Miami Herald: Biden asks for union help

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/109345.html

Biden asks for union help
The AFL-CIO hopes to put working people at the forefront of the 2008 presidential campaign.
By BETH REINHARD
[e-mail]

Joe Biden picked a pipe fitters union hall in Opa-locka to show his solidarity with the AFL-CIO, which is hosting Democratic presidential candidates around the country.

But he warned that his Florida campaign strategy would be hampered a ''great deal'' if the national party penalizes the state for violating primary calendar rules by scheduling one of the nation's earliest contests on Jan. 29.


'I think the next president of the United States has to be able to utter a word you don't hear anymore,' Joe Biden says. 'The word is union.'

''The last thing the Democrats need is a fight about process when we have so much going for us on issues,'' Biden said after Wednesday's event. ``Florida has a chance to be a kingmaker here. I just hope they work it out.''

The senator from Delaware came to South Florida to make his pitch for an endorsement from the AFL-CIO, known for putting ''boots'' on the ground to get the vote out. Most of the Democratic contenders have received high marks for supporting labor's agenda, including a higher minimum wage and protections for Social Security.

UNION EMPHASIS

Biden attracted half as many people as his semi-celebrity rival, Barack Obama, drew two days ago to a similar AFL-CIO event in New Jersey. But the six-term senator told about 300 union members that if he is elected president, he would be the best friend to labor since Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

''I think the next president of the United States has to be able to utter a word you don't hear anymore,'' he said. ``The word is union. Union. Union.''

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