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Unions in the Thick of a Too-Close-to-Call Iowa Democratic Presidential Primary

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By Doug Cunningham

Iowa voters will caucus tomorrow in a Democratic presidential primary that’s too close to call. The three top contenders – Senators Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards – are within the statistical margin error of each other when polls are averaged. Labor is in the thick of the Iowa campaigning. The two biggest union efforts in Iowa are for Clinton and Edwards. Gerald McEntee is president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which has activated an army of activists for Clinton.

[McEntee]: "We're going to do it the old-fashioned way – work site by work site, and block by block."

AFSCME has tens of thousands of members in Iowa that it hopes will give Clinton the edge.

[McEntee]: "We represent 30,000 workers who are ready, prepared to turn their country around. With Hillary Clinton as our president, we will build a better America. We will create an America that lives up to its ideals. Together, we'll make history."

(from the Workers Independent News radio report for January 2, 2008)

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