The Wall Street Journal-20080119-Notable - Quotable
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Notable & Quotable
From a Jan. 18 editorial in the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
The leaders of the Culinary union -- the most powerful association of non-government workers in Nevada and one of the few non-government unions in this country not in decline -- withheld their endorsement for this weekend's Nevada Democratic caucuses till the final days.
The fact that the Culinary's leadership favored freshman Illinois Sen. Barack Obama was an ill-kept secret. The delay was most reasonably attributed to caution: The union bosses wanted to keep open a line of retreat to the Hillary Clinton camp had Sen. Obama fared poorly in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Sen. Obama won in Iowa, and made it close in New Hampshire. The Culinary promptly endorsed him. Now the fact that the state Democratic Party plans a number of "at-large" caucus locations near the major Strip hotels on Saturday -- making it easier for Culinary members who work Saturday shifts to participate -- is seen as favoring Sen. Obama's chances.
Immediately, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of the other largest Democratic union in Nevada -- the state teachers union -- challenging the at-large caucus locations.
Why? Do individual teachers want some fellow Democrats shut outof the process?
Highly unlikely.
Instead, though the teachers may have made no official endorsement, the leadership of the their union clearly favors the candidacy of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, now seen as the loser if the party makes it easier for Culinary workers to flock to the polls Saturday and caucus for Sen. Obama.
So much for worker solidarity -- let alone the standard Democratic insistence that it should be as easy as possible for everyone to participate in elections.
