Bernie Sanders shows confidence ahead of Nevada caucus
LAS VEGAS -- Bernie Sanders said it's just a "feeling."
"I have a feeling, folks," he said to more than 2,000 people gathered for a concert and rally in Henderson on Friday night. "We're going to make history tomorrow. We're going to win here in Nevada!"
Nevada will be the third state to hold a Democratic nomination contest on Saturday morning, and Sanders, with a close finish in Iowa and a victory in New Hampshire behind him, has turned the state into a real contest. He's just one point behind Clinton, according to the most recent polling.
"We were way behind in Iowa, way behind in New Hampshire, way behind in Nevada," he said in Henderson. "Guess what? Things have changed."
A win in Nevada would be a sign for the Sanders campaign that his platform, and his message of a political revolution, is reaching critical Latino and African-American voters, who make up almost 40 percent of the population here. But in the minds of Sanders' top aides, even a close second to Clinton would be a success.
"I think we've already won," Sanders' campaign manager Jeff Weaver told CBS News ahead of Sanders' remarks in Henderson.
What they've done, Weaver said, is "destroyed" the theoretical "firewall" that the Clinton campaign built here. Clinton consistently performs well with minority voters, and her campaign sees that as the payoff of a lifetime of work on behalf of minority communities.
"They know her, trust her and are excited about her candidacy," Robby Mook, Clinton's campaign manager, wrote in a forward-looking memo on the night of the New Hampshire primary.
Weaver owed some of Sanders' success in the state to his commitment to Main Street.
"This state was hit the hardest," he said. "His credibility on taking on Wall Street and making sure that they don't run roughshod over the country again I think is compelling."
Cassondra Smith, who lives in Henderson and owns her own business, said she registered to vote on Thursday specifically so that she could caucus for Sanders.
"I'm 30 years old, and I've never been registered to vote, ever," she said. "He was the change that actually prompted me to get up and do something."
The campaign, however, is working until the last minute to turn out voters like Smith, as high turnout among young and first-time voters has been a crucial part of Sanders' success elsewhere. It has organized phone banks and canvassing for early Saturday morning.
"What this campaign is essentially about," Sanders said, in closing in Henderson, "is whether they have a political system ... controlled by a handful of billionaires ... or whether we have an economic and political system that is controlled by ordinary Americans."
"That is what tomorrow, caucus, is about," he said.