POLITICAL EYE: GOP presidential hopeful Cain getting early start in Nevada

Herman Cain is waging an insurgent presidential campaign in Nevada.

Far ahead of the competition, Cain's state field director has been organizing monthly meetings since May to help teach Republicans about the Feb. 18 presidential caucuses, the first test of a candidate's strength in the West after early voting in Iowa and New Hampshire.

And Elicia Huffaker has been using the get-togethers in populous Clark County as prime opportunities to recruit precinct captains and ground troops for Cain to pack the caucuses with his backers. She is hoping to expand the effort across Northern and rural Nevada as the race heats up.

"It's all about getting your base to the caucuses," Huffaker said last Wednesday after the latest meeting. "Luckily, we've got a head start. I believe Herman Cain can win this on the grass-roots level."

Six months before Nevada voters meet to make their presidential picks, Cain is even out front of the state GOP in organizing for the caucuses.

David Gallagher, the party's new executive director, who started Aug. 15, said the GOP is interviewing for a caucus director and firms to help handle the meetings across the state.

"We'll be making decisions quickly," Gallagher said. "The 2012 GOP caucuses will be a success."

MORE COMPETITIVE

In 2008, when Nevada held its first presidential caucuses, the Republican Party was ill-prepared, and delegates chosen weren't bound to back candidates all the way to the nominating convention. Mitt Romney easily walked away with the prize thanks to a heavy Mormon vote and the fact that U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the ultimate GOP presidential nominee, didn't compete in Nevada.

This time, the GOP changed the rules to make the caucuses more competitive. Delegates will be awarded based on the proportion of votes each candidate gets instead of winner take all. And delegates must stick with their pledged presidential picks, on the first convention ballot at least.

The candidate with the deepest organization and most supporters wins. A second- or third-place finish could mean something, too, if it robs the front-runner of too many delegates. There are 28 delegates at stake in the Nevada GOP caucuses. So Romney, the current leader in opinion polls here, can't take anything for granted. And long-shot contenders like Cain have a chance to make gains.

"The game has changed," said Steve Esh, a member of the Clark County Republican Party's executive board.

PRECINCT CAPTAINS SOUGHT

Esh was at the Wednesday evening meeting organized by Huffaker at the North Las Vegas office of C.O.R.E., Congress of Racial Equality, one of the oldest nonprofit civil rights groups in the country. The office is run by Niger Innis, who is also a volunteer national adviser to Cain's campaign.

Huffaker invited Esh to deliver a presentation on caucus basics to more than 30 people who attended the 90-minute meeting. The audience included Cain supporters and other Republicans, at least one Libertarian and more than a half dozen veterans of the 2008 GOP caucuses. It was an older crowd, mostly white men and women, but also several African-Americans and Hispanics. Cain is black.

"Everyone -- everyone -- needs to get involved," Huffaker said. "This is not about Herman Cain. This is about getting Republicans to come out."

Huffaker then added a pitch for her candidate at the beginning and the end of the meeting. She asked people putting their names on a sign-in sheet to write down whether they want to specifically help Cain so she can contact them later.

"I encourage you to get involved as a precinct captain for Herman Cain," she said.

The captains of Nevada's more than 1,000 precincts organize door-the-door to get people to the caucuses. Campaign captains push their candidates' supporters to attend, while those put in place by the political parties aren't supposed to take sides but instead urge people to participate.

GRASS-ROOTS EFFORTS

David Damore, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said Cain's strategy is smart. He said the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza could surprise Romney, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, and other candidates who haven't laid early groundwork.

So far, all the attention has been on New Hampshire, South Carolina and Iowa, where Romney didn't compete and Cain finished fifth in a recent straw poll won by U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn.

"It's a good opportunity for Cain," Damore said. "Who shows up at the caucuses actually matters. Those are the people going to the county conventions. And those are the people going to the national convention."

The party-run caucus process favors grass-roots organizers and often GOP campaigners like Cain, who do better in conservative contests such as those in Iowa and South Carolina, Damore said. Nevada's Republican Party has become more conservative in the past few years, too, and maintains a libertarian bent. In 2008, Paul finished second in the GOP presidential caucuses here.

Paul's Nevada Chairman Carl Bunce said he secured campaign office space in Henderson last week but hasn't sponsored any campaign organizing events yet. Several grass-roots activist groups that back Paul have been meeting and organizing every week, however, he said.

"The official campaign kick-off activities will start in the middle of September," Bunce said.

Romney, meanwhile, has focused on fundraising and racking up early endorsements: Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, U.S. Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., and nine of the 16 Republican members of the Nevada Assembly. He also has a staff on the ground to beef up caucus organizing quickly.

DEMOCRATS GEARING UP

At Wednesday's meeting, Karen Steelmon was among those who participated in the Republican caucuses in 2008 -- or tried to participate.

"I had volunteered to be a caucus chairman, but it was such a mess I walked out," she said.

This time, she is getting involved early, although she isn't yet aligned with any campaign. The more conservative Cain and Bachmann are possibilities, she said, while Romney and Perry are already off her list.

Esh of the Clark County Republican Party acknowledged the 2008 GOP caucuses were messy. With only a month's preparation, about 44,000 Republicans participated compared with more than 117,000 Democrats, who had a highly competitive contest and had organized for many months.

"A few ran like Swiss watches, but many had the look of a refugee camp," Esh said.

This time, a website is being put together with GOP caucus information. Handbooks will go out to make sure the caucus process works the same at every site. And formal training by the party will begin in November, Esh said.

Meantime, the Democratic machine that ramped up in 2008 and ultimately helped elect Obama is revving at full speed.

The Nevada Democratic Party recently launched a website www.PledgeToCaucus.com for voters to get information and sign up for caucuses.

The president's Obama for America organizing operation never turned off its lights.

"Supporters and volunteers have been actively organizing on behalf of the president's agenda for years in communities throughout Nevada," said Ofelia Casillas, regional press secretary for Obama for America.

Nevada is in play in 2012. The GOP's ability to organize the caucuses could be the Republicans' first real test of whether the party's standard bearer can beat Obama here four years after he took the state by a remarkable 12 percentage points over McCain.

Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919.