Top Unions Holding Off on Endorsements to See How Things Shake Out for Hillary Clinton

Perhaps waiting to see if Biden enters the race.

Credit: SEIU Local 1 / photo on flickr

Now that Hillary Clinton seems even less like the anointed Democratic candidate for president, as Bernie Sanders appeals to certain populist socialist urges within the party and Vice President Joe Biden's future remains a known unknown, two of the top unions that represent government workers have decided to sit on the sidelines and watch for a while.

Via Politico:

The decisions are a setback for Hillary Clinton, who has been courting the labor giants in the hopes of an early lock down of two powerhouse unions that can organize millions of members and resources on the ground. And they come against the backdrop of a Clinton campaign show of force -- in terms of establishment donors, delegates and endorsements -- as Biden weighs his options. Adding the support of two of the most muscular unions now would have sent a powerful message there is little room in the race for the vice president.

The executive board of the 2-million strong Service Employees International Union gathered on Sept. 16 and 17 for meetings where many had been expecting an endorsement for Clinton, according to union insiders, although a vote was not on the schedule. The board of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees -- the country's largest public employee union, which endorsed Clinton in 2007 and has been expected to do so this year -- also held meetings in Washington, D.C., on Monday and Tuesday this week that presented an occasion for AFSCME to endorse.

No endorsements came. Politico notes Clinton has been heavily campaigning for union support. So has Sanders, obviously, and Sanders' supporters within unions have been pushing back at the idea of an early endorsement. Politico notes that many teachers were upset that the American Federation of Teachers had already endorsed Clinton by July.

The big issue seems to be that the two largest unions have to navigate its endorsements carefully so as not to upset its members, which actually makes one wonder how influential the unions' endorsements are on primary votes in the first place. Clinton already has several other unions on board (Sanders has only a nurses' union so far), and obviously the unions are going to end up supporting whoever the Democrats nominate.

Read more about it here.

Comments

[cecilyharbison]

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[Slammer]

Are you unionized, though?

[C. Anacreon]

In unions dere is strength.

Richard J. Daley, Mayor of Chicago 1955-1976 (his son Richard M. Daley was mayor from 1989-2011)

[Robert]

I read that at 1st as 1595-1976. Seemed like it.

[Almanian - Micro Trumper]

And are you aware of "Right To Work" laws here in Michigan?

[brady949]

SCAB!

[The Late P Brooks]

Speaking of retards...

So again, I'm pointing all this out ? about the specifics of the clock ? not to pick on the poor kid. I'm picking on us, our culture, and our media. I don't even care about the clock itself at this point.

If we stop and think ? was it really such a ridiculous reaction from the teacher and the police in the first place? How many school shootings and incidents of violence have we had, where we hear afterwards "this could have been prevented, if only we paid more attention to the signs!" Teachers are taught to be suspicious and vigilant. Ahmed wasn't accused of making a bomb ? he was accused of making a look-alike, a hoax. And be honest with yourself, a big red digital display with a bunch of loose wires in a brief-case looking box is awful like a Hollywood-style representation of a bomb. Everyone jumped to play the race and religion cards and try and paint the teachers and police as idiots and bigots, but in my mind, they were probably acting responsibly and erring on the side of caution to protect the rest of their students, just in case.

Another case of the galloping what-ifs.
Those people are teachers. you can't expect them to use any sort of sane judgement.

[Almanian - Micro Trumper]

So you're saying you'd be OK with this kid blowing up the whole school then.

P BROOKS IS NO BETTER THAN ADAM LANZA, EVERYONE!!!!! RIGHT HERE - COME SEE IT!

/derp

[Ted S.]

Actually, I'd prefer he put the school through a woodchipper, not blow it up.

[Trump-o-Matic 5000]

+1 typical internet bluster and hyperbole

[DesigNate]

was it really such a ridiculous reaction from the teacher and the police in the first place?

Yes, you belching vagina of useless shit.

[Rhywun]

Kid played them like a fiddle if you ask me.

[mad.casual]

And be honest with yourself, a big red digital display with a bunch of loose wires in a brief-case looking box is awful like a Hollywood-style representation of a bomb.

So, literally saying that it is, at best, a fictional portrayal of a bomb and then going on to deceive himself that the administrators were doing anything other than protecting the other students from a portrayal of a fictional bomb.

