WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 — Leaders of two of the nation's largest and most politically sophisticated unions vowed Wednesday to flood early primary states with volunteers and cash on behalf of Howard Dean, predicting that their endorsements could narrow the nine-person Democratic presidential contest.þþÿNot that we have asked other candidates to drop out, but we hope that this will begin to winnow the field,ÿ said Gerald W. McEntee, the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.þþMr. McEntee promised ÿboots on the ground and blood and treasureÿ in Iowa, where his union alone has 20,000 members, many of them experienced in the intricacies of that state's caucus system. In addition to asking the union's 1.4 million members to contribute directly to Dr. Dean's campaign, Larry Scanlon, government employees' political director, said he had budgeted $1 million for independent expenditures in Iowa, and $7.5 million for the primaries over all.þþThe other major group announcing its support on Wednesday, the Service Employees International Union, is the largest union in New Hampshire, with 7,500 members, and its 1.6 million members nationwide have traditionally been crucial campaign assets as volunteer organizers.þþÿThis is — you know it — the most important election of our lifetime,ÿ Mr. McEntee said in a gilded ballroom at the Mayflower Hotel that was flooded by hundreds of members of the service and government employees' unions, and the International Union of Painters of Allied Trades, which is also backing Dr. Dean, the former governor of Vermont. ÿThis man of Vermont has the best chance to beat Bush.ÿþþThe endorsements are the first serious sign of support from Democratic Party stalwarts for Dr. Dean, who has run an anti-Washington campaign. They will also block his chief rival in the Iowa caucuses, Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, from gaining an overall endorsement from the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations.þþStill, Mr. Gephardt has the backing of 20 international unions, and on Wednesday picked up the nod from Iowa's branch of the United Auto Workers, giving him the support of 95,000 union members in Iowa.þþÿWe still have many, many more,ÿ said Steve Elmendorf, Mr. Gephardt's campaign manager. ÿWe said from the beginning, we're not going to get every labor endorsement. You can't get everybody.ÿþþFor Dr. Dean, the endorsing unions' racially diverse and low-income membership could also help combat criticism that his insurgent campaign, organized largely over the Internet, appeals mainly to highly educated white voters.þþÿOur best entrée that we have into the minority community is the labor movement,ÿ Dr. Dean said in an interview last week. ÿWe do things in organizing that they can't do and they do things we can't do.ÿ þþAboard his campaign plane on Tuesday evening, Dr. Dean called the endorsements ÿenormous,ÿ explaining, ÿIt's the first time that really important establishment figures have decided that we can win, and not only can we win but we're the best choice to beat George Bush.ÿþþAt the Mayflower on Wednesday afternoon, a dozen union leaders, most of them black or Latino, stood behind the podium, their green ÿA.F.S.C.M.E.ÿ T-shirts, purple ÿS.E.I.U.ÿ button-downs and black painters' hard hats adorned with blue-and-gold Dean stickers.þþÿDon't you think black and purple and green look just great?ÿ Dr. Dean asked, as hoots and hollers filtered in from the hundreds in the hotel hallway who had been barred from the ballroom by fire marshals.þþThose who spoke said they had been convinced to back Dr. Dean because of his plan for universal health insurance, his early and solid stance against the Iraq war, and his ability to compete against President Bush in fund-raising, in part by abandoning the public-financing system and shedding the $45 million spending limits in the primaries.þþÿAs a doctor, he has seen health care from the bedside and as a governor, he's provided it to almost all of the citizens of his state,ÿ said Andrew Stern, the president of service employees union, which includes more than 700,000 health care workers. ÿAfter Nov. 4, there will be a doctor in the house — the White House, that is.ÿþþMr. McEntee, who had flirted with endorsing Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts and Gen. Wesley K. Clark, said electability had been the critical issue.þþAfter the events, as Dr. Dean waited for his plane to take off, he was already on the phone with other union leaders, hoping they would join his team.þþÿIt's so interesting in this business, you have a huge day like this and before the day is over you've got to put your foot on the accelerator, celebrate later,ÿ Dr. Dean said to his campaign manager. ÿYou sit back and watch your victories, you lose.ÿþþþþ
Source: NY Times
