Major union withdraws support from Howard Dean, official says.

APNewsAlert | February 7, 2004

[HAL9000]

Major union withdraws support from Howard Dean, official says.

MORE...

[Dog]

Hahahahaha!

[HAL9000]

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

[KantianBurke]

[counterpunch]

[HAL9000]

Union that endorsed Dean will withdraw support

The head of a major union that gave an early boost to Howard Dean's presidential campaign told the former Vermont governor on Saturday that he would withdraw his union's support, dealing a major blow to the Democrat's faltering campaign, The Associated Press has learned.

Gerald McEntee, head of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, delivered the news to Dean in a meeting with two other unions whose support has been propping up the former governor's campaign, said two Democratic officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

[Johnny_Cipher]

Think nothing of it, wealthy passenger. This ship is unsinkable. Now can I get some ice for that drink?

[Pikamax]

Union that endorsed Dean is considering withdrawing support

RON FOURNIER and DAVID ESPO, AP Political Writers
Saturday, February 7, 2004

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(02-07) 14:25 PST (AP) --

Howard Dean, his campaign in peril, struggled Saturday to prevent the defection of a powerful union that gave him an early boost in the presidential race, Democratic officials said.

These officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Gerald McEntee, who heads the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, is considering withdrawing support from the former Vermont governor.

Dean, the one-time front-runner who has yet to win a primary, has decided to make a last stand in the Feb. 17 Wisconsin primary. But the loss of ASFCME would be devastating, giving his candidacy the appearance of further unraveling even as he struggled to save it.

The officials said McEntee is worried about the impact of Dean's ailing campaign on the union. McEntee voiced his concerns in a meeting during the day with Roy Neel, Dean's campaign manager, these sources added.

AFSCME spokeswoman Roberta Heine had no comment on the union's plans, but said of the meeting: "They discussed the future of the campaign and they reaffirmed their commitment to beating George Bush."

Andy Stern, who heads the Service Employees International Union, also attended the meeting. He has been campaigning with Dean in Wisconsin in recent days and his continued support did not appear to be in doubt.

In a telephone interview, Neel said that Dean would have more resources at his disposal in Wisconsin than any of his rivals, front-runner John Kerry included.

"We're going to be up in the air with television advertising within 48 hours, Tuesday at the latest," he said.

"We've got an enormous ground operation there. We have collapsed all of our field staff from earlier states" into Wisconsin

In addition, he said Wisconsin is a "good progressive state" that should be receptive to Dean's anti-establishment message.

After faltering in Iowa and New Hampshire, Dean made little effort to compete in Saturday's caucuses in Michigan or Washington. Nor does he plan to contest primaries next Tuesday in Virginia and Tennessee.

In an early-morning e-mail on Thursday, he told his Internet-savvy supporters he would make Wisconsin his last stand and appealed for a fresh infusion of cash to buy advertising needed to contest Kerry there.

[John Jorsett]

Which branch of the service is Major Union in?

[thoughtomator]

The Latrines... Semper Flush

[SierraWasp]

"American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees"

THE DOMESTIC ENEMY WITHIN!!! (Especially in CA!)

[Dog]

LOL!

[Cicero]

AFSCME, one of the sleaziest unions in the country.

[Parley Baer]

The Big Union support for Dick Gephart did nothing for him. He didn't get past first base. Sounds to my like "BIG UNION" support is a bust. Parley

[Tamzee]

Oh, wow! Great cartoons on your homepage! Is it okay to link to them on threads?

I think "Liberal Hearts" is my very favorite! It would also make a great weight loss tool if you print it out and put it on your fridge ;-)

[Pikamax]

Foxnews confirms the union withdraws its support.

[John Jorsett]

I bet a lot of the early endorsers are wishing they'd kept their mouths shut. They look like fools for backing a complete loser.

[Wally_Kalbacken]

Wisconsin is a very wacky state. I looked at the 2000 vote in Dane County (home to UW Madison, tens of thousands of state employees) - and while Bush lost the state to Gore by approximately 5,000 votes - he lost Dane County by about 50,000. Enormous imbalance in that place - and a lot of Farm & Labor Party wackos (and worse) there who will turn out for Dean. I'd love to see Wisconsin give Dean some delegates so he can fork up the convention.

[counterpunch]

sure, that's why they're there... however my freeserver has a 2GB transfer limit per month, and I've done 1.7GB in about 6 days... I figure that to be over 30,000 views.

I don't know what will happen once I hit the 2GB limit, which could be as early as the end of today... they might block my images until the beginning of March. :/

It's the only freeserver I know of that allows hotlinking, too.

Hopefully people are emailing my 'toons to their friends and such as well.

[counterpunch]

I wouldn't want to get labeled as "conservative"!

LOL

It's meant for a wider audience who would probably just say "Who's Ann Coulter??"

Though it was indeed her column calling Kerry a "gigolo" that inspired it.