Just because the primary "amounts to little more than a state opinion poll" doesn't mean the results won't "end up" as part of the big battle of political spin that the Dem race has in many ways "devolved into." NE Dem activist Vince Powers: "Two names will be on the ballot, they will count the votes, and there will be a winner and a loser. I just don't think the winner is going to say, 'It didn't matter.'" Powers said that would be especially true if Hillary Clinton does well. Winning the primary "would support" her argument that caucuses are not a fair representation of the electorate and that she has recently "gained momentum."
Neither camps "expressed any interest" in getting involved in the primary. Powers said from Barack Obama's perspective, there's likely a feeling he has nothing more to prove in NE. Likewise, if the Clinton camp feels it doesn't have a chance to win the NE vote, it would "have little incentive" to look at the state again. Univ. of NE prof. Randy Adkins said he "doubted" that even a Clinton victory in the primary "would influence" the politicking for superdelegate support. He said the biggest role of the NE primary likely will be to fuel the debate among Dems over whether they will again use a caucus in '12 or go back to having a primary (Cordes, Omaha World-Herald, 4/26).
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