An Edge for Obama

Barack Obama joined AFL-CIO President John Sweeney for an economic roundtable earlier this month. Yesterday, the labor group endorsed the Democrat for president. (By Alex Brandon -- Associated Press)

"I think it's a crime and a shame that Senator Obama has had to explain the fact that he's a Christian," Caldwell said in a recent interview. "Criticize his politics. Criticize his stance on whatever, but don't question his faith. Never in the history of American politics has someone said that he is a Christian and someone came back to say, 'No you're not.' "

If Caldwell's name sounds familiar, it may be because he is the same Rev. Caldwell who introduced President Bush at the 2000 Republican National Convention and last month officiated at Jenna Bush's wedding ceremony at the presidential ranch in Texas. For this election, Caldwell is firmly in the Obama camp and is doggedly trying to help the campaign bring other pastors and parishioners along.

Caldwell, who oversees the 14,000-member Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston, is not an official surrogate for the Obama campaign but has for months participated on a weekly Friday-morning prayer call with members of Obama's staff and other Christian ministers who dial in from across the country.

-- Krissah Williams

DELAYED ENDORSEMENT

AFL-CIO Backs Obama

After months of holding back, the AFL-CIO endorsed Barack Obama yesterday, saying it will put more than $50 million and hundreds of thousands of volunteers to work helping to put the senator from Illinois in the White House.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said in an interview that the coalition is confident that its efforts on Obama's behalf will prove more successful than its work on behalf of Al Gore and John Kerry in elections that left the labor movement facing an administration hostile to most labor demands.

"We've been on a roll in terms of the political program since 2006," he said. "Our sights are higher in terms of what we expect, the amount of money affiliates will put in, the amount of volunteers. . . . We have seen there is a greater interest on the part of this campaign. More people want to be involved, more folks are knowledgeable about the issues, all of them recognize the problems with the economy. . . . It's making folks angry and wanting to be involved."

Sweeney acknowledged that the labor group has work to do in introducing its members to Obama, who was derided as weak and ineffectual during his primary battle against Hillary Clinton by AFL-CIO union chiefs including the presidents of the International Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

"We're going to be spending a lot of time educating workers on Senator Obama and what his track record has been," he said. "I think we're going to be able to convert a lot of those workers over to Obama."

Sweeney said he is unconcerned by some recent attempts by Obama to shift away from some of the stances he staked out in the primaries in his bid for labor backing in Rust Belt states. In a recent interview with Fortune, Obama said that some of his anti-trade rhetoric had gotten overheated, signaling to the magazine's business readers that he would not necessarily move to unilaterally overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Obama "has every right to modify his positions on issues, but the bottom line is he's firmly committed to so many of the issues important to workers," he said.

-- Alec MacGillis