08 February 2008
Nebraska Democrats Hope To Influence Presidential Nominations
February 9 caucuses take on added significance in close Democratic race
Washington -- “The Nebraska Democratic Presidential Caucuses are very important. … For once, the race will not be over before Nebraska’s voice can be heard,” Vic Covalt, chair of the Lancaster County Democratic Party Caucus, told voters in an article published by newspapers in the Nebraska 1st Congressional District in late January.
At the time, the statement struck many political experts as overly optimistic, but, given the results of the February 5 Super Tuesday nominating contests, Covalt’s statement was somewhat prophetic. The race for the Democratic presidential nomination remains very close heading into Nebraska’s February 9 Democratic caucuses.
The presidential preference caucuses, conducted by the Nebraska Democratic Party throughout the state, will allow participants to select delegates to support specific candidates. The caucuses, the first held by Nebraska Democrats in the state’s history, also allow participants to select delegates officially designated at “uncommitted.”
Any voter registered as a Democrat may participate in a caucus, as may anyone who completes a voter registration application as a Democrat at the caucus. The results of these caucuses will be binding on Nebraska delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August.
In the Nebraska 1st, registration will start at 5:30 p.m. CST at 52 caucus sites -- schools, civic centers, libraries and even a few restaurants -- and registration will remain open until at least 6:10 p.m. Party officials anticipate the caucuses will conclude by 7:30 p.m.
Nebraska Democrats still will participate in the state’s May primary, but the primary will have no effect on the delegate selection process, according to party officials. The decision to shift that authority to caucuses was made based on concerns that the increasingly front-loaded primary schedule for 2008 would mean results from a May primary would come too late to affect the nominating process in any meaningful way.
“The Nebraska Democratic Party, lead by National Committeeman Vince Powers, made a decision a year ago that Nebraskans needed a voice in the national political scene,” Covalt explained, adding “It was time to empower the Nebraska people.”
The May primary will not select any Republican delegates either. State party officials in 2004 abandoned the primary as a means to select delegates. Instead, they will be chosen at the July 12 state convention of the Republican Party.
Forty-one delegates will attend the Democratic National Convention representing Nebraska, a state with three registered Republicans for every two registered Democrats. State Democratic Party rules require a balance of male and female members in the delegation.
CLINTON AND OBAMA CAMPAIGNS VIE FOR CORNHUSKER SUPPORT
One of the hopes expressed by Nebraska Party leaders was that the caucuses would prompt leading Democratic candidates to campaign in Nebraska personally. It appears they may get their wish.
On February 7, the press office for the Hillary Clinton campaign told America.gov that the New York senator planned to campaign in Nebraska but the specifics of her schedule were not yet available. As of February 7, the Clinton Web site listed no offices in Nebraska, although “headquarters” in 28 other states are listed.
The Obama campaign, however, sent staff members to open offices in Lincoln, Nebraska’s capital, and Omaha, Nebraska’s largest city, to organize in advance of the caucuses. The Obama campaign has another edge in the Cornhusker state -- the endorsement of Nebraska’s most politically prominent Democrat.
At President Bush’s January 28 State of the Union address, Illinois Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was flanked by Massachusetts’ Senator Edward Kennedy, one of the Senate’s most liberal Democrats, and Nebraska’s senator, Ben Nelson, one of its most conservative Democrats. Kennedy had endorsed Obama earlier that day; Nelson announced his support on January 11.
Obama “kidded me when we were coming down to our seats that things really had turned around for him since I endorsed him,” Nelson told the Lincoln Star newspaper in a January 28 interview.
The results of the Nebraska caucuses might show whether that turnaround will continue.
