http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/5460043.html
Edwards: Union Support Split in Nevada
By RYAN NAKASHIMA Associated Press Writer
© 2008 The Associated PressLAS VEGAS — Hours before a televised debate, presidential hopeful John Edwards said Tuesday he liked his chances in union-strong Nevada, despite a key endorsement for rival Sen. Barack Obama and a lawsuit that could throw a wrench into the tight Jan. 19 caucus race.
Edwards, in his first visit to Nevada since December, shrugged off the endorsement by the 60,000-member Culinary Workers Union, and his campaign said he had amassed support from national unions that have 28,000 workers here.
"I think union support is relatively evenly divided here in Nevada," Edwards said outside a restaurant where he greeted supporters. "I've got carpenters and steelworkers and transit workers. They'll work hard for me."
The former vice-presidential candidate declined to weigh in on a lawsuit filed by Nevada teachers over some special caucus locations on the Las Vegas Strip that were to allow casino industry workers to participate without going far from their workplaces.
The teachers association argued the sites would unfairly favor workers in one industry over others.
Critics have said the timing of the suit, two days after the Culinary endorsed Obama over Edwards and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, showed it was a blatant attempt by Clinton supporters to blunt the union's effectiveness.
"I don't know anything about the nuances of the lawsuit, but my belief is that we ought to do everything in our power to ensure that anyone who wants to caucus and is eligible to caucus gets to caucus," Edwards said. "Ultimately it's for the party to decide."
A recent poll in the Reno Gazette-Journal showed that the race for the Democratic nod was a dead heat in Nevada, with Obama receiving 32 percent support, followed by Clinton with 30 percent and Edwards with 27 percent. The poll had an error margin of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
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