Can Edwards add N.H. SEIU?
Posted: Sunday, October 14, 2007 2:11 PM by Chuck Todd
From NBC/NJ's Aswini Anburajan
In his shirt sleeves, while munching on pretzels and sipping a beer, John Edwards laid out his case for why he should win the endorsement of the New Hampshire chapter of the SEIU in Concord Saturday night.
Edwards met with about twenty-five members of the union’s executive board and political education committee to ask for the state union’s endorsement, NBC News has learned. Even though the national SEIU has not endorsed in the race, state chapters are free to do so starting on Monday. On Saturday, NBC News reported that Edwards had won the endorsement of the Iowa state chapter of SEIU.
According to an SEIU member present at the meeting, Edwards was “remarkably open” and told the board how much the endorsement of the Iowa SEIU meant to him. He also said that he expected several more endorsements from other state SEIU chapters as well as a possible endorsement from a state employees union in California.
The former senator from North Carolina pitched himself to the assembled members as the only candidate in the race who says the word “union” in a non-union crowd. He stressed his complete opposition to outsourcing and discussed how Blackwater was an object lesson for the case against military outsourcing. He also took questions on NAFTA, health care and gay marriage.
Edwards contrasted himself with the his two chief rivals in the race calling Senator Clinton a “corporate president” and saying that Senator Obama lacked experience but would make a good vice presidential candidate.
Senator Edwards appears to stand a strong chance at winning the union’s nomination. Members present at the meeting were asked to rank their preferences of the top three Democrats in the race. The majority of the membership appeared torn between Edwards and Obama, with Senator Clinton finishing third on most members’ lists. .
There is a push within the union to make an endorsement before it’s state convention on October 27th. The political education committee is expected to meet next week to recommend a candidate to the executive board of the union. "Right now it appears it might be Edwards," a member of the committee told NBC. In years past, the recommendation of the committee carries great weight and the board usually votes in favor of that recommendation.
