NASHUA, NH - It doesn't take a Vegas bookie to know that if Hillary Rodham Clinton is gambling on Nevada Democrats to stop Barack Obama from running away with her nomination, you should take that bet against her and go all in.

Clinton was critically wounded by her devastating loss in Iowa last week and will suffer a near-fatal blow if she loses the crucial New Hampshire primary tomorrow.

Bleeding confidence and ad money, the Clinton campaign is struggling to burst Obama's bubble of hopeful enthusiasm before it's too late.

But it's a vexing problem for her.

Stab too hard or wildly and she slices herself to pieces. Stab too timidly and she watches Obama stride away the king.

If Clinton loses in New Hampshire, the only remote glimmer of hope on the near horizon is Nevada, which holds the next caucus on Jan. 19.

At stake are just 25 of the roughly 2,000 party delegates she needs to get the nomination.

But the real jackpot in it for her would be finally proving that indeed she can actually win a state, much less make good on her campaign's long-promised claim that she's the only electable Democrat in the race.

And she certainly should win.

For over a year now, Clinton has enjoyed a gargantuan lead in Nevada over Obama and John Edwards.

One poll in October showed her with a 37-point lead.

But now that Clinton has been stripped of the armor of inevitability, nothing is guaranteed for her anymore.

A more recent poll of Nevada Democrats last month showed Clinton - for the first time - with only a single-digit lead over Obama. Edwards trailed badly, but with his heavy union support he could pull off some electoral miracles.

Unregistered in that poll, of course, is the bounce Obama has gotten there out of his Iowa win - and the sure boost he would get from winning New Hampshire.

By Charles Hurt, New York Post, January 7, 2008