And yet, while organized labor membership continues to decline nationally, the union movement in Nevada has never carried so much power.

The settlement of the big labor contracts in Las Vegas has used up the bulk of Culinary Local 226's political resources so far this year.

Although several properties, including the Grand Sierra in Reno, have yet to reach deals, the Culinary can focus some of its efforts on determining which of the presidential candidates courted the union best during the noisy contract talks of the spring and summer.

The Culinary is still the most-sought endorsement in Nevada, in part because it has so many members, but also because when it puts its resources to bear, it rarely loses.

Take Lynette Boggs. Were it not for her stint on the board of non-union Station Casinos, she might still be sitting on the Clark County Commission trying to rein in rising labor costs by taking on public employee unions. Instead, the bathrobed Bible quoter is under indictment and facing potential prison time thanks in part to a union effort to nail her for living outside her district.

Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn owed many of the Democratic votes he earned in 1998 and 2002 to the Culinary.

And if anyone ever tries to take on state Sens. Maggie Carlton and Steven Horsford or Assemblywoman Peggy Pierce -- watch out. The three Democrats each have specific ties to the Culinary, and the union protects its brothers and sisters first and foremost.

The Culinary will gets its members to the Jan. 19 Democratic presidential caucus site. It'll use its weekly radio programs, its blast e-mail capabilities and good old-fashioned stewarding. Concessions will be made for voting on the Strip during the busy Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.

And while Culinary is the biggest union, it won't be the only labor show in town.

Last week, Democratic presidential candidate Chris Dodd won the endorsement of the International Association of Fire Fighters. Immediately, the underdog candidate used the endorsement to schedule a three-day, three-state tour through Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.

It was yellow-shirted firefighters who helped Sen. John Kerry secure Iowa in 2004, and Dodd thinks the union could help boost him out of single-digit obscurity.

On Dodd's first campaign swing through Nevada late last year, he stumped with IAFF President Harold Schaitberger at the Las Vegas chapter's headquarters. He was due back with his fire friends Saturday at the same location.

As a senator, Dodd sponsored the FIRE and SAFER acts, which provided billions of dollars to local fire departments for training, hiring and equipment. His sponsorship of the Family and Medical Leave Act is also revered by working families. So it seemed inevitable Dodd would be able to count firefighters in his corner.

Three years ago, before Nevada had early-state status in the presidential campaign, the Democratic caucus here essentially reflected the momentum Kerry picked up in Iowa and New Hampshire. And the efforts the IAFF made, particularly in Iowa, helped pave Kerry's way.

With the right union endorsement in Nevada, the same could still hold true in 2008, although Dodd has yet to register high enough on any Nevada polls to be in real contention to duplicate what happened to Kerry.

So far, the attention on Nevada's caucus has mostly been on the Democrats and focused on who is where, when and who is supporting whom.

That will start to shift immensely when labor begins to line up behind candidates.

If the caucus were held today in Nevada, Sen. Hillary Clinton would win. But if a major union such as the Culinary or the AFL-CIO goes with John Edwards (thanks to all that work he did for the minimum wage increase), the lead Clinton now enjoys could evaporate.

Not only could such an endorsement boost Edwards' chances, it could help Sen. Barack Obama's campaign as a outsider trying to shake up the system.

Some voters, including yours truly, would love to see Nevada pick candidates who are the best fit for Nevada. It's unlikely we'd choose the same candidate as Iowa, and we might actually make the campaign interesting until Feb. 5, when most everyone else in the country votes in primaries.

Nevada was awarded an early caucus, in part, because of its labor presence. And organized labor would love to prove it's deserving.

As another Labor Day is marked as just another day off, unions would like nothing better than to restore their clout. Nevada's caucus provides that chance. And with the state still considered a presidential battleground, the unions would love to be relevant again.

Erin Neff's column runs Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. She can be reached at (702) 387-2906 or by e-mail at eneff@reviewjournal.com.