Culinary Union boss D. Taylor says he doesn’t want to be distracted by presidential campaigns knocking on his door for his organization’s endorsement because he still has to wrap up contract negotiations on behalf of about 2,500 members. It’s a bold position for a man in a primary state with less than 11 weeks to go until votes are cast. But if anybody can afford that kind of swagger in Nevada, it’s Taylor.

The 60,000-strong Culinary will provide ready-made organizational muscle to whomever it endorses in the Nevada Democratic caucuses, and the campaigns have pulled out all the stops to curry favor with Taylor and his members. For instance, former President Bill Clinton stopped by the Culinary union hall to stump for his wife and chat with workers.

“We have to catch our breath,” Taylor told the Sun in a story to be published Monday. “I know the politicos don’t give a hoot about our contracts and just want us to endorse. But we’re coming off a difficult, eight-month campaign.”

The Culinary has inked deals with nearly the entire Strip and most of downtown, but two sets of contract talks continue to consume the union’s attention:

• The Culinary has set a strike deadline for Monday at midnight for Mission Industries, the industrial laundry that provides 85 percent of the linen used by Las Vegas tourists. Talks are stalled on health care.

• Negotiations with the new owners of the Tropicana have bogged down, and both sides are set to meet Nov. 30. Tropicana management has signaled its intention to opt out of the Culinary’s prized health care and pension plans. Culinary sources say the last time they saw this kind of rhetoric was from the anti-union owners of the Frontier, the site of the historic six-year strike.

An endorsement probably won’t happen until after Thanksgiving, he said, and Culinary officials have previously hinted an announcement will come in December. Until then, the campaigns will wait — and, well, campaign.”We’re absolutely willing to do what it takes,” said David Cohen, Barack Obama’s Nevada campaign manager. “When you build something of that size and run it that well you can move mountains.” And maybe win a caucus.