Elko: Town is big focal point as 4 top candidates stop in over space of day

This small, northern Nevada city known mostly for its gold mines and state-licensed brothels became a temporary epicenter for the 2008 presidential election, hosting four of the leading candidates in less than 24 hours.

Starting Thursday evening with a visit by Sen. John Edwards and continuing Friday with a morning stop by Mitt Romney and afternoon rallies for Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama, residents of Elko (population 18,183) had a rare opportunity to see, hear and question some of the contenders for the nation's highest office.

Already a surprisingly popular spot for presidential hopefuls during the past few months — Obama opened a campaign office in the small city last summer, while Romney and Clinton visited in the fall — Thursday and Friday's activity turned Elko into a primary focal point for political news.

Although Elko, both the city and county, are heavily Republican, it was actually the Democrats who stirred the most people. Both Clinton and Obama, whose rallies were practically back-to-back, packed hundreds of people into high school gymnasiums, while Romney's early morning speech and Edwards on Thursday night drew smaller, but still sizable, crowds.

Part of the excitement for Democrats is the pivotal role Nevada is playing that party's nomination, one that Republicans are lacking. In fact, Romney is the only Republican candidate in the state after he essentially ceded South Carolina to the other Republican hopefuls.

At the Clinton rally, retired four-star Gen. Wesley Clark and 2004 candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, introduced Clinton to a crowd of about 1,000 supporters gathered at the Elko Indian Colony gymnasium. Greeting the cheering crowd with the assurance that "I knew I had to get to Elko," Clinton shared stories of Nevadans she'd spoken with during the campaign and addressed her top campaign issues.

Clinton told the story of a Reno construction worker who told her about paying into his company insurance plan over the course of his employment, only to be dropped after being diagnosed with cancer. Without insurance, he didn't know how he was going to pay for the $50,000 operation he required.

The account, Clinton said, was just one of many similar stories from "voices that have been unheard." She promised that she was the candidate who would listen to these voices, and she has a plan for "real change."