Dean Courts Union President

[CMT]

Howard Dean is campaigning hard to deny rival Richard A. Gephardt the most coveted prize in the early stage of the nominating process: the official endorsement of the AFL-CIO.

Dean yesterday intensified his personal lobbying campaign to win the backing of Andrew Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, and the SEIUs 1.6 million members. Dean has called Stern numberous times to make the case that with the SEIUs backing, he could wrap up the nomination much more quickly and improve his campaign's standing with union members. The SEIU is the largest of the 66 unions represented by the AFL-CIO.

Stern showed up at a recent Dean rally, but he said he hasn't picked a candidate yet.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45399-2003Sep8.html