Clinton projected to win Nevada

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) is projected to hold off rival Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in the Nevada caucuses Saturday, giving her a second win in a row after the victory in the New Hampshire primary last week.

{mosads}Clinton emerged victorious after what turned out to be a tough and fiercely contested battle involving race issues, a lawsuit over union caucus sites in casinos and a war of words over admiration for former president Ronald Reagan.

It is the first time that Nevada took center stage in the Democratic nominating contest. Party officials moved the contest up to give people in the western states more of a voice in picking the presidential nominee.

The spotlight for the Democrats now moves to South Carolina, where next week’s primary will be a test of how candidates perform in a southern state with a large black community.