Monday, June 23, 2008 | 2:25 p.m.
The lingering bitterness over January's Democratic caucus has faded, state leaders of the Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton campaigns insisted in a joint press conference today.
State Senator Steven Horsford and Clark County Commissioner Rory Reid the heads of the state Obama and Clinton teams, respectively admitted there were disagreements in the weeks leading up to the Jan. 19 caucus. But "that was then," Reid stressed again and again.
"It was very hard-fought," Reid told me after the press conference at the party's Las Vegas office. And tensions didn't immediately subside.
"But once the first county (party) convention had its problems, we realized we had to come together," he added.
Members of the two campaigns met last week to brainstorm how to coalesce as a party behind Obama, Horsford said in an interview. There's no need to convince party leaders; it's in their best interests to back the presumptive Democratic nominee. The key is how to win over rank-and-file Clinton supporters, especially the many members of the Culinary Union who defied the group's edict and supported her.
Horsford said he believes they'll come around and vote for Obama in November. Obama will have to win them over if he's banking on Nevada to help get him to 270 electoral votes to secure the presidency.
A Rasmussen poll released Saturday found Obama trailing McCain in Nevada by three points, 45 to 42.
Whether or not past tensions have healed, one thing was clear from Monday's press conference: the Democratic leaders all the Democratic leaders present like Congressional candidate Dina Titus, the former minority leader of the state Senate.
Titus received the biggest ovations from the 39 people joining her behind the lectern, a mix of party leaders and union members.
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