Cooks' union's endorsement of Obama means little

[antiimperialist]

This means that most cooks favor Obama. But by what margin? 37%-36% in favor of Obama over Clinton? or over Edwards, with Hillary in a close 3rd?
How many people will change their votes because an undisclosed majority of cooks want to vote for a candidate?

[Virginia Dare]

1. Why do candidates covet union endorsements so much then?

and why the condescending tone? Unions are well organized and active on the GOTV front. Plus they often time infuse lots of cash into campaigns. They're great endorsements to get.

[aquart]

2. A union of working people has endorsed a candidate.

And you have the nerve to sneer at them? To belittle them and their opinions? And call yourself a Democrat?

Which would not, of course, be what I would call you.

[Konza]

28. Imagine Vegas

without all of the folks who make it happen. Cook, bellhops, etc make peoples trip to Las Vegas possible. Some may dis and say "they're just a bunch of cooks".
Ok, fine. But my question is "Can you imagine Las Vegas without all the workers?"

What kinda elitist insults the folks who move America forward?

[aquart]

52. Welcome to DU.

[sandnsea]

3. 60,000 members

cocktails, bell department, kitchen workers, cooks, housekeepers, porters, and many more

http://www.culinaryunion226.org/about.asp

Way to disrespect working people.

[antiimperialist]

7. How many of those 60,000 members will vote for Obama? Clinton?

Will that difference be big? or little?

[sandnsea]

12. It's your condescension I'm addressing, and ignorance

Why don't you just say, oops, I didn't know. Sorry.

It's the GOTV that matters.

[antiimperialist]

41. oh,you mean you are using the Ad-hominem fallacy?

at least you admit of ignoring the argument and shooting the messenger. its a fallacy though.

[aquart]

53. So every vote does NOT count?

Are you sure you're in the right place?

[Cha]

30. So we did get

them!! :D

[sandnsea]

43. Yep. I Was Wrong!!!! Yippee n/t

[Cha]

50. I felt for

ya..I was feeling really badly, myself..and was just hoping today would put it more in perspective.:)

[suston96]

4. Not only that, how many can vote......

...aren't they mostly, uh immigrants? Legal, of course?

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0108/7817.html

The union's skeptics point to its large number of immigrants, roughly 45 percent, and suggest many are not registered to vote. They also note the union has left itself little time to rally its ranks around Obama.

[Fierce]

13. They can doorknock and call

and donate money, of course.

[sandnsea]

16. I don't think foreign citizens can donate

But they can door knock and call and talk to their friends and neighbors. After those demonstrations in the streets, who knows what can happen.

[Fierce]

20. Well, they can donate cash.

nt

[sandnsea]

23. Well that's illegal

and would be a huge campaign fraud issue if the campaign were caught accepting those donations. I also don't think Skinner would like people suggesting illegal campaign activities on their site. :hi:

[truebrit71]

31. I'm a foreign citizen and I donate...check your sources...

...you are wrong...

[sandnsea]

37. Uh, you're not supposed to

Prohibitions on election-financing activities by foreign nationals, national banks and federally chartered corporations

http://www.fec.gov/pages/brochures/statefed.shtml

That's why there's this box on campaign sites.

"I am a United States citizen or a lawfully-admitted permanent resident."

[truebrit71]

42. Uh, read the sentence again....Here I'll highlight it for you."lawfully-admitted permanent resident"

I am a foreign national AND a lawfully-admitted permanent resident. (They're called GREEN CARDS). Go ahead and explain to me again how I can't donate to political campaigns....

:eyes:

[sandnsea]

47. well good then

Donate to your heart's content.

[truebrit71]

49. Thanks! And trust me, I do!

:thumbsup:

[sandnsea]

15. Straight out of Pat Buchanan's mouth

What is wrong with people. That is such a shitty thing for any Democrat to say.

[redqueen]

21. What the hell is wrong with you?

:puke:

[featherman]

5. You do know that Nevada is a caucus state?

Maybe you didn't. It makes a difference. The conventional wisdom is that the CWU endorsement is the whole ball game under the NV caucus system. Could be wrong of course.

[redqueen]

25. I thought any endorsement would mean less, because it's a caucus state.

:shrug:

[featherman]

32. The opposite, I think, since the union will be attending

the caucuses as a bloc... real bodies on the floor. I believe this is why it has more of an impact in a caucus than in a statewide primary ballot type situation. Just my understanding of why it was significant

[redqueen]

35. The members are forced to vote the way the union bosses say?

I did not know that!

