Sure thing

Campaigning for Hillary Clinton in Nevada last week, U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine of New Jersey spoke of Nevada as a certainty to go for Clinton in the Jan. 19 caucuses. Taking note of her loss in Iowa and the possiblility of defeat in New Hampshire, Corzine said there were nevertheless “firewalls along the way. Nevada has to be a firewall.”

However, by the morning of the New Hampshire primary, ABC analyst George Stephanopoulos claimed the Clinton people no longer saw Nevada that way: “That’s not where they’re going to make their last stand.” Clinton campaign chair Terry McAuliffe seemed to agree: “Feb. 5 is the big day.” This is a reference to the day when a whopping 22 states plus Democratic expatriates will hold caucuses or primaries.

It all became less pressing with the New Hampshire results.