Union advisor eyes Democrats for endorsement
Another person withholds support from a candidate he agrees with because "he's not electable", apparently unaware that Kucinich would be seen as electable if prominent unions endorsed him. Duh!
Originally published in the Gazette
Helping to choose: Union adviser eyes Democrats for endorsement
By MARY CAREY Staff Writer
Friday, November 14, 2003 -- The state chapters of the National Education Association, the country's largest union with 2.6 million members, are in the midst of endorsing a Democratic candidate for president.
Helping the executive board of the 14,000-member New Hampshire chapter make its decision is longtime union activist Richard Courtney.
Courtney, who moved to the Granite State from Northampton three months ago, worked for the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1459 for more than 25 years and is now ''uni-serve'' director for the New Hampshire seacoast region of the NEA. He said a change in union leadership led him to leave his job with Local 1459 and take the permanent post with the NEA, where he helps organize teachers and support staff.
He still gets back to the city on weekends. His wife, Ann, is a school committee member in Northampton until the end of the year. She also teaches at the University of Hartford.
As a member of the NEA's Government Relations Committee, Courtney has interviewed major candidates for president and has organized ''town meetings'' with them in the New Hampshire schools. John Edwards was the featured speaker last week; Howard Dean appeared at Dartmouth College in Hanover Wednesday; and John Kerry is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 21.
''My sense is that Dean is going to win the New Hampshire primary. He seems to be pulling away,'' Courtney said.
But Courtney has been most impressed by Edwards, the congressman from North Carolina.
''I've seen him three different times since I've been here. I find him very impressive,'' Courtney said. ''I think he has the same kind of charisma that you found in Clinton or JFK. When he is in a room talking to a group, you can feel him moving people. Even though he is not that well known or doing as well as he would like to in the polls, I think the more people learn about him, the more they are going to like him.''
Watching Edwards at a recent town meeting, Courtney said, he was impressed with the candidate's wife, Elizabeth Edwards. ''He, like Clinton, has a very bright wife who travels around with him and talks about policy - especially education stuff - passionately and articulately.''
Like the NEA board itself, Courtney is reserving judgment and still hasn't declared his support for one candidate. His first impulse was to back Dick Gephardt because of the Missouri congressman's long history of supporting unions. Courtney thinks that Kerry would make a good president. ''I don't have anything bad to say about Kerry. I think the thing that he lacks is the thing I sense with John Edwards, the charisma. He doesn't have it for me.''
Courtney likes Dean's antiwar stance, although he is troubled by the former Vermont governor's support for the death penalty. ''I haven't made up my mind about Dean; I'll see him in person.''
On the issues alone, Courtney said he would go for Dennis Kucinich, who, in Courtney's view, was outstanding in an interview with the NEA board. ''One of the things that struck me is that he talked about being homeless as a kid. He lived in a car for a while. He's in favor of single-payer health insurance; he's against NAFTA and the WTO and he's been passionate about cutting the defense budget. I love what he has to say. I wish the country were ready for a candidate with his positions, but I'm afraid it's not.''
Courtney said interviews with Gephardt and Wesley Clark are yet to be scheduled. Three other candidates, Carol Mosley Braun, Al Sharpton and Joseph Lieberman are not seeking the NEA's endorsement. ''(Lieberman) is pro-voucher and he probably realizes his chances of being endorsed by a teachers union are not likely,'' Courtney said.
The policy of the NEA is to let each of its state chapters decide whether to endorse a candidate and if, so, who. Its chapter in this state, the Massachusetts Teachers Association, has endorsed Kerry. The North and South Carolina chapters have endorsed Edwards, and California's and Vermont's chapters have endorsed Dean.
In New Hampshire, the 18-member government relations committee will make its recommendations to the executive board, which ratifies the decision. The committee seems divided, so far, Courtney said. ''At least one supports Kucinich; a couple like Dean; a couple like Kerry; a couple like Gephardt. I may be the only one who is as moved by Edwards. My sense is that there is not a consensus, but that might change in a couple of weeks.''
Subscribe to this blog's feed