Dean's Failure to Woo N.H. Firefighters May Cost Him Endorsement

[Karmadillo]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7016-2003Sep13.html

Red-hot Democratic presidential aspirant Howard Dean is about to get some cold water thrown on his candidacy.

Sparks are flying between the former Vermont governor and a crucial group in the New Hampshire primaries, the Professional Fire Fighters of New Hampshire labor union. The group's fiercely active 1,200 members and their highly visible mode of transportation were instrumental in Al Gore's defeat of Bill Bradley in the New Hampshire primary in 2000. This time, Dean is in the hot seat.

It began when the Professional Fire Fighters of Vermont sent a letter in June to their brethren in New Hampshire warning that Dean "failed to ever put the weight of the governor's office behind any piece of legislation firefighters introduced." The Manchester Union Leader in New Hampshire got hold of the letter and produced a statement from Dean's campaign outlining his strong stance against . . . sparklers. "It's fair to call him a national advocate against sparklers," the statement said.

The firefighters were not impressed by Dean's opposition to party novelties. "We think he should be focused on first responders, not pyrotechnics," said New Hampshire union President David Lang, noting that the group is agnostic on sparklers.

more...

[Larkspur]

1. Sounds like a case of overinflated ego by the Professional Fire Fighters

or maybe they are doing Kerry's dirty work for him.

...the IAFF is getting ready to endorse a presidential candidate at an executive board meeting at the end of the month. Schaitberger, who has met with all the major candidates, won't say who it will be, but people who have been following the endorsement sweepstakes say Dean will be hosed. Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) is said to be the heavy favorite for the endorsement, which would be his first from an AFL-CIO union.

I think that this brush fire is a planned political setup to make Dean look bad at Kerry's expense. I think that this union planned on backing Kerry all along and just want to get some extra press time for themselves and Kerry. They don't seem to like insurgent Prez candidates, so this brohuha is staged. Just announcing an endorsement for Kerry would be ignored by most people, but jazz it up with some political fireworks and maybe Dean's poll numbers will drop in New Hampshire, where Dean leads in double digits.

[tsipple]

3. Yup, Sounds About Right

But it's decent campaign strategy, so chalk one up for the Kerry team I guess.

It's worth noting that Dean leads among union households in Iowa -- one of the few union rank-and-file polls taken to date. And Kerry has struggled mightily with the giant SEIU, which is now leaning Dean.

[E_Zapata]

4. It's a total impossibility that the FFs just aren't impressed with Dean

Right?

It has to either be a plot or "they just don't understand Howard."

Every individual and every group who might oppose Dean is somehow mentally inept or prone to taking bribes.

Poor Howard.

[tsipple]

6. Uh, No, Didn't Say That

And I admire the Kerry camp for apparently winning the New Hampshire Firefighters union endorsement. If it was a little extra exclamation point, I give them credit.

[Larkspur]

24. The article said that the union had opposed insurgents in the past

They favored Gore over Bradley. Now, personally I preferred Gore over Bradley in 2000, but the article gave the impression that the union was more traditional Dem union that followed the Dem party hierarchy over evaluating candidates on their merits and positions.

Also the fact that this union was seeking more media attention than normal for its endorsement instead of just issuing a press release, indicates they know that Kerry is in trouble and that they wanted to milk media coverage for their candidate.

So I conclude that the union was leaning Kerry anyway and just wanted to make a BIG Deal about spurning Dean.

[Vis Numar]

2. sparklers?

This bs is going to derail Dean? GMAFB.

Nonsense, who gives a flying fuck.

[DemBones DemBones]

5. Reading the article reveals Dean blew off two meetings with the

New Hampshire firefighters and hasn't been in touch with them since August 22.

Seems to be an issue with them -- being ignored.

[w4rma]

9. I had read about the letter from the Vermont FF union before

My guess is that Gov. Dean has been spending his time getting on more likely endorsements. Can't win 'em all. :)

[dean4america]

7. may cost him a point...

but let's be serious... it's not THAT big of an issue.

[sendero]

22. 1200 firefighters....

... are going to sink Dean. Uh huh.

[disgruntella]

8. this needs to win a "bad journalism" award

Not due to lack of objectivity (I guess it's objective to everyone who doesn't think Dean is perfect), but to criminal use of metaphor:

"Red-hot", "cold water", "sparks are flying" and "hot seat" in the first two paragraphs?!?

Somebody HOSE THAT GUY DOWN!!! :crazy:

[Gman]

10. And Dean will soon be just a flash in the pan

You've got to have the firefighters if you have a chace of winning.

[Octafish]

11. Here's some more background, without the pyrotechnics:

MONTPELIER, VT (2003-08-01)

(Host) Vermont firefighters have contacted their New Hampshire counterparts to tell them that Howard Dean doesn't have their support in his campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination.

