In the political non-event of the year, the Culinary Union announced a media extravaganza to reveal their endorsement in the 2020 presidential election. A press conference was duly held for the Culinary to disclose that it was 
endorsing … nobody. It could be regarded as a diss of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D), as the Culinary implicitly repudiated Medicare for All. It demanded “choices” in health care. As a source close to the union put it, the Culinary wants to communicate to its members “who wants to risk the health care they have fought for and who doesn’t.” Said Culinary Secretary-Treasurer Geoconda Argüello-Kline, “We are going to endorse our goals. We are not going to endorse a candidate.” Big whoop. The non-move was supposedly taken at the behest of Culinary consigliere Harry Reid, who has benefited from robust union support in the past.
If Sanders nor Warren got a boost, Joe Biden received damnation with faint praise. Argüello-Kline characterized him as somebody who “has been our friend,” adding “we respect every single political candidate right now” (except Donald Trump). Biden needs to win the Nevada caucuses this weekend and the Culinary’s kiss-off may spell doom. Meanwhile, the talk of health-care “choices” redounds to the favor of surging Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) and Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D), who is ramping up his Silver State campaign—100 new field workers—at the last possible minute.
Sanders, for his part, sent a long and conciliatory message to Culinary, with whom he has clashed in the near past. “I very much appreciate the 
struggle that the Culinary Union is waging to improve the lives of working families in Nevada and throughout this country, and I agree with their key goals,” it read in part. Both Buttigieg and Sanders are airing Spanish-language ads in the states. Said one Democratic operative of the Sanders campaign, “They are pretty well oiled. They’re not running a rag-tag shop. They have all sorts of capacity.” We’ll see how much capacity in about 48 hours or so.
As for Biden’s fading hopes, the Culinary is thought to be preserving its clout by not being associated with an underperforming candidate. “If the union thought it could make a difference, it would,” said a Democratic Party source. “Bernie Sanders basically tied in Iowa, he won New Hampshire and he has momentum heading into Nevada. So there’s not much incentive for the union to get involved now.” Sorry, Joe.
