Jeez, why Edwards? Seems like a waste of an endorsement if you ask me.

Because national polls don’t mean squat, that’s why.

“…it’s the smart move. tessio was always the smart one.”
– michael corleone

A union endorsement doesnt mean that much, Edwards has spent a lot of time courting unions the last 2 years and despite the effort trails Hillary by a wide margin nationaly, all Hillary has to do is give details on her Economic plan to seal the deal.

Because Edwards has the best chance to win the national election, that’s why. And it just so happens that among the top three, his stands help working folks the most. So there, two reasons.

Why does he have the best chance? Because he is not a female and not black? If that is the case, then our country is in bad shape.

You’re wrong on the blocking of SEIU members from neighboring states. The Illinois SEIU can’t send its members into Iowa or spend money there, but it can urge its people to get in touch with the Obama campaign, which can ask them to go to Iowa and pay their expenses. See this statement from the SEIU national:

“According to the guidelines developed by the SEIU executive board, a state that endorses a primary candidate can only campaign in a different state if it has endorsed the same candidate. That precludes locals from sending volunteers to other states that either haven’t endorsed a candidate or haven’t endorsed the same candidate. Our guidelines apply to the locals and their use of resources, though, not to individual members.”

Labor doesn’t seem to get it. Edwards is essentially saying the same thing as Clinton and all the Republicans: “Vote for me on election day, then go back to living your lives, and I’ll go to Washington and fix the country for you.” That’s their message.

Obama is the only candidate out there saying, “Voting for me is not nearly enough. If you want to set America back on the right path, you need to commit to organizing in your community, you need to get to work!”

Not only is Obama’s message, y’know, TRUE (there is NO one person who, even with the power of the presidency, can change the Washington power structure to the extent it needs to be changed–only a genuine national movement will accomplish that goal), but it also clearly helps labor and every other group that relies primarily on organizing people to survive and have effects in the world.

Process matters. A lot.

Edwards is a good man and the only candidate to stand up against powerful lobbysists! Most of the Democratic candidates show promise and maybe even a couple Republicans. Can’t get much worse than what we’ve got barring the election of Romney who wants to ride on George W’s saddle…

Clinton will lose the general election to almost any Republican, and Edwards doesn’t really have a chance to win the primary … Obama is the ONLY good candidate on either side of the isle. SEIU should be endorsing someone who can actually help them.

What is it going to take to get folks in this country wake up and take back our government??? GET RID OF THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE — this whole caucus/primary/imaginary two-party system is corrupt and anti-democratic and based on the cynical notion that average citizens don’t know what’s good for themselves. Judging by how much nonsense we’ve tolerated from Dubya and and his crew since 2000, maybe there’s some truth in that cynical position. STILL, I would march in the streets for the right of even the most racist, sexist ageist, right-wing or left-wing, athiest or evangelical moron to cast a vote that actually counts as one vote for the candidate of his or her choosing. Who cares about who the union endorses??? We need to be fighting to get our OWN government back, and stop sending our young men and women overseas to fight for others’ rights to vote.

Why does the MSM characterize every endorsement for Hillary Clinton or John Edwards a “blow” to Senator Obama? Senator Obama wasn’t expecting an endorsement from any SEIU chapter except Illinois. The media kills me with trying to inflate the importance of endorsements. Case in point, The MSM is making a big deal out of the Black and civil rights establishment support of Hillary Clinton. Let’s go back 23 years. Jesse Jackson’s friends and colleagues, if you will, in the civil rights movement overwhelmingly endorsed Walter Mondale, but Jesse Jackson still received 90% of the African American vote. That’s not to suggest that Senator Obama is going to get that level of support, but it does show that voters were not influenced by these so-called influential African Americans. The same can be said for union endorsements. When was the last election in which union endorsements proved influential? Hey, this year could be different, but there’s no precedent to justify the inflation from the media. It’s obvious they are just using these union endorsements to diminish Senator Obama’s chances in the public’s eye.

and shows that the union members know who will represent them the best and who understands working class values.

And under SEIU rules (the poster above gets it wrong) Illinois members won’t be able to play a role in Iowa. But the other 9 state unions that endorsed Edwards will.

