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Vegas caucus rowdy as Obama, Clinton fans clash

BY LETTA TAYLER | letta.tayler@newsday.com

4:41 PM EST, January 19, 2008

LAS VEGAS - The shouting matches erupted even before casino caucus-goers pronounced Hillary Clinton the winner by a two-to-one margin.

As members of the powerful Culinary Workers Union, which endorsed Barack Obama, registered teddy-clad cocktail servers and white-capped cooks in the Paris casino ballroom, workers from a rival union burst in to distribute signs and T-shirts for Clinton and lead her followers in pro-Clinton chants.

"Stop trying to split up our union!" Raymond Wadsworth, a burly, laid-off pantry worker at Bally's casino, bellowed at a tiny, female agitator from the pro-Clinton AFSCME. That stands for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

"Hillary Clinton has never walked a picket line!" Wadsworth shouted, adding that as president, Bill Clinton failed to intervene in a bitter strike years ago at the now-defunct Frontier casino here. "But Obama has walked the line!"

"She has too walked a picket line!" the agitator shot back of Clinton.

"Obama! Go! Go! Go!" chanted workers on one side of the ballroom.

"H-I-L-L-A-R-Y! Our nominee!" chanted workers on the other.

"I never had sex with that woman!" Obama supporters shouted back, in reference to Bill Clinton's famous line about White House intern Monica Lewinsky, as the room dissolved into a cacophony of boos and cheers.

The drama in the Paris, big enough to eclipse the giant replica of the Eiffel tower out front, underscored the bitter race between the two leading Democrats to win the Democratic caucuses in Nevada, the first contest since Obama won Iowa and Clinton captured New Hampshire.

In addition to regular caucusing sites, nine casinos on the neon-lit strip for the first time created special precincts so gaming-industry workers could take a couple of hours to participate in the 11:30 a.m. contest without missing their shifts. Clinton supporters sued unsuccessfully to block the measure, which was expected to boost chances for Obama because many gaming-industry workers belong to the 60,000-strong Culinary Workers Union.

For days, Clinton's campaign had complained that the Culinary union was pressuring employees to vote for Obama - particularly Hispanics, a growing demographic that is being heavily courted by all Democratic contenders and that represents more than 40 percent of union members. Hispanics could serve as tie-breakers not only in the Democratic caucus here but in many heavily Latino states in the general elections.

At the Paris ballroom caucus, some Clinton supporters said they had been pressured but not intimidated by union stewards. Based on the final count of 213-98 for Clinton, most held their ground.

"Sure they tried to persuade me to vote for Obama. But hey, I'm from New York. Nobody pushes me around," declared Nicky Niculescu, 38, a cocktail server and former Flushing resident. She was among several caucus-goers wearing tee-shirts and waving signs that both read, "I Support My Union, I Support Hillary."

"It's a free country and you can vote for who you want," said Teresa Reyes, 37, a Mexican-American pantry worker at the Paris. Reyes said she had received numerous phone calls from Clinton supporters urging her to break from the union endorsement but said she would have, anyway.

"She's got good past experience as a first lady and a woman always listens to her man," she said. "In this case, her man was a great president."

Bill Clinton had toured the Paris and other casinos shortly before the vote.

Embittered Obama supporters said it was the Clinton camp that had twisted arms. "They were complaining about us but it was the other way around," said Franciny Payan, 44. A Paris porter, Payan said she backed Obama not because of the union endorsement but because of Clinton's waffling on New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer's fleeting proposal to give driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants, and because of Clinton supporters' lawsuit against the at-large precincts.

"She doesn't really care about the Latinos," Payan said. "She's with the rich. Obama is with the poor."

But not all Obama supporters were crushed. "Clinton is still a democrat," said Alvaro Carrillo, 42, a dishwasher at the Paris. "So even though I think Obama would be a better leader, it's not such a bad thing."

Largely unnoticed in the fray were the four caucus-goers for John Edwards, who is trailing at third in most national and Nevada polls. Said Edwards supporter John Herroy, 19, a Planet Hollywood host, "It's lonely over here."