Posted on 02/24/2003 2:45:15 PM PST by Jean S
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) - AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said Monday he is asking the federation's 65 member unions to hold off making presidential endorsements, even as several Democrats hopefully made their cases to union executives.
Union leaders from across the country are gathering at Diplomat Hotel and Resort this week for the AFL-CIO's winter executive council meeting.
Many of the Democrats' eight announced presidential contenders for 2004 are eager to take advantage of so many labor activists in one place and are traveling to Hollywood to court key union allies necessary for a Democrat to succeed politically.
Sweeney said he wants unions "to stay unified and not to make any early decisions until they have as good an idea as possible as to where their members stand."
Labor officials heard Monday from Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun.
"There are some candidates that have had strong ties with the labor movement for a long time," Sweeney acknowledged. "But we want to make sure that whatever step we take, that it will be with the confidence that our membership is behind."
That didn't stop Democrats from trying.
"I think they're looking for somebody who sees things through their eyes and will fight for working families," Edwards said. "I think they're looking for somebody who's really willing to take this fight to George Bush."
Moseley-Braun said she has "the vision to lead the country out of the doldrums that we are currently in. My message is one to restoring hope to the people and giving people the notion that we really can turn this economy around and put this country on the right track."
Lieberman said labor leaders want to beat Bush in 2004, and he considers himself the Democrat who can.
"The prevailing mood here is that the Bush administration has been not only a disaster in general for our economy but has particularly made life much harder for working people, middle-class Americans," Lieberman said.
Gephardt, who is spending four days here, said his visit with union officials "is going well, real well," as he left a meeting of union political directors.
Andy Stern, president of the AFL-CIO's largest union, the Service Employees International Union with 1.5 million members, said he is happy to see the candidates develop serious universal health care proposals. That's important to his union, which represents a large number of health care workers as well as low-wage workers who don't have coverage.
The Democrat who takes on President Bush in 2004 also has to "pass the hang test, which is, you've got to go out and be able to be with workers," Stern said.
In 2000, Al Gore "never really passed that test. Bush did," he said. "He puts on those boots and his belt buckles and swaggers around the ranch and tries to convince us he's just a regular old guy," Stern said.
Gephardt, a longtime labor ally, has a lot to say to union members about his record on trade and other issues important to labor. Still, he doesn't have a lock on the labor vote, although he's been more bold in recent weeks on issues such as health care, taxes and the minimum wage, to the delight of unions, Stern said.
Teamsters union officials had lunch with Gephardt on Monday. He and Teamsters President James P. Hoffa are longtime friends, and both attended law school at the University of Michigan.
"None of the candidates are any better on our issues than Gephardt," political director Mike Mathis said. He said his union will poll members in early primary states in the next month before it decides when and if it will endorse.
Former Vermont governor Howard Dean, expected Tuesday, also is generating a lot of interest. "What he believes in he's not afraid of," said Stern. He likened Dean to Sen. John McCain, whose no-nonsense style attracted a large number of independent voters in the 2000 GOP presidential primary.
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AP Writer Ken Thomas contributed to this report.
On the Net: AFL-CIO: http://www.aflcio.org
Teamsters: http://www.teamsters.org
AP-ES-02-24-03 1716EST
Your headline doesn't match what the article says, you are guilty of deliberate distortion...in plain English you are a liar.
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I suggest switching to decaf. Thanks, AM
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You sound like and elitist who is out of touch with reality.
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