Endorsements and porn

Endorsements can be tricky things. Your sister endorsing "Transformers" is one thing. The endorsement of Larry King, who never saw a movie he didn't find "Stupendous!," is another.

Rudy Giuliani re-learned the danger of endorsements Tuesday when the phone number of one of his endorsers turned up in the big black book of the D.C. madam who ran a busted escort service. And Mayor Villaraigosa's endorsement of Hillary Clinton was tarnished by revelations about his own extra-marital affair. The larger presidential campaigns have entire teams of people who are supposed to be Googling and checking the backgrounds of would-be endorsers and even donors, name by name.

But as The Times' veteran political reporter Mark Barabak reveals in this morning's Column One and right here on this website, there's one particular endorsement in Nevada that any Democratic presidential candidate would love to have. It's D. Taylor, head of the Culinary Workers Union Local 226, Nevada's largest union and most powerful political organization.

Barabak's profile of D. Taylor (his mother thought the family already had sufficient Donalds) tells an increasingly rare labor success story, defying decades of decline. Thanks to Las Vegas' boom, the Culinary Union has 60,000 members. It's growing. And Taylor, a 50-year-old khaki-clad model of inconspicuous consumption, finds himself in demand from folks like Bill Richardson, Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama.

The Democrats awarded Nevada the early presidential caucus date, Jan. 19, in part to... 

give its longtime ally organized labor more clout in the nominating process. Taylor, Barabak finds, is the youngest of four children who originally wanted to be a spy. He earned his first paycheck at 14 from Kentucky Fried Chicken. Now, the union reformer who helped clean up the organization makes $140,000 a year and is hobnobbing with would-be next presidents.

In the absence of the old political city machines, there's some doubt in many minds that endorsements matter much anymore, at least beyond the immediate organization involved. Clinton's presidential campaign may hope so. She received another endorsement recently, presumably unsolicited.

From Jenna Jameson. THAT Jenna Jameson. The porn star. In an interview on PR.com the blonde businesswoman said she does not like to label herself a Democrat. But it may not surprise some to learn that the adult actress describes herself as "extremely liberal."

For some reason the actress was asked which Democratic candidate she prefers. To the extreme relief of all the others, Jameson replied, "I love Hillary."

Jameson, who has starred in such epics as "Janine Loves Jenna," pines for another Clinton presidency. "The Clinton Administration was the best years for the adult industry," she says, "and I wish that Clinton would run again. I would love to have him back in office."

Republicans are different, she says, in a reverse kind of endorsement that some conservatives might relish. "When Republicans are in office, the problem is, a lot of times they try to put their crosshairs on the adult industry to make a point. It's sad."

--Andrew Malcolm

Photo: Jenna Jameson; Credit: Johannes Simon / Getty Images