Convention details due today

Democrats in Clark County can look forward to another jam-packed convention after Tuesday's primaries, where a mixed result seemed to augur an ongoing battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

The county party, along with leaders of both campaigns, is scheduled to announce today details of the re-convention, necessitated by the logistical disaster that erupted at the first attempt on Feb. 23.

Democratic sources said the date for the convention do-over is April 12, a Saturday a week and a half before the next big primary, Pennsylvania's April 22 contest. The locals' plan is to allow delegates to stop by the Thomas & Mack Center throughout the day and cast their votes, rather than cramming everyone into a room at once, which helped doom the previous attempt.

Clinton prevailed Tuesday in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island, while Obama won Vermont.

To Clinton supporters, that signified an end to her 11-state losing streak and a clear signal she should continue. Obama supporters pointed out that Clinton long held substantial leads in Ohio and Texas that Obama was able to chip away at. And because the Democrats award national delegates proportionally, neither candidate made big gains in that count.

"The race isn't over," said Clinton's Nevada chairman, Clark County Commissioner Rory Reid. "The Democratic Party wants the race to go on, and it will."

Reid noted that in exit polls, those who made up their minds late were more likely to choose Clinton. "The momentum is now with her," he said. "Hillary's the queen of the comeback."

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, an Obama supporter, didn't see it that way. "Of course we're disappointed he didn't do better in Ohio. Nevertheless, he's won 12 of the last 15 states now," she said. "While it would have been nice to end the primary tonight, it looks like we'll be continuing on. I still feel that he is definitely the right person at the right time, and I think that in the end he'll win the Democratic nomination."

Leslie spotted a different dynamic at work beneath the numbers. "Both Ohio and Rhode Island are Democratic machine states," she said. "She tends to do well in machine states. He does well in grass-roots, people-power states. In the end, the people will win over the machine."

She said the same situation could be seen on a smaller scale in Nevada, where Clinton won Clark County, the Democratic stronghold. Obama did well in most of the rest of the state, where Leslie said the party power structure is looser.

And Leslie was philosophical about the prospect of a continuing battle among Democrats while Republicans have already chosen a nominee, John McCain.

"It would be nice to be able to conserve our Democratic resources for the general (election)," she said. "On the other hand, Senator Obama's being tested, and in my mind he is meeting the test. The Republicans are going to throw this much at him and worse."

University of Nevada, Las Vegas, political scientist David Damore said the Clinton-Obama contest "is just going to get nastier and nastier."

It's possible the Democratic establishment will start putting pressure on Clinton to get out of the way, but more likely that the campaign keeps trudging along, he said.

"Unless he has some miracle and she throws in the towel, it's going to be a while longer," he said. "She's done a good job turning the campaign around. But the sense is that it may be too little, too late."

For Nevada, the prolonged campaign means that the Clark County convention, part two, will again see the campaigns pelting local Democrats with phone calls and e-mails to preserve their delegates at the county level. "I think they can redeem themselves" for last time if they get it right on the second try, he said.

County Party Chairman John Hunt and Clinton and Obama campaign representatives are set to present details of the new convention plan at a noon news conference today.