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Two big unions endorse dean { November 13 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33649-2003Nov12.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33649-2003Nov12.html Two Big Unions Announce Dean Endorsement By Edward Walsh Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, November 13, 2003; Page A08 Two politically influential labor unions formally endorsed Howard Dean for the Democratic presidential nomination yesterday, providing the former Vermont governor with an organizational structure and a large network of volunteer workers for a contest that begins in Iowa and New Hampshire in little more than two months. "We will work like hell night and day to make him our nominee," Gerald W. McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), told a cheering union audience as he introduced Dean. The endorsements by AFSCME, whose board voted unanimously yesterday to support Dean, and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) were expected and were the latest indication of Dean's status as the front-runner for the nomination. The unions, the AFL-CIO'S two largest, have a combined membership of 3 million and represent more than 30,000 workers in Iowa, where the nomination process begins with Jan. 19 caucuses, and more than 10,000 in New Hampshire, site of the first presidential primary Jan. 27. Yesterday's endorsement announcement quickly turned into a political rally as Dean, wearing a purple SEIU jacket and a green AFSCME shirt and carrying a black hard hat of the Painters and Allied Trades Union, entered the room. The painters union had endorsed Dean earlier. Accusing President Bush of dividing the country and of being interested only in benefiting his "cronies," Dean said the 2004 election "is going to change America because it's going to put working people back in the driver's seat in this country." Dean vowed to energize people who have given up voting, turning out millions of new voters next year to give Bush "a one-way bus ticket back to Crawford, Texas." "We need to start with our base," he said, echoing the comments of Democratic rival Al Sharpton. "We need to start with the people who brought us to the dance, who built the Democratic Party -- women, African Americans, Latinos and the labor movement. . . . There is no reason to back off being a strong supporter of organized labor." The SEIU's board voted last week to endorse Dean, but at McEntee's suggestion it delayed a formal announcement of its decision until AFSCME could vote yesterday and the two unions could announce their endorsements together. SEIU President Andrew L. Stern said his organization, the largest union of nurses and other health care workers in the country, is "totally comfortable" with Dean's positions on health care issues. Referring to Dean, a physician, Stern said, "After November 4 there will be a doctor in the house -- the White House." Joe Trippi, Dean's campaign manager, described yesterday's union endorsements as signaling a "sea change that's coming in our grass-roots organization" and said, "These are three groups of working men and women who put a lot of feet on the ground." Trippi said that Dean has moved to the front of the Democratic field because his rivals underestimated him and that Dean would not make the same mistake. "I wouldn't want to trade places with any of them, but we take all of them seriously," he said. The union endorsements were a particular blow to the aspirations of Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.), who entered the presidential contest with the strongest ties to organized labor among the Democratic contenders. Gephardt has been endorsed by 20 international unions, but he coveted the backing of AFSCME and the SEIU. The only other Democratic candidate who has official labor support is Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), who has been endorsed by the firefighters and utility workers unions. According to Trippi, the Dean campaign received pledges of more than $1 million over the past few days after Dean's announcement that he will forgo public financing of his campaign, freeing him from spending limits. © 2003 The Washington Post Company

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