[Old Man With Candy]

No-one seems to understand the concept of "scale." It doesn't look like a briefcase, it's a fucking PENCIL BOX. It might be about the size of one of my hands.

[gaoxiaen]

He should have just cut the green wire, or is it the red wire?

[The Late P Brooks]

Also-
I think the whole event ? and our collective response, with everybody up to the President chiming in, says a whole lot about us. We don't care that none of us were there and knows what happened, we jump to conclusions and assume we're experts. We care about the story, but we don't care about the actual facts. Headlines and click-bait are far more interesting than thinking for ourselves. We like to point out other any bit of perceived injustice or discrimination we can find ? it's practically a new national past-time. We like playing victim, and we like talking about victims ? so much so we sometimes find victims where none really existed.

Those (union) teachers and school administrators are the real victims, here.
Stop bullying them, haterz!

[RBS]

We don't care that none of us were there and knows what happened, we jump to conclusions and assume we're experts. We care about the story, but we don't care about the actual facts. Headlines and click-bait are far more interesting than thinking for ourselves. We like to point out other any bit of perceived injustice or discrimination we can find ? it's practically a new national past-time. We like playing victim, and we like talking about victims ? so much so we sometimes find victims where none really existed.

That does accurately describe a large number of people though.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Apparently, "thinking for yourself" means deferring matters to the police when you see some wires in a briefcase.

[Sapient Mulch]

If you see something, SAY SOMETHING!!!111!

[DesigNate]

Get money out of politics! Corporations aren't people!

Oh, this is about Public sector Unions?

Carry on!

/some progressive somewhere

[Trump-o-Matic 5000]

MONEYS ISINT SPEACH!11!!!1!!

[Rhywun]

It amuses me to no end that people think Hillary gives a shit about union members as anything other than a mobilizing force to deliver votes to her.

[Antilles]

Doesn't that pretty much describe every group the Democrats pander to?

[Rhywun]

And having no principles means they only pander to one group or another. At least the Republicans can squeeze out a principle or two before forgetting them after the election.

[Tony]

Pity they can't come up with any policy.

[Sapient Mulch]

Yeah, it sucks. Republicans can't either though.

[Robert]

Isn't that what democracy is supposed to be about? Seriously. The pols are supposed to do what you want, so you'll do what they want (vote for them).

[The Late P Brooks]

and obviously the unions are going to end up supporting whoever the Democrats nominate.

That's awfully presumptuous of you, Scott.
The leaders of those unions carefully weigh the alternatives. They aren't a bunch of automatons programmed to belch out a knee-jerk endorsement of anything with a "D" stapled to it.

[tarran]

Interestingly, with the exception of the reelection of Bush II, the only times I recall Republicans winning presidential elections are the times when the unions refused to support the Democratic nominee.

They supported Reagan because Carter supported deregulation that cut into their rents.

They supported Bush II in revenge for Clinton's support of Nafta and refusal to fight "dumping" (ie Brazilian mills selling steel in the US for cheaper than Bethlehem Steel could make it).

Bush II kept them on board with protectionist tariffs for his reelection. It was kind of funny really.

[The Late P Brooks]

It amuses me to no end that people think Hillary gives a shit about union members as anything other than a mobilizing force to deliver votes to her.

Hillary don't give a shit about nobody but Hillary.

[Migrant Log Chipper]

The rats sense the boat may be leaky, they are not ready to get on board.

[MJGreen - Docile Citizen]

Ha-ha!

[PapayaSF]

Hillary also has health issues. Warning: stupid, may-not-work-in-your-browser slideshow presentation of a little information from the about-to-be-released book Unlikeable: The Problem with Hillary by Edward Klein.

[Tony]

Unarguably the best line from a review of an Edward Klein book about Hillary Clinton, by conservative John Podhoretz: "Thirty pages into it, I wanted to take a shower. Sixty pages into it, I wanted to be decontaminated. And 200 pages into it, I wanted someone to drive stakes through my eyes so I wouldn't have to suffer through another word."

[Old Man With Candy]

makes one wonder how influential the unions' endorsements are on primary votes in the first place.

Highly. Not because of the union members, but because of the outsize money contributions. SEIU is in the top two or three political donors, with the other two also being unions.