I'm fairly certain I've never been served dinner by a union shop steward, but then again, I've never been to Las Vegas before. Here, organised labour's sway extends even to the dining rooms of the strip's famed casinos.
Last night, my colleagues Dan Glaister, Simon Jeffery and I dined at a Mexican restaurant in the MGM Grand casino. Dan struck up a conversation in Spanish with our waiter Daniel (maybe the names helped break the ice). As we choked down our incredibly spicy, but delicious meal, Daniel, an immigrant from Mexico City, switched to English and told us he is the shop steward for the Culinary Workers Union.
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Obama had clearly hoped that union's endorsement would boost him to victory in today's Nevada caucuses. But voters like Daniel (and Leticia, who served Simon and me breakfast this morning) show the decisions of the union's political leadership don't necessarily hold sway among the rank and file.
Daniel told us he backed Clinton. He said he couldn't support Obama because he didn't think America was ready for an African-American candidate.
This morning, Leticia, a Latin American immigrant who came to Vegas from Chicago, held a similar view, but one more tainted with racial stereotyping. Leticia said she thought blacks only look out for themselves and are stuck fighting battles from 200 years ago, and she worried Obama wouldn't be able to look beyond that. It sounds like Leticia's never heard Obama speak or read anything about him, but she still gets a vote.