The Professional Firefighters of Vermont says that during his time as governor, Dean was not pro-labor or pro-firefighter. Steven Locke is the president of the organization:

(Locke) "The reason that we wrote the letter is because it's not uncommon for firefighters to communicate across the country. As we see the presidential election unfold, we wanted to make sure that our brothers in New Hampshire were aware of the issues and concerns that we have here as professional firefighters in Vermont."

CONTINUED…

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/vpr/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=528857

Labor is going to play the biggest role they've played in DECADES in 2004. It's not a question of "It's the economy, stupid. It's: "Where'd my job go?" — Octafish

[dArKeR]

12. They better vote for Repukes like Bloomliar who shut down the houses!

[DoveTurnedHawk]

13. Firefighters Have a Lot of Respect for Military Men

So it makes sense to me that they'd go for Kerry or -- my preference -- Clark if and when he jumps in later this week.

DTH

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

14. As if Bush has been so much more appealing

Some Americans are just born to suffer before they figure it out. Unfortunately, their stupidity impacts on the rest of us.

[dudeness]

15. firefighters are generally a good barometer of public sector

conditions..having said that , unions are not doing there job unless there is substantial disagreement with the incumbent government ..I agree, not much for Dean to worry about..although i would have thought Kucinich would be labors number 1 guy..

[AP]

16. Would it bother anyone if Dean didn't get on with FFs b/c FF interests

are at odds with business interests, and Dean leans towards business interests?

If that were the case, wold be people have a problem with this failed endorsement for Dean?

[w4rma]

17. The president of the AFL-CIO’s largest union said…Dean is in the strongest

Union nod could bring Dean minority votes
September 13, 2003

The Associated Press

MONTPELIER — The president of the AFL-CIO’s largest union said that Democratic presidential front-runner Howard Dean is in the strongest position to win his union’s endorsement.

“Dean has the strongest base of support,” Andrew Stern, president of the 1.6 million member Service Employees International Union, said Friday. “At our convention, he was mobbed like a rock star. I was surprised.”
…
http://timesargus.nybor.com/Local/Story/71555.html
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=108&topic_id=39203

[AP]

18. That's not exactly a retort to the claim my question implies

Being popular with the base might be more of product of the covers of Time and Newsweek and all the other attention by AOL-TW, ABC-Disney, and GE-NBC. In any event, the article doesn't address the business-friendly issue, does it?

[w4rma]

19. Massive information dump on Gov. Howard Dean

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=43435&mesg_id=43435&page=

[stickdog]

20. Yeah, it's that VRWMC.

Not the 400,000 (so far) registered supporters or the 150,000 (so far) who have donated time or money to his campaign or the 100,000 (so far) who meetup every month for him.

[AP]

21. chicken and egg.

The more media attention he gets from CSPAN and AOL-TW et al, the more people sign up.

The media could have chosen any of the nine and done the same thing.

[stickdog]

27. Such BULLSHIT. Who had the most contributors, meetups, etc., BY FAR,

when the media finally "discovered" Dean?

Your revisionist history is almost as bad as Dubya's.

Hmmmm ...

[AP]

31. "hmmmm' this

The first time I heard Dean given more than 10 seconds by NPR was in a very long piece about his war opposition which was done by Fox shithead Mara Liasson. Dean was nowhere back then. It was sometime last winter, I think. Since then, he's gotten the most press of any candidate. And it's the kind of coverage which stirs up his perceived base, too.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

23. my inside sources say organized labor in general is leaning towards Kerry

My inside sources say organized labor in general is leaning towards Kerry- but that's just IMHO, and comes from someone who has worked for both the teamsters and afscme. But Kerry is their favorite sans offical endoresements.

[stickdog]

28. My inside sources say that your inside sources are full of it. (NT)

[NewYorkerfromMass]

32. They want the guy who can beat Bush

and it looks like Kerry to them at the moment.

[blm]

25. Because the press tells people that Dean is the ONLY one out there.

That may have something to do with his popularity.

Not to mention that he turned his back on his 11 year way of governing as a compromiser with the GOP and is now acting like he's a populist using populist rhetoric. Most people have only heard him since his conversion to populism.

[DrFunkenstein]

26. I Don't Understand - Dean Supports American Labor Standards For All

Or international standards. Or...ah, nevermind.

It must be because firefighters have overinflated egos, so they can relate to that aloof elitist Frenchman.

[seaglass]

29. Well, my husband is a firefighter in MA. and I can tell you

that Dean blowing off firefighters in NH pisses me off. This story goes beyond NH and beyond firefighters.

[ConservativeDemocrat]

30. Seriously?

Every presidential candidate - whoever it is - has an absolutely packed schedule. Your husband is getting mad because one of the Democratic candidates can't make it to an obscure union of 1200, of which probably at most 100 are politically active, in the nomination race?

I think you need to adjust your expectations.

- C.D.

[seaglass]

33. I haven't asked my husband how he feels about it.

NH is an important primary state and how Dean interacts with the different groups in that state is hardly obscure. I'm sure he meets with small groups in NH all the time, it's a small state.

I think you need to get some perspective.