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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bald Eagle who wrote (438651)	8/5/2003 10:56:17 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 769670

August 5, 2003 Democrat Hopefuls Chase Top Labor Group Backing By REUTERS nytimes.com Filed at 10:38 p.m. ET CHICAGO (Reuters) - The nine Democratic presidential candidates courted the nation's largest labor organization on Tuesday as it began its endorsement process, promising to reverse the fiscal policies of President Bush, restore lost jobs and heal the economy. To the cheers of more than 2,000 AFL-CIO members, the Democrats criticized Bush's tax cuts and economic policies for costing the jobs of millions of Americans, and vowed to defend unions against what they said were Bush administration attacks on collective organizing and overtime rules. ``This administration has declared war on the middle class in this country,'' said Missouri Rep. Richard Gephardt, whose long record of support for labor and strong backing by some unions has made him the only Democrat considered to have a shot at ultimately winning a rare early endorsement from the labor federation. ``This president is the Houdini of economics,'' he said at an evening forum, pointing to more than 2 million jobs that have disappeared since Bush took office. The forum was held the night before an AFL-CIO executive council meeting to begin the process leading to an endorsement, which would give the winner crucial organizational muscle and ground troops heading into the 2004 primary fight. No formal recommendation for an endorsement, which requires support from unions representing two-thirds of the AFL-CIO's 13 million members, is expected Wednesday. The labor leaders might decide to meet again in October and reconsider an endorsement, but none of the nine Democrats vying for the right to challenge Bush in 2004 appears to have two-thirds' backing from the union members yet. ``Gephardt clearly is the one candidate with passionate, public supporters, that I think he's earned, but I don't think it's enough yet,'' Andrew Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, said in an interview. ``It's so early,'' he said. ``I think people want the campaign to play out a bit.'' Gephardt's rivals in the race have urged leaders of the powerful group to remain neutral and leave the decision on endorsements to its 64 affiliated unions. Gephardt had to scramble to reassure labor leaders about his campaign's viability after he finished $1 million short of his fund-raising goal at the end of June. He raised $3.8 million in the second quarter. But he is the only candidate who has won national labor endorsements so far, picking up his 11th union on Tuesday when the United Steelworkers of America endorsed him. ``This man has been with the labor movement and our union every step of the way,'' said union president Leo Gerard at a news conference. Only two candidates have ever been endorsed by the AFL-CIO before the Democratic primaries -- Al Gore in 2000 and Walter Mondale in 1984. Gore, vice president at the time, and Mondale, a former vice president, both won the Democratic nomination but lost the general election. ``It's a very tough test and a very high bar,'' Gephardt said of the endorsement. During Tuesday's forum, the candidates split on the viability of free trade agreements like NAFTA, which was implemented under Democratic President Bill Clinton but has cost the jobs of many union members. ``Support of free trade and fair trade was a large part of the Clinton-Gore economic record,'' said Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a NAFTA backer.