's going to be a clear choice in the election," Berkley said after speaking to the crowd. "Democrats are fighting for working-class families day and night to create jobs."

Clad in a bright pink jacket with a diamond-encrusted donkey pin on the lapel, Berkley was met with a standing ovation as was Reid at Cheyenne High School.

Berkley discussed her father's recent surgery after a mild heart attack last week. And she used her father's situation as an example of why Medicare and Social Security must be saved from Romney and Sen. Dean Heller, who she'll face if both are nominated, as expected, by their respective parties in Nevada's 2012 U.S. Senate race.

"I sat next to my father with tubes going in and out of him," Berkley said. "And I thought about what would happen if my sister and I weren't here. How would he survive? My dad has Medicare, and he knows he's getting his Social Security check at the beginning of the month."

In Southern Nevada, winds shook caucus sites, including schools and community centers.

In Northern Nevada, caucus-goers had to contend with snow, which may have reduced turnout.

Most of the meetings wrapped up quickly, starting at 11:30 a.m. and lasting an hour or so.

The delegates elected Saturday will go on to county conventions, starting the process to send 44 Nevada delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., in September.

BATTLEGROUND STATE

Nevada is a key battleground in the race for the White House. Obama plans to visit Las Vegas on Wednesday and Thursday to remind voters he is working for a repeat victory here in 2012. The Obama stop will come after he delivers his State of the Union address on Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

The Silver State has the highest un­employment rate in the nation at 13 percent as well as record home foreclosures, so Obama is expected to face a tough fight to win Nevada again.

Nevada Republican Party Chairwoman Amy Tarkanian said the GOP has gained momentum in the state by electing GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval in 2010 and narrowing the voter registration gap. Four years ago, Democrats had a 100,000 registered voter edge over Republicans, but it's now about half that.

"After nearly four years of Barack Obama's failed economic policies and broken promises, Nevadans are worse off than they were when he took office," Tarkanian said in a statement.

At the caucus meetings, Democrats seemed to understand the challenge ahead. And many of them had been through hard times, experiencing layoffs and belt-tightening at home.

Katie and Gordon Angerman, who are both 84 years old, said they weren't really involved much in politics until they volunteered to help elect Obama in 2008. At the time, they donated $25 a month to his campaign but can't afford to this time around because of the tough economy.

Still, the couple said they are sure Obama will win re-election if he can convince people to hang tough.

"It's going to be hard because the bloom is off," Gordon Angerman said.

Artysha Dexter said she caucused for Obama four years ago and believes his policies, including the $787 billion stimulus and industry bailouts, kept the economy from crashing. She was laid off for several years, but went back to school and now has a job as a nurse -- and student loans to pay.

"I think it will take him another four years to get us out of this mess," Dexter said.

Dexter came to the caucus with a friend and her 8-year-old daughter, Kloran'd.

"She said, 'Mom, I thought we were going to a tea party,' " Dexter said, hugging her daughter to her side. "I told her, 'No, we're trying to keep the tea party out.' "

Review-Journal reporter Kristi Jourdan contributed to
this report. Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal
.com or 702-387-2919. Follow @lmyerslvrj on Twitter.