The nation’s second-largest teacher’s union has just cast its vote for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton as a new poll shows her making some big gains over the other Democrats vying for the nomination.
The American Federation of Teachers chose Clinton after meeting with the seven major Democratic candidates (quick, name all seven!). The AFT executive committee apparently liked her health-care ideas and her statements supporting the usual union priorities, such as right to organize and protection for retirement accounts and pensions. AFT President Edward McElroy said in a press release that the executive committee was impressed with all the candidates, but ultimately decided Clinton was the strongest leader.
“Our members have told us that they want a leader they can trust to strengthen public education, increase access to healthcare, promote common sense economic priorities and secure America’s place in the world,” McElroy said in the press release. “Hillary Clinton is that leader.”
Clinton’s second-closest rival, Sen. Barack Obama, has spoken in favor of merit pay for teachers, an issue the unions aren’t too keen on. Another factor that probably helped the senator from New York is her friendship with Randi Weingarten, the head of New York City’s United Federation of Teachers who’s expected to be the next AFT president.
AFT’s endorsement of Clinton wasn’t her first by far from labor groups, but AFT is one of the first major education associations to wade into the 08 pool. And Clinton will likely pick up more soon if polls continue to place her in the lead nationally, like the one released Oct. 3 by ABC News and the Washington Post.
That poll showed Clinton with a 33-point lead over Obama and gaining ground in nearly every category, most notably in the “electability” realm, which means if primary voters see a candidate as better equipped to win the general election, they’re more likely to vote for him or her. According to the Post: “A clear majority of those surveyed, 57 percent, said Clinton is the Democratic candidate with the best chance on Nov. 4, 2008. The percentage saying Clinton has the best shot at winning is up 14 points since June. By contrast, 20 percent think [John] Edwards is most electable and 16 percent think Obama is, numbers that represent a huge blow to the ‘electability’ argument rivals have sought to use against her.”
The election’s still more than a year away, but stay tuned – we’ll be closely following education and the 08 campaign.
Joetta Sack-Min, Associate Editor