Some of you may be wondering why DemWatch has been a little slow lately. Well, it's time for me to come clean. I recently got married and am in the middle of road-tripping across the country. I've been trying to keep up via WiFi and mobile access, but it has been and will continue to be hard. But I will be trying to keep up. All I ask of my readers is a little patience and a little understanding.
They aren't the first union to endorse him, but (with 10% of the AFL-CIO's total membership) they're certainly the biggest--and one of the most politically active. And as the Post article points out, with their backing, Gephardt is well on his way to winning the much more covetted AFL-CIO endorsement.
Though they endorsed Clinton in 1992 and Gore in 2000, the Teamsters are also not considered an automatic backer of Democratic candidates, endorsing Bush I in 1988 and sitting out 1996.
Also endorsing Gephardt are the much smaller American Maritime Officers and Seafarers International Union of North America. You could say these two are of little significance, but every union endorsement counts at this point. In the race for the union seal of approval, Gephardt is certainly the man to beat.
posted by Scott |
8/02/2003 |
| Wednesday, July 30, 2003
What started as an internet campaign has blossomed into a full-fledged movement. Joseph Birkenstock, ex-Chief Counsel of the DNC, and Michael Frisby, ex-White House Correspondent for the Wall Street Journal have joined Draft Clark 2004 as legal and communications advisors respectively.
Frisby had some very positive words about a potential Clark candidacy. "General Clark is the real thing. He is the kind of leader that can restore a sense of pride and confidence in the White House." Spoken like a true communications director.
posted by Scott |
7/30/2003 |
|
It seems the "ultra liberal Dean" meme is finally starting to fall apart in the mainstream media. Bloggers and pundits have been calling this for quite some time, but once it shows up in the New York Times, you know its going places. The Times points to Dean's politically mixed record in Vermont--civil unions, 100% NRA rating--as proof that the Doctor is not so easily pigeonholed as his detractors like to think. All of this seems to make the writers at the Times think that Dean's got a serious shot at 2004.
In related news, the Boston Globe is reporting that Howard Dean proved early this week that he is a better fundraiser than Dick Cheney. Cheney held a fundraiser in Columbia, SC on Monday, where he was expected to take in $250,000. The Dean internet team put out the word that they wanted to beat Cheney.
Well, beat Cheney they did. Cheney brought in $300,000 from 158 fatcat donors. As of yesterday, Dean had raised $507,150 from 9,500 donors. And whereas most of the Cheney donors have now given their limit ($2,000) to the Team W re-elect fund, the Dean donors have quite a bit left to give, having only given an average of $53 and change.
posted by Scott |
7/30/2003 |
|
