WP: Howard Dean's Unlikely Road To a Major Boost From Labor

[RevolutionStartsNow]

When Andrew L. Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), arrived at the Washington condominium of Gerald W. McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), on the morning of Nov. 3, he had no idea they were about to transform the battle for the Democratic nomination.

(snip)

This afternoon at a Washington hotel, McEntee, Stern and Dean are set to formally consummate the deal that was brokered over that Monday morning. For Dean, the endorsements showed that, even as he was building support at the grass roots, he was also playing a skillful inside game with some of the Democratic Party's most important power brokers.

more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28253-2003Nov11.html

This is a fascinating article, gives the back story to Dean getting both endorsements.

Also you get the bonus of seeing (at the WP site, under Conversation with the Candidates) the worst postage-stamp sized photos of the candidates. They are horrendous. Eek.

[Pavlovs DiOgie]

1. First of all

Those pictures are hideous!

Interesting that Clark had the ball and dropped it.
Clark then caught his eye. "We saw Clark as a distinct possibility in terms of competing directly with Bush, particularly on the terrorism issue," he said. "We had many meetings with him. We had him go over to the AFL-CIO and meet with the political committee. But then we got, I guess you would say, somewhat disturbed by his organizational infrastructure."

The fatal blow for Clark came when his campaign team decided last month to pull out of Iowa. The night the news was breaking, Clark called McEntee to tell him. McEntee told him he was making a terrible "strategic mistake." Last week, a Clark campaign official told another labor official that no one on the campaign had known how important Iowa was to AFSCME and McEntee -- further proof to AFSCME leaders of the weaknesses inside Clark's operation.

But here's the clincher. Dean works for every bit of attention, every news spot, every supporter, every endorsement. Here's the proof:

The SEIU offered all the candidates the same resources: a list of their local leadership and a warning that the route to the endorsement began not in Stern's fifth-floor office on L Street NW but through the rank and file. "Everybody got the same advice," an SEIU official said. "Howard Dean took it to heart." No other candidate came close to Dean's outreach. "Shockingly" not close, Stern said.

Who do I think can win against Bush*? Any of the candidates. Who do I think will work the hardest to ensure Bush* is sent packing? Howard Dean.

[Pavlovs DiOgie]

2. kick

things are moving quite fast on GD today!

[TLM]

3. I think that they said at the last meetup that something

like 40,000 letters from Dean meetups had gone to Iowa.

That's what we mean by "People Powered Howard."

[Pavlovs DiOgie]

4. 43045 Letters Have Been Written

That total is to Iowa and NH. It's quite impressive, especially when you consider these are handwritten letters from supporters, not pre-printed or scripted letters from the campaign. Truly people-powered.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

5. That number may be

the most astounding number of all from this campaign.

I say this as someone who has written a bunch of these letters (more than a dozen, I imagine). It's hard. Especially for those of us with poor penmanship skills. Every letter is different, and takes some thought.

43,000 letters and counting. Amazing.