The National Congress of American Indians says the Native vote is playing a role in the 2008 presidential race.

For the first time in history, all of the leading candidates have reached out to Indian Country. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois), Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-New York) and Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) have either visited reservations or met with tribal leaders, in addition to adopting Indian platforms.

Though American Indians and Alaska Natives are only about 1 percent of the U.S. population, they have the power to sway races in certain states. NCAI is encouraging more Natives to the polls this year -- in Washington alone, the goal is to get 71,000 Natives to vote.

NCAI is currently hosting is mid-year conference in Reno, Nevada.

Get the Story:
Contest brings unprecedented attention to tribes (The Reno Gazette-Journal 6/3)
Interest Groups Trying to Make Their Vote Count (KTVN 6/2)
American Indians meet in Sparks, talk national issues (The Reno Gazette-Journal 6/2)

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NCAI opens mid-year conference in Nevada (6/2)