In the past the winner had always been chosen by the time the Nevada Caucus rolled around, so past analysis is of little use. John Kerry, Al Gore and Bill Clinton have won the past Democratic Nevada Caucuses and the nomination. It will come down to the candidate's ability to connect with Nevada's diverse population. Bill Richardson dropping out before the Nevada Caucuses leaves the competition for the much-coveted Hispanic vote in the South wide-open. Hillary Clinton will bring her name and money into Nevada as well as her ability to connect with the independent spirit of the western woman. That spirit will do her well in the north, unless the social conservatives snub her because because of her well-known past and the simple fact the North is strong Republican territory. Barack Obama has a lot of work to do in Nevada and will have to convince Nevada Democrats that he has enough experience and that he can win in a national election. He should

The Republican Caucus has been moved up and this will push Nevada into the forefront of the Republican nomination. McCain should have been the hands down favorite being the senator of the neighboring state of Arizona as well as the most experienced and qualified candidate, but his campaign stumbled early on and now it is a wide-open race. A social liberal like Giuliani could also do well in state which lives off of America's social liberalism, but his late state strategy has all but ignored Nevada. Mitt Romney can also take Nevada because of the very reason he may not be successful around at the rest of the nation, his religion. Romney is a Mormon, which some Americans may not understand, but Las Vegas has a large Mormon population. In fact, the first settlement in Las Vegas was built by the Mormons and of course Nevada's neighbor is Utah, a Mormon-dominated state. But he is locked-up in a battle in Michigan and seems to have little interest in winning