Background on Nevada, Hispanics, and Immigration

On Saturday, January 19th the Democratic Presidential campaign moves to Nevada where the Democrats will caucus to express their preference. A week later, South Carolina votes, completing the new Democratic calendar that added these two states to the traditional Iowa and New Hampshire mix.

Adding these two states brought new regions and new voters - particularly African-Americans and Hispanics - to the early and important stages of the nominating process. To help our friends and allies, we've pulled together some background materials on the Nevada Caucus, including background on the importance of the Southwest, the fight to reform America's broken immigration system, and the rise of Hispanics in American politics:

The Nevada Debate and Caucus (November 15, 2007)This memo explains the strategic importance of the Southwest and how it drove the decision in 2005 by the DNC to change the decades-old Democratic Presidential nominating process, long dominated by Iowa and New Hampshire.

The 50-Year Strategy (October 30, 2007)This article lays out a grand strategy for how today's Democrats could build a lasting electoral majority and today's progressives could seize the new media, build off new constituencies like Hispanics and the millennial generation, and solve the urgent governing challenges of our times.

Hispanics Rising (September 20, 2007) This major new report reviews the emerging politics of the fastest-growing part of the American electorate, one deeply changed by the immigration debate. The report addresses how critical the Southwest is in the lead up to the 2008 Presidential Election.

We've added a page to our website that contains all of this information and will be updated frequently, so be sure to check back in the days ahead.

For more background, check out the following memos:

On Obama, race and the end of the Southern Strategy (January 4, 2008)

On the mortgage crisis, immigration and the need for a new economic strategy for America (December 21, 2007)

1%, 62% and the failure of Tancredoism (December 20, 2007)

Can Democrats seize the opportunity the immigration debate offers them? (December 11, 2007)

There are also two great resources from the Nevada Democrats worth reviewing: a website that helps viewers understand and explore the details and significance of the caucus, as well as a YouTube channel they are debuting to help educate Democrats about the caucus.