ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
For just about 24 more hours, the Democrats are all Nevada all the time. The Nevada caucuses were moved up in the primary schedule for the 2008 race so they've taken on a new significance.
We have reporters following the leading trio of candidates: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards.
First, to Jeff Brady with the Edwards entourage.
JEFF BRADY: This morning, a few miles east of the Strip, John Edwards broached a subject of intense interest to Nevadans.
Mr. JOHN EDWARDS (Former Democratic Senator, North Carolina): Because I am dead against the building of any more nuclear power plants.
(Soundbite of cheering)
BRADY: The proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site is just a hundred miles from here. It's not been a significant issue in the campaign, though, because all the Democrats oppose the project. With the caucuses less than 24 hours away, Edwards asked for last-minute campaign volunteers.
Mr. EDWARDS: The one thing that is clear is I am not the $100-million campaign, that's the other two guys. I am the underdog…
BRADY: The United Steelworkers Union has about a hundred of its members volunteering for this campaign in Nevada. Edwards talks a lot about working people and strengthening unions. But the powerful Culinary Workers Union is supporting Barack Obama. That didn't stop Edwards from asking for their support.
Mr. EDWARDS: So, if you hear the sound of my voice and you are a union member in the state of Nevada, I am asking you to show up tomorrow, and to caucus for me.
BRADY: In the crowd, Geri Strausser(ph) is a nurse. Her union also is supporting Obama. Backing Edwards is a little tricky for her because she's on the executive board.
Ms. GERI STRAUSSER (Nurse): When we take our oath to our organization, it says that we don't give up any individual rights. So, I'm exercising my individual right to do what's best for my family, what's best for - that I think is best for working people.
BRADY: Edwards was hoping that attitude would take hold as he left the state this afternoon for his next campaign event, in Oklahoma.
Jeff Brady, NPR News, Las Vegas.
SCOTT HORSLEY: And I'm Scott Horsley in Reno.
Barack Obama campaigns on two college campuses, a high school in, and at a Martin Luther King banquet in Las Vegas tonight as he tries to rally supporters for tomorrow's caucuses.
With a whirlwind schedule like that, his wife Michelle Obama was quickly forgiven for the kind of pronunciation faux pas that happens in the crush of a multi-state campaign.
Ms. MICHELLE OBAMA (Wife of Sen. Barack Obama): It is so nice to be back in Nevada. We are so happy to be here. Nevada, Nevada, Nevada. Nevada, I've been in South Carolina too long.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Ms. OBAMA: I know how to bounce back from my mistakes.
(Soundbite of laughter)
HORSLEY: Mrs. Obama assured supporters in Reno her husband is fully prepared to be president. Barack Obama pointed out the supposedly more experienced candidate, Hillary Clinton, amended her economic stimulus plan yesterday. It now more closely resembles his own.
Senator BARACK OBAMA (Democrat, Illinois; Presidential Candidate): It is easy to be for policies that help working families when it's popular on the campaign trail. But the American people don't want a president whose plans change with the politics of the moment.
HORSLEY: A lot of students turned out to hear Obama at the University of Nevada in Reno even though school is not in session yet. But the crowd wasn't all young. Retired Teamster Russell Kazersky(ph) woke up at 4:30 this morning and drove 80 miles in order to hear the candidate.
Mr. RUSSELL KAZERSKY (Retired Teamster): He's not like from the old regime, the old party, the good old boy. He's new, fresh, and I just think we need a change.
HORSLEY: Obama told supporters he can't make that change without their help, and he urged them to caucus tomorrow even if they caucus for someone else.
Scott Horsley, NPR News, Reno, Nevada.
INA JAFFE: I'm Ina Jaffe in Las Vegas. Remember that campaign slogan from some not so long ago presidential campaign? "It's the economy, stupid" for the Hillary Clinton campaign. It's deja vu all over again. In the crowded backroom of A&B Printing, which is a union print shop owned by women, Clinton noted the economic slowdown has even touched the boomtown of Las Vegas in a casual low key tone, she talked about her stimulus package that would include freezing mortgage interest rates. She talked about how her health care plan would rescue the uninsured and how her administration would do more to help small businesses like this one. The American dream is getting out of reach, she said. The middle class is working harder and harder and still falling behind.
Senator HILLARY CLINTON (Democrat, New York; Vice Chair, Democratic Committee Outreach; Presidential Candidate): Contrast that to what happened during the 1990s where a typical family income went up to $7,000.
JAFFE: Oh, the golden 1990s. Clinton mentioned them at least four times. Let's see, who was president then? In any case, her speech was not primarily an exercise in nostalgia. She took the opportunity to contrast herself with her unnamed leading opponent, recalling the debate earlier this week when she and Barack Obama disagreed on presidential leadership style. Again today, Clinton implied that a president has more to do than guide, decide, and inspire.
Sen. CLINTON: We have to have a hands-on leader. We need somebody who will roll up his or her sleeves and get to work on behalf of the American people. That's what I'm offering.
JAFFE: As she has done since her last days in New Hampshire, Clinton stayed and took question after question, and when she was done, posed for picture after picture.
Sen. CLINTON: Caucus for me tomorrow. We can start turning this around.
JAFFE: One last chance to make the sale.
Ina Jaffe, NPR News, Las Vegas.