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How The Nevada Caucuses Work

Pretty much like Iowa. Republicans start at 9am, Democrats at noon (PST). Noam and I will be blogging the results midafternoon.

Well, there is one procedural difference: While Democrats, as in Iowa, must regroup if any candidate fails to reach a viability threshold, in Nevada only the nonviable candidate's supporters can choose a new favorite. Supporters of viable candidates have to stay put.

Theoretically that could crimp any dealmaking, but there wasn't likely to be much anyway. The only scenario I can imagine would be if John Edwards really wants to screw Hillary and tells his nonviable supporters to back Obama. But I'm not sure he has the control to move them en masse.

P.S. Some observant Jews aren't happy about the caucus timing:

When I called the political parties in Nevada to inquire as to whether or not there were measures being taken to help accommodate those observant Jews who wished to participate in the caucuses, I received mixed results. A young Jewish woman at the Nevada Democratic Party told me that they had tried to put caucus-sites near religious neighborhoods and synagogues so that people could walk; precinct captains would be educated about the need to write down information on behalf of observant Jews instead of asking them to sign-in and write themselves. A gentleman at the Nevada Republican Party told me that the party was not even aware of the problem, but promised to make an effort to educate precinct captains on the issue. Neither had an adequate answer as to why the caucuses had to take place on a Shabbat morning.

--Michael Crowley