DENVER – Nevada only has five electoral votes. But in what is expected to be a close presidential contest, those five votes could well swing the election.

As of today, the Silver State is widely seen as a tossup, with the Pindell Report ranking the contest as the most competitive battleground in the country.  And Nevada has another dimension of fascination this cycle, with the state’s pledged delegates splitting between Democratic primary rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Moments after the Nevada delegation finished their breakfast meeting at the Marriott here this morning, PolitickerNV.com today spoke with two leading Silver State political observers about the presidential landscape in Nevada.

“It’s the first convention I’ve been to in 20 years,” said Jon Ralston, whose column for the Las Vegas Sun is considered a must-read for the state’s political class. “I mean usually there’s nothing around at these things, it’s just pageantry and spectacle.”

But, Ralston suggested, he wanted to make the trek to Denver at least in part to observe the dynamics of the divided delegation.

“There’s a lot more interest because of the Obama-Clinton thing … Clinton won the popular vote, Obama won the delegates. So, it’s just interesting to watch the dynamics of these folks.”

Anjeanette Damon, a reporter for the Reno Gazette Journal, said she too wanted to focus her reporting on the interplay between the Clinton and Obama supporters. But Damon said she had not seen any real tension between the Clinton and Obama supporters in the delegation.

“I don’t think there’s tension between the delegates, not that I’ve observed anyways,” Damon said.

She added, “In talking with (the Clinton supporters in the delegation) there still some sense of intense disappointment. I haven’t heard anyone say they aren’t going to stop Obama when it’s all done, but they were really looking forward to being Clinton-supporting delegates and nominating for the first time a female candidate for president.”

Damon said the state was a tossup November. While the state’s conservative voting history suggested Silver State had a natural inclination to back McCain, she said, Democrats had developed a strong voter-outreach program. 

“I think it’s up for grabs,” she said.