HORSES COULDN'T DRAG THEM

Gephardt Is Set Back in Bid for A.F.L.-C.I.O. Endorsement (STEVEN GREENHOUSE, 8/03/03, NY Times)

Representative Richard A. Gephardt's push to win the endorsement of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., which is important to his hopes of winning the Democratic presidential nomination, has been set back by his problems raising money and his low standing in some polls, many union leaders say.

Mr. Gephardt of Missouri has far more individual union endorsements than any of the other eight Democratic candidates. But to win the labor federation's endorsement, he needs the backing of unions representing two-thirds of its 13 million members.

"Two-thirds is a very tough and high mountain to climb," said Gerald W. McEntee, chairman of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s political committee and president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. "My own judgment is that right now, he doesn't have two-thirds. Can he reach the two-thirds? It's a possibility, but I think it's very challenging and difficult."

Securing the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s endorsement before the primaries could give Mr. Gephardt a major leg up, political experts say, because it would place at his disposal hundreds of union campaign workers already assigned to Congressional districts across the nation. [...]

Nine unions, including the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, and the Seafarers International Union, have already endorsed Mr. Gephardt. The unions that have endorsed him represented slightly more than one million members, and then Mr. Gephardt received a highly important endorsement Friday when the executive board of the Teamsters union, which has 1.4 million members, voted to support him.

Bret Caldwell, the Teamsters' communications director, said the union's president, James P. Hoffa, would officially announce the endorsement in Detroit next Saturday. Mr. Hoffa will fly with Mr. Gephardt to Iowa, the site of the first caucus, and New Hampshire, the site of the first primary, to speak on Mr. Gephardt's behalf.

The unacknowledged winner in the Teamster endorsement deal may well be George W. Bush. Mr. Gephardt seems unlikely to be his party's nominee and primary endorsements inevitably create tension between the endorsers and those they endorsed against--John Kerry and Howard Dean in this case. Add in the prior flirtation between the Bush team and Mr. Hoffa and the near impossibility of selling a Howard Dean to the Teamster rank-and-file and you may see the President pocket a useful union endorsement next summer. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 3, 2003 7:50 PM