The American Spectator

Washington Prowler

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"It's embarrassing for Dean, but it's not embarrassing if we jump horses midstream," says an AFSCME lobbyist in Washington. "You think [John] Kerry is going to turn us down? We went first with the man who best suited our interests. If we change, we say we're now supporting the man who has shown he can address our top priority, and that is the end of the Bush administration."

AFL-CIO president John Sweeney has said little about where his union -- of which AFSCME and the SEIU are a part -- stands on an overall endorsement. Many of the AFL-CIO's manufacturing unions had endorsed Rep. Dick Gephardt, and many of those unions began looking to Sen. John Edwards in the aftermath of his strong showing in Iowa.

"Despite the wrangling, organized labor is going to end up backing the winner. It has to," says a DNC fundraiser. "If Kerry is the frontrunner, you're going to see labor jump on his bandwagon fast, because without a strong, labor-backed Democratic candidate, the party doesn't have a strong candidate. The candidates understand that, the unions understand that, and the party understands that."

p> KERRY'S CAROLINA COUP br> The endorsement from South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn would appear to seal the deal for Sen. John Kerry in next week's primary there. Clyburn is expected of mobilize the African-American vote for Kerry in the Palmetto State, putting him over the top and allowing him to edge out homegrown Sen. John Edwards . Kerry camp insiders believe a win in South Carolina and in Missouri next week will all but end the campaign for the Democratic nomination. /p>

"It's about big-footing the competition, and a win down south and a big delegate haul in Missouri does that," says a Kerry insider in Washington. "We're looking at a big, national campaign-style media buy in Missouri for the next week. We're looking at hitting all the right notes. If we do over the next ten days what we did in Iowa and New Hampshire, Dean and Edwards are toast February 4, the 8th by the latest, and are begging for a role in our presidential campaign."

topics:
Africa, Unions