| Labor's Man |
4 August 2003
|
Gephardt is the Teamsters' Choice
Congressman Richard Gephardt's struggling campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination got a shot in the arm last week when the Teamsters endorsed him. Owing to the games played by union leaders, this won't be official until 9 August, but it is a fact nonetheless. The question remains whether it is worth anything to a politician to get such an endorsement.
As one observer put it, there are unions and there are unions with capital letters. The Teamsters are arguably the most famous union in the world, although Poland's Solidarity could make a similar claim with no small legitimacy. They bring with their endorsement a huge number of votes at the AFL-CIO, whose endorsement could now be in Mr. Gephardt's grasp. Union funds, union phone banks, and union get-out-the-vote efforts will make his campaign stronger.
Unfortunately, he now has to win, not only for his own sake but for the Teamsters. Mr. Gephardt ran down this road in 1988 and lost rather badly; if he were to lose again, he would not have much credibility should he opt for a third try. The Teamsters are in the same boat -- their credibility as a force in Democratic party politics hinges now on the Gephardt candidacy. If Governor Howard Dean wins the nomination, it will prove that the Teamsters are less of a force than the internet-heads and millionaire environmentalists in the Dean camp.
With Mr. Gephardt as a nominee, labor can declare a moral victory, but in order to return to the center of national electoral politics, Mr. Gephardt will have to become President-elect Gephardt. A Republican victory in November 2004 would simply prove that labor can make a nominee but not a president. And at that point, Republicans may start to make real inroads among union officialdom. Democrats will have forfeited the support of one of their core constituencies -- and will have deserved what they get.