John Edwards, the former North Carolina Senator and the Democratic Party’s nominee for president in 2004, has the inside track for organized labor’s support in the run for president in 2008, inside sources confirm.

Edwards will announce his candidacy for president in New Orleans next Thursday, December 28, sources say - after spending some quality volunteer time in the Ninth Ward on Wednesday.

Conservative columnist Robert Novak broke the story on Edwards’ likely labor support in the Washington Post today under the headline: Labor’s Man In ‘08: John Edwards.

Excerpts:

While Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama soak up media attention, John Edwards has pushed for organized labor’s support. No decisions have been made, but the former senator from North Carolina and 2004 vice presidential nominee is the front-runner for winning over the big, dynamic unions that left the AFL-CIO almost 18 months ago.

Edwards is a leading prospect for backing from Andrew Stern’s Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and James P. Hoffa’s International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the unions that led the breakaway, forming the Change to Win coalition…. Their interest in him reflects largely unspoken discontent in Democratic ranks over a choice limited to Clinton and Obama.

Withdrawal from presidential consideration of former Virginia governor Mark Warner and Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana prompted the analysis that Clinton and Obama consume all the political oxygen, leaving nothing for another candidate. But many labor leaders question Clinton’s electability and worry about Obama’s inexperience….

While some of these unions fret about Edwards’s closest political associates, he personally is a big hit with labor leaders who left the AFL-CIO unhappy about a lack of fervor in recruiting new members. With the same eloquence and careful preparation that made him a multimillionaire trial lawyer, Edwards boosts trade restrictions and other elements of organized labor’s agenda.

Edwards’s game plan begins with the caucuses in Iowa, the state where he burst out of the pack in 2004 by finishing second. A Des Moines Register poll this summer showed him ahead of Clinton there, and an October survey conducted for an environmental group gave Edwards a 20-point lead. An Iowa win in 2008 could propel him into the New Hampshire primary with momentum, leading next to South Carolina - the only state where he won a 2004 primary.

Edwards has (also) been making points with two other Change to Win unions: Unite Here (apparel and hotel and restaurant workers) and Laborers’ International. He is also popular with AFL-CIO unions, especially the United Steelworkers, Iron Workers and Communications Workers. He won the AFL-CIO’s Wellstone Award for backing labor initiatives in 2006.

The day is long past when Big Labor moved in lockstep. Stern, saying he was following SEIU’s rank and file, backed Howard Dean in 2004. Hoffa supported his old law school classmate, Richard Gephardt. Both endorsed John Kerry as soon as he clinched the nomination, but they were not happy with him. Nobody is about to move toward an endorsement before next summer, and labor sources say Stern will wait until September.

Edwards’s unusual step of selecting former representative David Bonior of Michigan as his national campaign manager has been described as enlisting a laborite politician to woo labor. But Teamsters officials regard Bonior as less their friend than a friend of the United Auto Workers. Some believe Edwards would have been better advised to stick with his former campaign manager, Nick Baldick, an experienced political operative who has been given the task of advising Edwards on the early tests in Iowa, Nevada and New Hampshire. Baldick is renowned for saving Al Gore from oblivion in the 2000 New Hampshire primary.

The labor operatives pondering their ‘08 decisions also confess they are less than comfortable with a prominent role in the campaign for Edwards’s wife, Elizabeth, who never has been a political spouse who stays in the shadows. It is not good news for Edwards if some Teamsters are put off by the triumvirate of John Edwards, Elizabeth Edwards and Dave Bonior.

But Edwards’s sunny aura and commanding presence can transcend the negative impact of anybody at his side. When Bayh dropped out last Saturday, there was speculation that Edwards would be the next to go. On the contrary, Edwards is where he wants to be, hoping for a big shove forward from labor.

Edwards’ decision to announce his candidacy in New Orleans could turn out to be a brilliant move and makes sense considering his populist, anti-poverty campaign. He could make serious inroads in Katrina-ravaged Louisiana and Mississippi with the move and begin to line up some support in the African-American community as well.

In Alabama, the Over the Mountain Democrats have already indicated support for Edwards, especially his anti-poverty program. And Edwards will certainly generate support from the trial lawyers here and around the country.

Watch the announcement in New Orleans next week and see how the momentum begins to shift in the race for president in 2008. It’s way early in the race and the public is not engaged yet, but . . .

We’re still betting the Yuenglings on Edwards. Any takers?

Tags: Elections 2008

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