A Confederacy of Dunces

How blessed are we here in Las Vegas - we have become a focal point for the Democratic nomination race. Campaign workers have descended upon our metropolis, footsoldiers in educating a populace so politically astute that their main objective - according to Hillary's and Obama's respective websites - is to inform potential caucus-goers what a caucus is. Thankfully, our esteemed senior Senator has been holding "mockuses" to assist in our political education. Seriously. Like many lifelong Westerners, I have found the fact that our presidential nominees are chosen by two states that have the combined population of Riverside, California and the diversity of the PGA Tour to be unsavory at best. But reading our local punditry, and sampling the conversation at my neighborhood Starbucks and PT's, it is really scary that we are being saddled with this responsibility. Having a political conversation with your average Las Vegan is like playing Scrabble with Corky. My first presidential vote was in 2000, and I remember how scary it was that GWB and Karl Rove could convince South Carolina that John McCain had a "nigger baby," among other things. How this state filled with self proclaimed Christians could buy into this lie was beyond me. Course, then I met some genuine South Carolinian a little later and understood it a bit better. Here in Vegas, working in the Hotels, spending a lot of time at UNLV, I am consistently scared by the ignorance on display on a regular basis. . . but before the caucus was moved, most people just didn't give a shit bout politics. Now, the ignorance has been mobilized. Watch out for our susceptibility to a Rove-style, last minute smear. Probably coming from the Clinton side, probably accusing Obama of being in Hamas or something as equally ridiculous.