SEIU Members Choose John Edwards

by Paul Hogarth, Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 12:34:30 PM EST

At the SEIU Convention in Washington DC, members took a straw poll and chose John Edwards as their candidate.  This is not a formal endorsement; the Executive Board of the International will make a decision next week about who the endorsed candidate will be.

But SEIU has always been a "bottom-up" organization, and Andy Stern has told candidates in the past that to get their support they must earn it - by engaging their rank-and-file members.  If John Edwards gets the SEIU endorsement, it will be a huge boost.

Read more about it here.




Tags: SEIU, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, presidential primaries, endorsements (all tags)

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Permalink :: 26 Comments :: Post a Comment


Who has endorsed who? (none / 0)

I'm curious as to which interest groups (including labor unions) have endorsed which candidates.

I know Hillary has the support of EMILY's List.  I think it was the Teamsters that endorsed her.  And I think she has another big union supporting her.

Dodd got the endorsement of a major firefighters' union.

Edwards as a couple of big unions, too.


by TheUnknown285 on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 01:03:40 PM EST

HIllary was the only (none / 0)

candidate eligible for Emily's list


McCain - a serial Opportunist, from marriage to policy positions
by TarHeel on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 01:13:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: HIllary was the only (none / 0)

Yeah, I know.


by TheUnknown285 on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 01:54:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Teamsters (none / 0)

did not endorse Hillary.

They are likely to go with Edwards, as Jonathan Tasini predicted


The bold progressive leader is the most electable candidate. Reclaim the Democratic Party! Support John Edwards.
by Michael 4 Edwards on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 01:26:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Teamsters (none / 0)

Answering my own question:

Joe Biden:
[could not find any labor endorsements]

Hillary Clinton:
Civil Service Employees Union
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (Also have endorsed Mike Huckabee)
National Association of Letter Carriers
Public Employees Federation
United Transportation Union

Chris Dodd:
International Association of Firefighters

John Edwards:
Transport Workers Union of America
United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America
United Steelworkers
United Mine Workers of America

Mike Gravel:
[could not find any labor endorsements]

Dennis Kucinich:
[could not find any labor endorsements]

Barack Obama:
[could not find any labor endorsements]

Bill Richardson:
[could not find any labor endorsements]


by TheUnknown285 on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 01:54:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Teamsters (none / 0)

Also, the Transportation Communications Union endorsed Clinton. It's small (65K), mostly railway workers.

The SCEU & PEF endorsements are NY unions. The rest are internationals.


by dblhelix on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 02:57:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Teamsters (none / 0)

I was getting them mixed up with the Machinists, I think.


by TheUnknown285 on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 01:55:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Rank and File Members (none / 0)

I believe Edwards has the most union support from the total number of union members whose union has endorsed.  He is somewhere around 2 million people while Clinton is a little over 1 million.

An SEIU endorsement would be huge.  I believe he will either get the endorsement or they will decide to not endorse anyone.  Then most locals will endorse Edwards.  IMO, he is the obvious choice for working Americans.


by funphil on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 02:09:23 PM EST

Re: Rank and File Members (none / 0)

An SEIU insider, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the union won't endorse a presidential candidate today.

Edwards' California supporters were confident last night that they had the votes to make him the union's candidate -- it was Edwards or nobody -- but, according to two sources, they weren't able to pull it off over the opposition of big locals based in New York and Chicago.

That's a real loss for Edwards. The endorsement would have been a major vote of confidence and a source of institutional muscle at a time his campaign could use both, and he and his supporters inside the union pushed for it very, very hard.

The decision today -- which is expected to be announced in a 4:30 conference call -- doesn't mean the union can't endorse later in the cycle.


Educated in a small town Taught to fear Jesus in a small town Used to daydream in that small town Another born romantic that's me.
by lori on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 02:27:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Rank and File Members (none / 0)

Care to give us a link, because I'm taking what you've said with a grain of salt, especially considering your numerous pro-Hillary posts.


by TheUnknown285 on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 03:19:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Rank and File Members (none / 0)

rotflmao

am i seeing double????????????????????????????


Dare to be free.
by misscee on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 04:42:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

No endorsement (none / 0)

According to politico:

No endorsement today from SEIU

An SEIU insider, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the union won't endorse a presidential candidate today.

Edwards' California supporters were confident last night that they had the votes to make him the union's candidate -- it was Edwards or nobody -- but, according to two sources, they weren't able to pull it off over the opposition of big locals based in New York and Chicago.

That's a real loss for Edwards. The endorsement would have been a major vote of confidence and a source of institutional muscle at a time his campaign could use both, and he and his supporters inside the union pushed for it very, very hard.

The decision today -- which is expected to be announced in a 4:30 p.m. conference call -- doesn't mean the union can't endorse later in the cycle.


Hillary: We will finally have a president who doesn't mind pulling over and asking for directions. Am I right, ladies?
by areyouready on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 02:56:48 PM EST

Re: No endorsement (none / 0)

The Executive Board will make the endorsement next week, and they are most likely going to follow the membership.

So it's a non-story that there will be no endorsement announced today.  That isn't news.


by Paul Hogarth on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 04:04:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

HACK OF THE YEAR! (none / 0)

Wow.  You never fail to make a non-story a story when it is bad for Edwards, yet you overlook the glaring problems with Hillary.

