LAS VEGAS, May 16 - As Senator John Kerry courted one of the unions most skeptical about his presidential candidacy with promises to enforce the nation's trade agreements, the group's president, James P. Hoffa, offered a simple hint about how to win over his members: tap Representative Richard A. Gephardt as a running mate.þþMr. Hoffa, president of the Teamsters union, said he had made this suggestion several times, most recently at a private meeting with Mr. Kerry here on Sunday. Calling Mr. Gephardt, who was the Teamsters' first pick before his presidential hopes collapsed in Iowa, a ÿfine manÿ and a ÿgreat partnerÿ for Mr. Kerry, Mr. Hoffa said the choice would help not only in Mr. Gephardt's home state, Missouri, but also in the critical battleground of Ohio.þþMr. Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee, praised Mr. Gephardt not once but four times during his speech to some 1,000 Teamsters in a darkened hall at a convention center attached to the Bally's here.þþÿThis particular leader is one of those who I think is one of the most decent, one of the most honest, one of the most committed and passionate advocates of the cause of neighbors, real citizens, people in the streets, people in the schools, people working hard to make a living in this country,ÿ Mr. Kerry said of Mr. Gephardt, who was in the audience and was one of at least three men being vetted as possible running mates. ÿHe has never wavered, never not understood his mission.ÿþþThe effusive tribute to Mr. Gephardt, who was critical of Mr. Kerry's record on trade and other labor issues during the Democratic primaries, was part of Mr. Kerry's appeal to the Teamsters: He won their endorsement in Wisconsin on Feb. 17, but he is still seeking members' hearts.þþIn a statement distributed by President Bush's re-election campaign, Jerry Hood, a former special assistant to the Teamsters president, said, ÿRank-and-file union members that I talk to see John Kerry for who he really is, a limousine liberal who likes to be on every side of every issue, but at the end of the day does not side with working families.ÿ þþMr. Kerry began his remarks here with a personal pitch, revealing that he had been a union member when he took a summer job loading trucks at a store in Somerville, Mass., between semesters at Yale.þþÿLittle known to any of you, maybe, is the fact that for a few years I shared membership in the Teamsters, I was a Teamsters cardholder,ÿ he said. ÿI learned how to wheel one of those electric carts around with a pallet filled up to the top, and take those turns, and race with other people.ÿþþIn a 40-minute speech devoted mainly to trade and health care, Mr. Kerry repeatedly denounced the Bush administration, saying it lacked a job-creation plan.þþÿThe president talks about steady leadership - well, steadily losing jobs is not real leadership,ÿ he said to wild applause. ÿNow they're running on the promise that they'll keep doing more of the same. This is like the Red Sox saying, 'Let's see if we can go another 86 years without a World Series.' ÿþþInvoking the police officers, firefighters and emergency medical workers who worked and died at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, Mr. Kerry said, ÿEvery single one of them was a member of organized labor and believed in the right to organize, the right to bargain, the right to do better.ÿþþÿHow quick they are to make a speech about heroes, how quick they are to offer words that extol the virtues of the patriotism that was shown on that day,ÿ he said of unnamed opponents. ÿI think the way you honor them and the way you honor our country is by keeping faith with what they fought for.ÿþþTrade was a sticky issue for Mr. Kerry throughout the primaries, and now he must balance the need to motivate union members, who will become the spine of the Democrats get-out-the-vote effort, while appealing to the more moderate voters likely to swing the election. That conundrum was evident when an applause-less silence fell over the room after Mr. Kerry triumphantly announced one of the core components of his economic plan: - cutting taxes for 99 percent of American corporations.þþThe response was much better when Mr. Kerry, who voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement and other trade pacts, said he would not sign the current version of the Central American Free Trade Agreement, or any future agreements that lacked labor and environmental standards.þþSpeaking to reporters before the speech, Mr. Hoffa said that Mr. Kerry had told him, ÿTrust me, I know we've got to change the way we do business,ÿ though he did not make any specific promises. þþÿHe's going to be fine on trade,ÿ Mr. Hoffa said. ÿIn the future he will have a different record.ÿþþþþ
Source: NY Times
