The Final Countdown

This'll be something like comprehensive, both of the the recent news from Nevada and the general future of Nevada. As I sit here, we are now 59.5 hours from Caucus Time. It's a little weird knowing that the fate of the world potentially hangs on what the 200 or so staffers here in the Silver State are able to accomplish over that time. Hyperbole? Yep. Also, Nope. Iowa got the car moving, this is where it could turn.

I've gotten about 5 hours of sleep per night for the last week. Maybe more like 4.5. So as I write this, I'm more than a little delirious. I would say that the circles around my eyes and my generally drawn and pale appearance are indicative of a second or third day zombie. I'm not quite rotting yet, but I could certainly use some brains. Mine be all used up.

As part of the final stage, I took over a section of turf all on my very own. It's been a wild experience, tracking vote goals, targeting areas strategically, managing resources... Wild but incredibly fun and rewarding.

Speaking of wild, this is the Wild Wild West. After the ol' standards of IA and NH, NV has proven to be something of a free for all. The elbows, all carefully concealed, are flying at us from all corners. They'd be snapped up in a flurry of controversy in any other early state, but it's all fresh and new here. One example:

After long and deliberate negotiations last March, which resulted in the creation of so-called "At Large Precincts," a system was developed and approved to allow shift workers within a certain radius of the Strip to vote at designated caucus locations on the Strip, rather than their own residential precincts, thus potentially expanding the voter base by a significant proportion. This was partially accomplished through the heft of Culinary Workers Union Local 226, one of NV's largest and arguably most powerful Unions, representing some 60,000 people across the state. On January 9th, after extensive deliberations and a little bit of careful suspense, the 226 endorsed...wait for it...wait for it...

Barack Obama!

Along with the endorsement came some significant benefits: Union members have hit the ground hard, organizing, educating and invigorating. It remains to be seen what the endorsement will translate into for votes, but it can’t be a bad thing to get that kinda muscle behind us.

But I digress. Back to the silliness: Just days after the endorsement, a group that includes the Nevada State Teacher’s Association has sued to stop the At-Large precincts from voting. For more on this particular storyline, I refer you to some things others have written, as I am not expert on these matters.

From the local and national Press:
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/01/12/post_271.html?hpid=topnews

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/347382_joel15.html?source=mypi

(Make sure you check out the links to the flyers on this one. Very direct. Welcome to the Silver State. They don’t mince words around here.)

From the Union:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/blogs/ralstons-flash/2008/jan/15/culinary-takes-hillary-clinton-fliers/

(Make sure you check out the links to the flyers on this one. Very direct. Welcome to the Silver State. They don’t mince words around here.)
(Update: this didn’t go up last night due to massive internet failure. I hear someone kinked one of those tubes the info goes through. Anyway, the suit was dismissed this morning. I don’t doubt an appeal has already been filed, but so far the rules stand as established.)

In other news, I'm personally preparing to die. The office is something like a giant petri dish, and I've had a vicious cold for the last week. Although its unpleasantness level has faded dramatically, it’s still causing me to cough my lungs up approximately once every 3 minutes. At this stage it's more of an annoyance than anything else, thankfully. Still, coupled with a lack of anything resembling a full night's sleep, it certainly contributes to my Zombie-in-the-making appearance. And the impending 40 hour day that starts Friday morning and ends when I pass out Saturday night (after, no doubt, crying heavily, regardless of outcome) certainly threatens to add to the general chaos. I plan to sleep through my birthday Sunday. Speaking of which, if you’re inclined to call me on my birthday, please, for the love of god, don’t do it until after 3pm.

But it's all worth it, really. I've heard some people, even amongst you, my faithful (and few) readers, express doubts about the man I am killing myself to nominate. Whatever those reservations, I swear to you this is the real deal. You can’t believe everything you read on the internet. I guess, of course, that also applies to this, which you are, doubtless, reading on the internet...

Anyway, you'll hear from me Sunday, probably. But you'll hear from Nevada Saturday afternoon. Keep an eye on the news, cross your fingers, light a candle, pray, telepathically or technologically send me everything you can spare, because I'm gonna need it.

Speaking of getting a little extra, here's a nice moment, to remind me why I'm actively trying to kill myself on this guy's behalf. Definitely one of the more surreal moments of my time here...


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Forward. Always forward. It's 12:50am, I got to work at 7:30 this morning. Tomorrow, the the workday drops at 8am. Now I'm going to go home, to sleep. The alarm'll go off... Another 18 hour day tomorrow, 2 hours of sleep, back at the office at 4:30am Friday, and..

Once more, into the breach.