DENVER (AP) -- Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter met with AFL-CIO President John Sweeney on Monday and promised to work with him to resolve organized labor's objections to the choice of Denver as the site of the Democratic National Convention next year.þþRitter said he and Sweeney discussed the lack of union workers at area hotels, problems over contracts with stage hands and the temporary use of union labor at the main convention venue, the Pepsi Center.þþThey also discussed Ritter's decision to veto a bill that would have made it easier to form union shops. The Democratic governor said he made no commitments other than to continue talks with unions.þþDenver's bid for the 2008 convention nearly collapsed because the leader of the stagehands union balked at signing a pledge not to strike if the convention were held at the Pepsi Center, where the work force is not unionized.þþA compromise was negotiated to staff the Pepsi Center entirely with union labor for the duration of the convention.þþSweeney declined to say what the union would do if agreements aren't reached on the outstanding issues, including the hiring of union stagehands for the convention and signing a contract with the Hyatt Hotel, the main hotel for delegates.þþ''I really am very optimistic that not just the hotel issue, but that many of these issues that relate directly to the convention, that every effort will be made to resolve them and I'd like to focus on that and not talk about what if,'' Sweeney said.þþ^--------þþCHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -- Democratic presidential contender John Edwards on Monday called for new steps to end atrocities in Sudan and criticized rivals who haven't offered specifics on their policies.þþEdwards said the United States and its NATO allies need to impose multilateral sanctions against the Sudanese government and a no-fly zone over the country's Darfur region. He also urged leaders to put a U.N. peacekeeping force on the ground to end the fighting that has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced millions.þþ''This is a huge moral issue for America and the world,'' Edwards said during a radio town hall held at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. ''We, along with others, have stood by and watched it continue.''þþThe former North Carolina senator also issued a thinly veiled criticism of his rivals.þþ''Instead of just using rhetoric, I hope that they'll have specific proposals,'' Edwards said. ''If you don't have specific proposals, you're not ready to be president of the United States.''þþHis remarks come just three days before the first Democratic primary debate in South Carolina.þþEdwards urged the United States to join the peace process in Uganda, where leaders are seeking reconciliation after a two-decade insurgency has displaced 2 million people. Edwards visited the east African country last year.þþ^------þþTALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney lavished praise on Florida Republican Gov. Charlie Crist on Monday as he looked ahead to the possibility the state will move up its presidential primary.þþ''The more popular he is and the closer I can get to him the better I'm going to do,'' Romney said during a news conference with Crist, whose approval ratings have been in the 70s.þþRomney spoke with state lawmakers, highlighted his Florida campaign team and devoted some attention to a critical Florida issue -- the creation of a national catastrophe insurance fund.þþHe left no doubt that the talk of moving up the Florida primary is part of his overall strategy in winning the presidency.þþ''Florida is going to have a big say in who is going to be the nominee in each of the parties so I want to be in Florida as often as I can be,'' Romney said.þþState lawmakers are working on legislation that could move the primary to Jan. 29, putting it ahead of California, New York and New Jersey, which have moved up to Feb. 5.þþ''The sooner the primary, the more attention the state is going to get,'' Romney told a crowd of about 450 Republicans during a stop in Sarasota Monday evening.þþCrist hasn't endorsed a candidate, though Romney, Rudy Giuliani and John McCain campaigned for him last fall. Romney, then chairman of the Republican Governors Association, gave the state Republican party a $1 million check to help Crist's effort.þþ
Source: NY Times
