It's a bit of inside baseball, but Jon Ralston of the Las Vegas Sun has probably the most important column of the day on the battle that threatens to rip apart one of Nevada's most powerful unions:

The media surged forward, surrounding Sen. Hillary Clinton and Assemblyman Ruben Kihuen, as they walked along 22nd Street in eastern Las Vegas in a neighborhood dominated by Hispanics and heavily populated with Culinary Union workers.

An intense look on his face, an emphatic tone in his voice, Kihuen sought to reassure the presidential hopeful the union that had created him as a politician was not a potent, monolithic force that could destroy her chances here.

"I cannot emphasize to you enough, Senator, how the Hispanic workers in the Culinary are loyal to you," Kihuen whispered. "They are loyal to the Culinary, but they will vote for you."

In that brief moment, amid a spectacle never before seen in a valley neighborhood, on the first day of an unprecedented battle for Nevada, both the stakes and the ironies became clear.

Here was a presidential hopeful - who had lost the Democratic Party's most important endorsement a day earlier to Sen. Barack Obama - alighting in the state and diving right into the heart of Culinary country for votes. And here was the definitive local rising Democratic star sending a message to a union that united to almost single-handedly elect him last cycle that he was intent on dividing that organization for the greater purpose of electing Clinton as president.

To see Kihuen stick a thumb in the eye of his patrons and begin an attempt to divide the Hispanic community - and split the subset of Latinos who work in the union - surely will produce wounds that could rip apart the core of the party here.

The Culinary Union put its prestige and muscle on the line by backing Obama, and failure to produce a victory for him now will be a significant blow. And yet, the 60,000 member strong union is heavily Latino and 58% women, which highlights the competing interests that are now swirling through Nevada political circles in what has suddenly become a very important contest for the Democratic nomination.