UPDATED:Judge rules Las Vegas casino workers can caucus with Democrats
According to Reuters , A federal judge on Thursday allowed Nevada Democrats to hold presidential voting in casino hotels on the Las Vegas Strip, potentially helping Sen. Barack Obama in the next round of the campaign on Saturday.
"The Democrats can set up their own rules just as the Republicans can," the judge is quoted as saying by Reuters. "It is not up to some federal judge to come along and say,'I don't like that.'"
Adam Tanner who authored the story figures that a large turnout of casino workers could boost Obama in his race against Hillary Clinton. He is backed by by an endorsement from the Culinary Workers Union No. 226, the state's most influential labor group representing some 60,000 hotel service workers.
The Clinton campaign expressed disappointment with the judge's ruling.
Obama also gained the endorsement of the Service Employees International Union of Nevada. The "overwhelming participation" of voters in the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary showed that "Americans are ready for change," SEIU Executive Vice President Shauna Hamel told CNN. These are the types of organizations that have supported the Clinton's in the past.
Thanks to Elizabeth who left the following comment about this story.
This is taken from the Associated Press dated 1/15/08: “The plaintiffs are the Nevada State Education Association, its president, Lynn Warne, and five others. Debbie Cahill, the deputy executive director of the teachers’ union, is a Clinton supporter and a member of the campaign’s Nevada Women’s Leadership Council.
Two senior partners of the law firm handling the suit, Kummer, Kaempfer, Bonner, Renshaw and Ferrario, have donated to Clinton in the past. Also, Clinton ally and former Rep. Jim Bilbray is an attorney at the firm.
The state Democratic Party unanimously approved the caucus rules last March, and the Democratic National Committee signed on in August. Four of the six plaintiffs are members of the committee that approved the rules.”
