(Cross-posted at The Field.)
While the Sunday talk shows, most pundits and bloggers have been stuck on re-runs from the 2007 season all day (Race-baiting? The candidates’ Iraq war stances? Nothing new there, move along), the Nevada press increasingly sees the lawsuit by Clinton supporters against the state Democratic Party as the defining narrative in the Silver State.
Las Vegas Sun political reporter Patrick Coolican quotes Obama today with the Culinary Workers union:
"Ever since I got the support of Local 226, the lawyers decided to get involved. The rules were OK when the other campaigns thought they would win the Culinary endorsement," Obama said.
"As soon as you decided to support the outsider, the working people instead of the big shots, all the sudden they decided they wanted to change the rules."
Coolican adds:
“The lawsuit looks more and more like a miscalculation by the plaintiffs -- and their backers -- and a move that could unite the Culinary Union.”
More...
Truth is, while Obama was spending time with his family in Chicago this weekend, his advisors allowed the Clinton campaign to sucker them into quarreling on what they wanted to talk about instead: identity politics and a year-old Bickersons routine about the Iraq war. The Clinton campaign thus won the morning news cycle by changing the subject away from the real hot tamale... And the Obama team fell for it!
Once the candidate got back to Nevada this afternoon, it didn’t take Obama long to hear from those on the ground on what the real explosive issue of the day is – the voter suppression lawsuit – and after waiting much too long (36 hours is a long time in this political cycle) finally weighed in on it with his own voice.
Once his chief rival said she “just doesn’t know” where she stands on the biggest issue of the day, the one that bothers the most important constituencies in the upcoming big battle less than a week away (and many nationwide as well), it was an error by Obama not to speak up sooner. But now that he’s back on the ground in Nevada, expect sparks to fly.
Halperin’s got the video.