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SEIU to endorse, but delays announcement

The AP is reporting that the SEIU will be endorsing Dean but is holding off.

Why the delay? I can think of only one explanation: that the AFSCME wants to be in on the game, and they don’t like the possibility that the SEIU would be seen as steering the election Dean’s way without having some sway. So next Wednesday we’ll see a mutual announcement, in which both the SEIU and the AFSCME announce their support of Dean.

The practical effect? SEIU thinks it can raise $20m for its candidate, and visit 10 million homes in the election. AFSCME can likely deliver a fair chunk of that. Conservatively, this means that the recipient of their endorsements can count on $30m by election time, and countless hours of “feet on the street” mobilizing against Bush.

One thing is certain: if Dean gets both unions next week, Gephardt loses 5 points in Iowa just on the press that results. At some point the press will start attaching words like “desperation” to the other campaigns; if they can’t unite against Dean and have any impact, then what can any of them do on their own?

3 responses to “SEIU to endorse, but delays announcement”

  1. Avatar
    Anonymous

    I am going to post here instead of the main Dean blog because I am still very upset with those “supporters” who were shocked when said that he wanted southerners to vote for him even if they had confederate flags and gun racks because they had more in common with dems than republicans. They wanted him to apologize. Some just said he should apologize and move on. shame on them.don't they know that his comment was right on the money? And that his apology now will be used by Rove et al. and the next time they come at him full bore, they will be expecting him to apologize again. This is what they did to Al Gore. That is why the Dean people are usually so strong in defending him because we cannot that kind of smear to be compiled. but then dean backers did just the opposite. They caved, Dean apologized and IT WILL BE USED AGAINST HIM IN THE FUTURE.Rove will now say Dean wanted the southern voters, but now he doesn't because he apologized for wanting those voters? makes no sense. If Dean had just said that he could have worded it better but not that he withdrew his statement. I should feel better with the upcoming endorsements (I hope), but am still very mad.At least here no one will se me fuming and mad at fellow supporters. jThey are ust a bit week kneed right now. Please Dean, be yourself. Speak from your heart, and hopefully you will have more people defending you. I know krugman is, and commondreams had an article supporting him. also Buzzflash has an opinion piece from “An Angry Liberl” (could have been written by me, except I am conservative dem). Thanks for having a site out here in the cornfield where I can pout and not upset others. Temper tantrums are best held in private. Sorry, your site is not used that much. I do enjoy your posts and come here every couple of days.

    Reply
  2. Avatar
    Anonymous

    I don't see how this delay can be seen as anything but a positive for the Dean campaign. Think about it… we already know that he has the SEIU endorsement, right? Why in the world would the SEIU agree to a joint announcement with the AFSCME unless they knew for a certainty that the AFSCME would also be endorsing Dean?How ridiculous would both unions (and particulary the SEIU) look next Wednesday if one stood up and said “We're endorsing Dr. Dean” and the other stood up and said “Okay, but we're endorsing this other guy?”I can't imagine the leaders of the SEIU being dumb enough to even chance that kind of a fiasco.

    Reply
  3. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Hey GrandmaJ – you're going to give me a complex! Repeated references here to my site “not being used much” and comments over at the Dean blog about “not many people are there” make it sound like we've got tumbleweeds rolling through the virtual streets here at rklau.com.While I don't get anywhere near the traffic that the official campaign blog does (why would I? I'm not running for president), I think 200 visitors/day is pretty respectable for an individually run site.:)Have a great weekend. And don't get too upset at the other supporters. Ours is a big tent. Dean was right to apologize – he over generalized to an entire population and went a bit too far. But i think in the grand scheme of things little damage was done.Keep coming by, just stop telling people how lonely it is. ;)–Rick

    Reply

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