In Ohio, Candidates Court Unions

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Candidates Push for March 4 Votes

Sens. Barack Obama, (D-Ill.), and Hillary Rodham Clinton, (D-N.Y.), campaign hard ahead of primaries on Tuesday, March 4, in Ohio and Texas, contests that could make or break Clinton's campaign. Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain, (R-Ariz.) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee also make last-minute pitches to voters in the two states.

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Union leaders said they will come together behind the eventual nominee, but there is still an advantage to be gained in backing a winning team from the outset, in the form of access in the White House. Unions' wish lists include legislation that would make it easier to organize workers, major revisions to the North American Free Trade Agreement and a higher minimum wage.

It was partly with such influence in mind that unions such as those of teachers and public employees decided to get on board early in endorsing Clinton, who was then the overwhelming favorite. In 2004, AFSCME endorsed former Vermont governor Howard Dean (D) at the peak of his popularity. This time around, AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee said last fall, the union would take more care in deciding.

But with Obama ahead in delegates, it is possible that the union might again have failed to pick a winner. And it has had to deal with internal divisions that became public when seven members of its national board wrote McEntee in December objecting to the aggressive tactics being used against Obama, including radio ads in New Hampshire attacking his health-care plan. Some misgivings linger, said Sal Luciano of Connecticut, one of the signers.

"It's a matter of resources," Luciano said. "We want to use the resources in the best way possible. It's nice to pick an early horse, but you also want to marshal your resources for the real fight."

The service employees, who also endorsed Dean in 2004, took a different approach this time, deciding after much debate not to endorse while allowing state chapters to make their own picks. But after Edwards's exit in January, the union threw its full weight behind Obama, who by then was emerging as the front-runner. It is now running TV ads in Ohio, adding to Obama's edge on the airwaves.

"A number of unions believe that a movement is building that can actually bring about a significant change in our country, and Barack Obama is leading the movement," said Anna Burger, the SEIU's secretary-treasurer.

The surge of labor backing has helped Obama fight the perception that he is the candidate of the effete wing of the Democratic Party, or, as machinists' union chief Tom Buffenbarger put it in a pro-Clinton tirade last month, the candidate of "latte-drinking, Prius-driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust-fund babies."

Most valuable in this regard was the backing of the Teamsters, who have sent mailings and automated phone calls from the heads of their Ohio locals to the 60,000 members in the state.

Last week, Tom Curtin, a national union official, visited Teamster workplaces including the Cleveland Zoo, where 63 employees belong to the union. In the rain forest and later at the elephant house, he told animal keepers that Obama is best on issues such as NAFTA, which Clinton supported in the 1990s. "He's always been with us on labor issues," Curtin said.

Obama is not always an easy sell. In northeastern Cleveland, Kramer and David Hawthorne, 42, a nursing-home worker and father of six, stood outside a house with badly peeling paint and drafty windows trying to win over Jose Hilbret, a corrections officer.

Obama "sounds good, but can he get it done?" Hilbret asked. "You're going to be in there with all those good ol' boys and Republicans, you need someone who can wheel and deal."

Kramer, an Indiana native with a scruffy beard, told Hilbret about Obama's time in the Illinois legislature. Hilbret said he remained fond of the Clintons and was upset about the waste of money in Iraq. Kramer reminded him that Obama had opposed the war and suggested that it is time to move beyond the Clintons.