By Michael Martinez and John McCormick
TRIBUNE CORRESPONDENTS

Four years after President Bush attracted Latinos to help him retain the White House, Nevada has become this election year's first bellwether on Hispanic clout as Democratic front-runners Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama fight fiercely for votes from the country's biggest minority group.

On the eve of Saturday's caucuses, the Latino vote served as a proxy battleground as Obama supporters aired Spanish-language advertisments charging Clinton was "shameless" in not respecting the community. The Clinton campaign denounced the ads as desperate, last-minute falsehoods.

As the first state with a significant Latino population in the Democrats' presidential primary and caucus season, Nevada will indicate the minority's ability to swing a tight race and provide an initial litmus test on whether a black-Latino divide exists, experts say.

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politics/chi-latino_satjan19,0,6116967.story?coll=chi_tab01_layout

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