Friday October 17, 2003 - News from the MSNBC Embed:
WHAT ARE THE FIREFIGHTERS DOING?
On Thursday, two of three events were firefighter-related. The International Association of Fire Fighters is Kerry’s only AFL-CIO union endorsement (he’s the only candidate other than Gephardt to get one). I’ve been told firefighters would be knocking on doors and campaigning in every congressional district across the country. But Rick Sherman, a firefighter in Davenport, Iowa, said that so far his fire department “isn’t actually working with the campaigns.” Moreover, he is “still undecided” about who he is going to vote for. On the flip side, several of the firefighters with whom I spoke said they were definitely voting for Kerry, mostly because of his war record. They said they get pamphlets with talking points about why they should vote Kerry and convince others to do the same. IAFF president Harold Schaitberger said that he reaches out to firefighters across the country (to talk about John Kerry) by “e-mail, going to meetings and talking to firefighters about being active and engaging their spouses and families to vote for Kerry in the caucus.” He said that firefighters “understand politics from the ground up and they know how to build yard signs, go door to door and do phone banks.” There are 1,500 members of the IAFF in Iowa. There are approximately 80,000 Democratic caucus voters. Schaitberger said the IAFF is very active for the Kerry campaign in Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan, Arizona, South Carolina and Oklahoma. “We’re going to focus attention and resources where it counts — in the early states.”
ANOTHER AFL-CIO ENDORSEMENT?
Schaitberger said, “I think we will see other AFL-CIO affiliates endorse John Kerry’s campaign soon.” He said that Kerry is working hard at courting these but would not comment or speculate on which unions they would be.
LINN COUNTY
It’s the second biggest county (behind Polk) in Iowa and an important area for the Kerry campaign. A Kerry campaign aide working in Iowa said the campaign is well-positioned and they are not paying attention to polls. “Polls are less accurate in caucus than in the general election,” this political aide said, pointing out that Kerry has four legislative endorsements in Linn County compared to two for Gephardt and one for Dean.
WHAT ARE THE FIREFIGHTERS DOING?
On Thursday, two of three events were firefighter-related. The International Association of Fire Fighters is Kerry’s only AFL-CIO union endorsement (he’s the only candidate other than Gephardt to get one). I’ve been told firefighters would be knocking on doors and campaigning in every congressional district across the country. But Rick Sherman, a firefighter in Davenport, Iowa, said that so far his fire department “isn’t actually working with the campaigns.” Moreover, he is “still undecided” about who he is going to vote for. On the flip side, several of the firefighters with whom I spoke said they were definitely voting for Kerry, mostly because of his war record. They said they get pamphlets with talking points about why they should vote Kerry and convince others to do the same. IAFF president Harold Schaitberger said that he reaches out to firefighters across the country (to talk about John Kerry) by “e-mail, going to meetings and talking to firefighters about being active and engaging their spouses and families to vote for Kerry in the caucus.” He said that firefighters “understand politics from the ground up and they know how to build yard signs, go door to door and do phone banks.” There are 1,500 members of the IAFF in Iowa. There are approximately 80,000 Democratic caucus voters. Schaitberger said the IAFF is very active for the Kerry campaign in Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan, Arizona, South Carolina and Oklahoma. “We’re going to focus attention and resources where it counts — in the early states.”
ANOTHER AFL-CIO ENDORSEMENT?
Schaitberger said, “I think we will see other AFL-CIO affiliates endorse John Kerry’s campaign soon.” He said that Kerry is working hard at courting these but would not comment or speculate on which unions they would be.
LINN COUNTY
It’s the second biggest county (behind Polk) in Iowa and an important area for the Kerry campaign. A Kerry campaign aide working in Iowa said the campaign is well-positioned and they are not paying attention to polls. “Polls are less accurate in caucus than in the general election,” this political aide said, pointing out that Kerry has four legislative endorsements in Linn County compared to two for Gephardt and one for Dean.
posted by Pamela J. Leavey at 11:22 PM
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