The Clinton campaign is supporting, if not actually inciting, a Nevada State Teachers Association lawsuit against the Culinary Workers Union. The reason? The Culinary Workers Union has arranged for its members to caucus in their workplaces, to cast their votes in the hotels and casinos that support that state's economy instead of taking time off to get to polling places -- at the risk of getting fired.
That lawsuit was filed right after the Culinary Workers Union endorsed Obama.
Gosh. What a coincidence. It's an unfair disadvantage, the teachers union lawsuit says -- they are supporting Hillary -- to let all those maids and bellboys vote while they are on the job.
The caucus is on the 19th. It's a Saturday. I guess the teachers are going to be -- really busy compared to those maids and bellboys?
I don't know this for a fact but my guess is that the Nevada's Teachers Association is more entrenched in the state power hierarchy than the Culinary Workers Union. It's more white, more middle class. I bet the teachers are much more spread out, demographically and geographically, firmly ensconced in tenured security.
The Culinary Workers Union, on the other hand, represents all the little brown people who clean hotel rooms in Las Vegas and Reno. Living and working from day to day.
If the Clintons don't repudiate this lawsuit, Obama and Edwards have a giant, gaping opportunity to nail them to the wall of cynical win-at-any price entitlement. There is no way they want to be in this position on the national screen. It's a short term stop-gap, a sign of fear, that they are even doing this. If they don't repudiate this lawsuit, it will be an albatross around their necks that will be dangle like a leaden anchor into super-duper Tuesday on Feb the 5th -- if only Obama surrogates and supporters can keep it in the public eye.