Polls vs. Republicans continue to show that Edwards has the best chance to win in 2008. And these endorsements will give Edwards help in securing the nomination, since he doesn’t have all of the fat lobbyist checks that Clinton has.

and shows that the union members know who will represent them the best and who understands working class values.

And under SEIU rules (the poster above gets it wrong) Illinois members won’t be able to play a role in Iowa. But the other 9 state unions that endorsed Edwards will.

Polls vs. Republicans continue to show that Edwards has the best chance to win in 2008. And these endorsements will give Edwards help in securing the nomination, since he doesn’t have all of the fat lobbyist checks that Clinton has.

In head-to-head matches with any of the Republicans, Edwards wins far more and by larger margins than either Clinton or Obama.

Edwards is asking all Americans to be patriotic about something other than war; his organizing isn’t about just him or just this election. One Corps (the volunteer organizing arm of the Edwards campaign) has always been about working in our local communities, to bring about the changes we want to see happen.

Obama and Clinton may have successfully blocked a national SEIU endorsement for Edwards. However, it looks like their efforts may be all for naught.

Today was the first day SEIU’s 25 state councils could issue endorsements and already Edwards has 10 out of the 25. (Obama now has Illinois and Indiana, New York has yet to issue their endorsement.)

Why are these unions and 4 national ones (steelworkers, mineworkers, transport workers, carpenters & joiners) endorsed John Edwards? Because they know that he is the only candidate who will aggressively fight for change in Washington, not Clinton’s incremental approach and not Obama’s “let’s all get along” approach. Unions know that you don’t get when you need by sliding in the side door or giving up before you even get to the table.

Union endorsements are important. Edwards has said that the union movement built the middle class. Since Regan busted the Air Traffic controllers union, they have been on the decline and so has the middle class. Edwards openly has supported the union movement as a way of balancing corporate power over individuals. The members of unions recognize this and are supporting him. This is great because these member are committed and will be “boots on the ground” for his GOTV efforts in Iowa and Nevada. California is also big for its resources, especially for Feb 5th primaries.

I do not understand how some can say that it is a waste of an endorsement. The union workers have been paying close attention to all of the candidates,and John Edwards is the one that reaches above and beyond for union workers. As for Andy, who thinks that Edwards is the same as Hillary, that statement just shows that he hasn’t been hearing what the Edwards campaign is all about. Maybe he should look on John’s website and learn that there is a huge difference between the two candidates. One needs to look at the candidate’s stances on the issues. As for Dwayne stating “Why does he have the best chance? Because he is not black or a woman?” Well, that statement is just stupid. If you are going to debate an issue, that is fine. But to make a statement like that is just utter nonsense. By the way, I am a woman, so does that make me sexist?

Someone hit the nail on the head when they said that the MSM likes to characterize any endorsement that goes to another candidate as “a blow to Obama.” This is b/s.

Edwards was expected to have the endorsement of the SEIU in Iowa after already having it in 2004.

The difference though is that now he does NOT have the endorsements of the Indiana and Illinois SEIU chapter. This is HUGE and cannot be understated. The Iowa SEIU has 2000 members while the Illinois and Indiana ones have well over 170,000.

While those SEIU chapters cannot independently go out and campaign in Iowa for Barack using SEIU funds, you better believe that their member lists have been sent to the Obama campaign and as we speak the campaign is planning how it’s going to mobilize those 170,000 + people into Iowa come caucus time.

Unions: Yeah, they helped Gephardt in 2004! He finished, what, 4th?

Edwards deserves labor’s endorsement-he has been the most outspoken candidate as to what Corporate has been doing to the middleclass economy. Obama is another good candidate!

The polls are phony-the media can put out any biased poll they want, it means the Republicans are trying to Control the polls to help Hillary get the nomination so they can rag on her once she is the Chosen One.

The DNC is stupid and there has to be a group of conservatives in the middle of it, trying to “Fix” it so the GOP’S “choice” has a chance, although they will Cheat like they did in previous “elections” to put another inept misfit into office.

Personal slurs, and phony accusations aren’t enough anymore-now its programming Diebolds, tossing hundreds of thousands of ballots, double-marking ballots, intimidating minorities to Insure “Victory”(Wink)…

Any Republican spells disaster-they carry the same Bush platform(Republican) with them.

More wars, anyone? More civil rights taken away? More infra-structure collapse?

Scary, that it’s even quandry for anyone!