A Visitor's Guide to the State of AFSCME

All the states caucused regularly during the Democratic Convention. So did AFSCME. From the Sunday preceding the convention to its final day on Thursday, AFSCME participants caucused. There were always visitors--candidates for office and other dignitaries--and there was always something cooking.

U.S. Labor Sec. Robert Reich addressed the delegates early in the week, thanking them for their support in winning an increase in the minimum wage--the first in six years. Health and Human Services Sec. Donna Shalala also urged delegates to hold their elected officials accountable.

When House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) visited AFSCME, even his nemesis Newt (an AFSCME staffer in a Gingrich mask) dropped by--promising to return the Speaker's gavel when the Democrats regain control of the House of Representatives. The AFSCME delegation jumped to their feet during remarks by Jesse Jackson and Benjamin Hooks.

Vice Pres. Al Gore did his version of the dance craze the Macarena for AFSCME's delegation, and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton thanked AFSCME for always being there for the president and herself. Her talk about the pressures of public life, and the plans President Clinton has for his second term, brought cheers and tears.