Democrats butter up Sin City’s cooks and cleaners in scramble for Hispanic votes
‘I love Bernie, my children love him, he’s strong. But I’m not voting for him because of healthcare’
All politics is local. And that is why most Democrat presidential candidates found themselves at the junction of Hugh Hefner Drive and Flamingo Road in Las Vegas this week. They joined 1,000 members of the Culinary Workers Union (CWU) protesting about contracts at the Palms Casino, a giant monolith overlooking the Strip.
Elizabeth Warren turned up on the picket line in sunglasses and carrying doughnuts. Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg wielded Spanish placards saying “No Contrato No Paz” (No Contract No Peace). The Trump hotel loomed in the distance, its owner’s name emblazoned in giant gold letters.
The culinary union is the predominant political force in Nevada, with the ability to mobilise its 60,000 members for, or against, a candidate.
Those members are the cleaners, cocktail waitresses, cooks, bartenders, laundry and kitchen workers who keep Sin City ticking around the clock. More than 50 per cent of them are Hispanic.
After votes in two overwhelmingly “white” states, in Iowa and New Hampshire, the caucuses in Nevada, where the population is 30 per cent Hispanic, will be the first test of which way these voters will go across America. Polls show Bernie Sanders leading in the state with 66 per cent support among Hispanic residents.
However, in the run-up to the caucuses today an extraordinary row has blown up between Mr Sanders and the union after it decided not to endorse him.
The reason is that it opposes his
“Medicare for All” health policy, which would provide government-funded care for every American as a “human right”, virtually eliminating private health insurance.
After fighting for years the union has negotiated a blue-chip private healthcare scheme, and now has its own gleaming hospital exclusively for members and their families.
Under Mr Sanders’ plan, it would all go. They don’t want his healthcare revolution after all.
Claudia Ramos, 46, a guest room attendant at the Paris Hotel, told The Daily Telegraph: “I love Bernie, my children love him, he’s strong. But I’m not voting for him because of healthcare. We need to protect what we have. I’ve been in the union for 10 years and we worked hard for it. Everyone is talking about it in the hotels. Some people are like me, they want to keep what we have. But many others say they don’t care and they’re going to vote for Bernie because they love his other ideas, like free college.”
Sensing an opportunity, other Democrat candidates have been beating their way to the union hall, a large building next to a wedding chapel and pawnshop at the north end of the Strip.
Amy Klobuchar, who thinks universal Medicare is a “bad idea”, won over Mrs Ramos, who decided to vote
‘We support healthcare for all but we don’t want the sacrifices of working people to be erased in the process’
for her. “I just liked her,” she said. The power of the CWU in Nevada Democratic politics cannot be overstated. In 2016, a total of 84,000 people voted in the state’s Democrat caucuses yet more than 130,000 people – members and relatives – rely on the union for healthcare.
In a shot at Mr Sanders the union has promised to “not hand over our healthcare for promises” and circulated a “scorecard” for members setting out the candidates’ positions.
Since the CWU said it would not endorse Ms Sanders some of his online supporters have subjected members of the CWU to racist and sexist abuse.
Mr Sanders called it “unacceptable” and disowned those responsible. Bethany Khan, a CWU spokeswoman, said: “We support healthcare for all.
“We do believe healthcare should be a right. But we just don’t want the sacrifices of working people, who worked hard for it, to be erased in the process.
“Right now, the choice is with the members. We gave them the scorecard saying where candidates are on important issues. It’s up to them.”
The union will get behind whichever Democrat wins the nomination. She said: “We are the largest political force in Nevada and we are in a great position to defeat Trump in November.”
Mr Sanders faced a similar problem in 2016 when the union also decided not to endorse anyone.
He narrowly lost Nevada to Hillary Clinton, who made late night visits to workers in casino laundry rooms, drumming up support.
Elizabeth Warren could be well placed to take votes from Mr Sanders after savaging rival Michael Bloomberg in an on-air debate.
It was notable that Mr Sanders and Mr Bloomberg were the only leading candidates not to join the picket line outside the Palms Casino.
Some ill feeling remains between the union and the Sanders campaign, but he will be very hard to beat.