[Cha]

33. Yeah, we know we can't count

on anything but it's a darn good start!

[Cha]

6. Yeah, yeah, they're still

brilliant.

[K Gardner]

8. Cooks?? My son is an Executive Chef, trained at the French Culinary Institute..

and I guarantee you he and the thousands like him who are professionals in a precise and demanding trade are not "just cooks" and wield more power than you'd like to convince yourself they have.

[Cha]

40. HOw very cool that your

son is an Executive Chef..those people are talented, dedicated and after my own heart!

[K Gardner]

46. Thanks, zidzi.. we're very proud of him !

[Little Star]

9. Me, if I get hungry enough.

[cali]

10. Way to demonstrate your political ignorance! Congrats.

The Culinary Workers have long pledged that they will turn out 15,000 of their members to vote in the caucuses, and many of them will vote for the endorsee. In addition, they'll be coordinating with the Obama campaign over the next week and organizing. Think phone banking, rides to the caucuses, leafleting, etc.

Get it now?

[Fierce]

11. Deleted.

Deleted.

[redqueen]

22. You got it.

:)

[Fierce]

24. Ha, you beat me.

nt

[redqueen]

29. I'm kinda hyper!

:P

[old guy]

14. I don't think an endorsement by anyone means a lot.

A union endorsement doesn't mean all the rank and file are going vote for that candidate. A news paper could mean more as it could up the propaganda for an endorsed candidate. On the whole though I question the real value of endorsements.

[sandnsea]

18. It's the GOTV

the manpower behind the endorsement that makes unions matter.

[no name no slogan]

17. It's a big endorsement, BUT--

speaking as a union member, it doesn't always mean a lot.

Most of the time it's just a feather in the cap for the endorsee. Most rank-and-file I know either 1) ignore the endorsement and vote for whomever they want, or 2) don't even bother participating until the general election.

And for the record, I live in a caucus state and am in one of the largest unions.

[Clark2008]

19. So, in addition to Oprah, Obama now has the full support of the Food Network.

Allez Cuisine!

[Cha]

27. Yeah, I'm into food..this

impresses me!

[redqueen]

26. It gets press... that's about it.

There's no telling how it may or may not affect the way voters will caucus in NV.

[City Lights]

34. What a snotty post.

I read thread after thread after thread about Obama's supporters. They're sore winners. They're sore losers. And here you are dissing a group of union workers because they had the audacity to endorse someone other than your choice.

[redqueen]

36. Yeah, there was no need to be dismissive of the union. (nt)

[Cha]

44. Those posts are pure propoganda..

All anti-hillary people were labeled "hillary haters" when this started, because we didn't like her policies and it's been going down hill ever since.

[LSK]

45. no kidding

What an ugly post.

[jenmito]

38. Last night all the THs were saying IF he gets this endorsement it would virtually guarantee a NV win

and that they'll make up about a quarter of the caucus goers. After he lost they all said this could be a big blow to him if they don't endorse him but they chose to endorse him anyway. It's huge.

[AtomicKitten]

48. It is a HUGE endorsement.

But on DU it's only HUGE when one's candidate of choice gets it, and crap when it goes to another. Oy vey.

The talking heads concur it clinches Nevada.

Gobama.

[jenmito]

51. Yup...

And I agree about the attitudes here among most of the other candidates' supporters. But there have been a few gracious posters here. (The time of your post, "3:22" is my birthday. I love when that happens.) :hi:

[Lucinda]

39. It's a great endorsement and you can be sure ANY of the candidates would have be pleased to have it.

[cloudythescribbler]

54. union endorsements can also influence OTHER union endorsements

Obama has generally had much weaker list of union endorsers than HRC or Edwards. Now that it is clear that Edwards has no chance, it is all the more important for Obama to get union endorsements, and the more unions support him, the more OTHER unions will consider endorsing him as being no less a 'labor candidate' than his competitors. One endorsement, even if the culinary workers' union in NV brings in a few thousand extra caucus supporters to Obama, might ALSO help influence other unions, both in NV and elsewhere, and of course, every few thousand extra votes counts; with endorsements from unions at this strategic juncture in the campaign, that importance is magnified somewhat.....

In sum, the union endorsement can make a noticeable difference in the NV caucus results (and yes, OF COURSE it's much more important in caucuses, because unions are better able to mobilize members who specifically support their candidate and make SURE that they go to the caucuses, and of course, the same few thousand EXTRA supporters of Obama, at caucuses has much more weight than the same number in a primary.

[Blue-Jay]

55. Who needs cooks? Fuck 'em!

:silly: