Friday, January 11, 2008

Campaigning here, Clinton goes over Culinary’s head

By J. Patrick Coolican

Just beneath the smiles and the hugs and the flash of cameras, Sen. Hillary Clinton played in-your-face politics in a visit to Las Vegas on Thursday.

A day after the 60,000-member Culinary Union endorsed Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for president, Clinton walked a northeast Las Vegas neighborhood heavy with Culinary workers and won the support of several.

Her campaign’s message: The endorsement means nothing and Culinary members should follow their conscience and not the order of union Secretary-Treasurer D. Taylor. It was a political kick in the shins to Obama and the union, all delivered with the New York senator’s trademark wide grin.

Asked about this shrewd maneuver, a Clinton aide merely laughed and claimed ignorance.

Culinary political director Pilar Weiss downplayed the significance of the wayward union members: “What would you do if a presidential candidate came to your door? If you had a presidential candidate and an elected official and the national press corps at your door, would you say you supported the candidate? Of course.”

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