By The Prowler on 2.7.03 @ 12:04AM
The abandonment of Dick Gephardt.
Rep. Dick Gephardt's political campaign staff
were in the midst of planning their big official coming out party
for sometime in February when word came down that before they'd
really begun running, their man had been hit with a huge
setback.
Word coming out on Wednesday that Gerald
McEntee, head of the American Federation of State, County
and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), was backing Sen. John
Kerry is a huge blow to Gephardt, who was counting on
organized labor -- particularly the AFL-CIO (of which AFSCME is a
part and where McEntee serves as political chairman) -- as part of
his base. And while the AFL-CIO won't be making any decisions any
time soon, the AFSCME move certainly gives Kerry an edge for
future, bigger support from labor unions.
"Our base just got a whole lot shakier," said a Gephardt adviser
on Thursday morning after taking stock of the situation. "In Iowa"
--where the first caucus will be held, and where Gephardt was
thought to have an edge -- "this might not have hurt him, but this
early, when the campaign hasn't really started, man, it can't be
easy."
Some Gephardt people were downplaying the McEntee backing of
Kerry, saying it was a pre-ordained deal when the Massachusetts
Democrat brought one of the party's high profile media advisers,
Jim Margolis, on board. "Margolis has made a lot
of money off of labor. This shouldn't be that big a surprise," says
a Democratic National Committee staffer who has done work for
Gephardt over the years.
But for McEntee to back Kerry is a bigger deal, if only because
there were more labor-friendly candidates in the mix. And because
McEntee's comments come out so early in the process. Assuming
McEntee continues to talk up Kerry, it gives Kerry's grassroots
operations across the country a pool of donors and volunteers
should AFSCME steer its members toward a candidate the home office
is backing. "All of sudden, Kerry is looking even bigger than he
already was," says the DNC source. "And you just know that everyone
is going to be comparing Kerry to Clinton now."
That's because McEntee was one of the first national union
bosses to back Bill Clinton's candidacy in
1992.
As for Gephardt, it's fair to note he hadn't really begun
working his organized labor connections. Yet even in Iowa, he
hadn't received firm commitments from unions for his candidacy. If
one thing was clear, it was that his past relationships weren't
going to guarantee him anything.
topics:
Bill Clinton, Unions
