“I love this union,” Barack Obama exclaimed as he took the microphone in front of several hundred red-shirted, enthusiastic union members in a hot, cramped union hall.

The Culinary Workers Union, Local 226, is putting its organizational muscle behind Senator Obama’s campaign, and encouraging its 60,000 members to caucus for Obama on Saturday. Nevada has never been in the political spotlight on this level before, and so what could make this endorsement “key,” is that no one knows just how many people will come out to caucus. Estimates have ranged from 30,000 - 100,000, so 60,000, or a good portion of that number, would be helpful for the candidate.

During his speech, Obama spoke about the importance organizers have in “keeping the American dream alive for all people; not just some people,” and made it clear he is the pro-union candidate - normally the candidate does not talk about Caesar Chavez’s sacrifices for justice or walking a picket line at he Congress Hotel in Chicago. And, in a sign that Obama is no longer in Iowa, he puncuated his message by saying, “Si se puede!” Spanish for “Yes we can,” the mantra is one Obama has been repeating since his New Hampshire defeat.

Of course when in Vegas…Obama incorporated the city’s popular tourism slogan, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” into his speech. “It’s not gonna stay in Vegas anymore! We’re gonna start something in Vegas and we’re gonna send it across Nevada and across America, and everybody’s gonna know the power of a united people,” he said to thunderous applause.

Watch some of Obama’s remarks here:

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Senator Obama was also endorsed by the Nevada Service Employees International Union, which kicked off their campaign today to help Obama win the caucuses. The SEIU will phone bank, canvass, conduct caucus training, and member outreach. The SEIU represents 17,500 in the Silver State.

On Caucus Day in Iowa, it’s all about GOTV: Get Out the Vote. Hillary Clinton’s campaign has handed out more than 600 snow shovels and bought hundreds of pounds of salt to make sure sidewalks and parking lots are clear across the state; they’ve enlisted more than 5,000 drivers and rented nearly 400 SUV’s to help the 4,927 people who’ve requested a ride get to their caucus location; they’ve even arranged for babysitters to take care of supporters’ children during caucus hours of 7-9pm.

Check out Clinton Iowa Director Teresa Vilmain explaining what the campaign is doing behind the scenes on the Big Day to translate ones and twos into actual delegates — and how they’ve trained precinct captains to bring supporters from other candidates and undecideds over to team Hillary.

(Quick Explainer: campaigns separate supporters into numbered categories: 1’s and 2s are a campaign’s firm supporters, as opposed to the undecided 3’s, negative leaning 4’s, and 5’s — which Clinton spokesman Jay Carson described as people who “wouldn’t caucus for you if you gave them a million dollars and cured their kid’s cancer”)

Also listen for a bit of the expectations game (Teresa says Clinton started with zero organization in the state, compared to Edwards who retained 74% of his precinct captains from 2004), and a numerical quantification of just how sick Iowans are of all the phone calls they’re getting — which, for undecideds, can hit 15 a night.

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In his final thrust before the Iowa caucuses, John Edwards stopped at his local campaign office in Mason City, Iowa, to wish his supporters a “Happy New Year” and continue firing up the base.

The crowd, swarming around the “Mainstreet Express” bus as it pulled up to the door, chanted, “We love Elizabeth! We love John! We wanna see them on the White House lawn!”

After making his way inside, the Senator stood up on a chair to address the packed crowd of supporters.

“We need you every step of the way,” he said. “Now is not the time to let up on the gas peddle. Now is the time to push the peddle to the floor.”

This remark, of course, got quite a chuckle from the national press corps. Our media van was pulled over for speeding along an Iowa highway in its rush to make it to the event on time.

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