There was never going to be an endorsement today.
3 out of the 5 major locals already voted to endorse Edwards.  So worse comes to worst, and the SEIU will not endorse anyone, but most of the locals will go with Edwards.

You already lost this round.

I wonder if Hillary is going to call them 4 times in a day and through one of her beltway insider temper tantrum threatening fits...Bill had his "purple fits"...Hillary has her "go balistic on unions you say you support just because they don't think you are owed the Democratic nomination" fits.

You "areyouready" win the award for....

HACK OF THE YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay, you are so hacktastick that I had no choice.

Acceptance speech please.

Who would you like to thank?

Oh, so you are shy and you want me to tell?

OKAY EVERYONE I'm GOING TO ANNOUNCE THE LIST OF PEOPLE "areyouready" WANTS TO THANK FOR HIS "HACK OF THE YEAR AWARD...

Ricky Ray Rector (oops, he's dead now...you might
not want to thank him)

Dick Morris (Isn't he making some anti-Hillary movie?  Didn't he help convince Bill to run on school uniforms and the V-chip in 96'?)

Gennifer Flowers (uhhh...buddy, Bill admitted to lying about her in his book.  They did...you know, and considering that there is more where that came from and the Wingnuts already have the dirt on him...some investigator told WaPo about it...and they would use it to damage Hillary if she got the nomination...not that she had any chance in the first place...okay I'll let you thank whoever you want)

Robert Rubin (I'm sure the working people of the world love him)

David Gergen

Monica Lewinsky (Yep...more where that came from alright...I'm sure that is just what the Democratic Party needs...more stories about the Clinton's peronal life)

Mark Rich (Pardon you for bringing him up...hehehe...I made a pun)

Mark Penn (I heard he's going to venture into gangsta rap...his name is going to be "Union Busta")

Okay "are you ready" here is your aware.  

Congratulations!

HACK OF THE YEAR!


The bold progressive leader is the most electable candidate. Reclaim the Democratic Party! Support John Edwards.
by Michael 4 Edwards on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 05:07:25 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: HACK OF THE YEAR! (none / 0)

Save your energy, Michael. We'll need it for the real fights. You're doing great work. Areyouready is one vote we're not going to get. That happens.


by desmoulins on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 08:39:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: No endorsement (none / 0)

Is that the same Politico that reported, back in March, that Edwards was dropping out?


by desmoulins on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 05:12:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: the same politico (2.00 / 1)

yep, same one.

Republican talking points for gullible Democrats, in a handy "online-magazine" format.


by justathought on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 07:07:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: SEIU Members Choose John Edwards (2.00 / 1)

most SEIU members based in Chicago will probably find a way to help Obama's campaign anyway...Consider the fact that Illinois is right next door to Iowa , i dont think they will be too many Chicago members going to Iowa to help Edwards...Those Chicago based SEIU members are already on Obama's corner and Obama will need them for canvassing in Iowa.


by JaeHood on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 08:39:50 PM EST

illinois seiu has long been a friend of barack's.. (2.00 / 1)

i can't imagine them going out to campaign for anyone else.  perhaps more importantly, seiu is not exactly happy with the state of things in illinois -- they put a lot of work into recent campaigns, elected a bunch of people (including the governor) and don't feel like they've gotten much out of it.  throwing people into iowa may seem like a perfect response to the dilemma they feel they're in right now...


"Anyone who voted for me or caucused for me has so much more in common with Senator Obama than Senator McCain." -- Hillary Clinton
by bored now on Thu Sep 20, 2007 at 08:22:26 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: SEIU Members Choose John Edwards (none / 0)

SEIU won't be making an endorsement, but Edwards and Obama won the insider's straw poll...

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/arch ives/2007/09/seiu_members_prefer_edwards _ob.php


by Namtrix on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 10:07:21 PM EST

Re: SEIU Members Choose John Edwards (none / 0)

The key word is "today". They will most likely make an endorsement in October.


by adamterando on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 10:23:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

It seems there are serious questions about whether (none / 0)

edwards is Viable...

He is at 11 % Nationally.

He is not gonna get their endorsement nationally, thats pretty damn clear now.


"I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it's hell." Democrat Party "Hack" and President Harry S Truman
by holden caulfield on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 11:01:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: It seems there are serious questions about whe (none / 0)

Good to know you were present at the executive meeting.


by adamterando on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 11:13:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: It seems there are serious questions about whe (none / 0)

its in tonights nytimes and yes i did talk to someone who was there


"I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it's hell." Democrat Party "Hack" and President Harry S Truman
by holden caulfield on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 11:25:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: SEIU Members Choose John Edwards (none / 0)

The SEIU should just let the locals endorse their favorite candidates because it seems like the Chicago and NY based SEIU will be very pissed off if their favorite candidates doesnt get the nod.

whatever happens , the Chicago based SEIU is in Obama's corner and they will sent ground troops to Iowa on behalf of Obama and no one else.


by JaeHood on Thu Sep 20, 2007 at 04:54:47 AM EST

Re: SEIU Members Choose John Edwards (none / 0)

Of the four early states (IA,NH,NV,SC) where will the SEIU endorsement mean the most?  Also, which three locals have already endorsed Edwards?


Take out the trash. Down with Saxby Chambliss!
by CLLGADEM on Thu Sep 20, 2007 at 05:20:39 AM EST


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