When the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) announced its support for Howard Dean in the fall, I thought it was a major step towards Dean winning the nomination. When AFSCME bailed on Dean a couple of weeks ago, it was a clear sign the campaign was finished.
AFSCME, led by Gerald McEntee, is as powerful as any union in the country. With 1.5 million members, it wields enormous political influence in Democratic political circles.
McEntee, who considered supporting Kerry and Clark, gave Dean an enormous boost with the AFSCME endorsement. It was reminiscent of McEntee’s decision to extend an early endorsement to a candidate in 1991 who was struggling, at the time, in the polls. His name was Bill Clinton.
When McEntee and AFSCME bailed on Dean about a week ago, I just assumed it was because the union saw which way the winds were blowing, and, to mix metaphors, wanted to jump from a sinking ship.
But, in a colorful interview with the New York Times today, McEntee suggests there may have been a little more to the decision than political practicality.
“I have to vent,” Mr. McEntee, the often blunt leader of the nation’s largest public service union, said in a leisurely interview in his office here. “I think he’s nuts.”
Mr. McEntee said he reached his assessment of Dr. Dean after watching what he described as a series of halting appearances in Iowa, leading up to his shouted concession speech. He said that he did not believe Dr. Dean, the former governor of Vermont, understood how substantial his decline was after that, and that he was stunned when Dr. Dean did not bow to pressure from labor unions to pull out earlier this month.
“I go to Burlington, and I meet with him,” Mr. McEntee said. “I’m telling you, I threw more ice water on his head in about 25 minutes than probably he has ever had. And I said: ‘Don’t do Wisconsin, O.K.? Don’t go in.’ I told him to get out. I said, ‘You can’t win.’ ”
“He said he’s still going into Wisconsin,” Mr. McEntee continued. “I said: ‘We’re not. We’re off the train. If you think I’m going to spend $1 million to get you another point after this election is over, you’re crazy.'”
When asked if AFSCME would be endorsing anyone else now that Dean’s campaign is done, McEntee said he didn’t think so.
“I think we need a rest,” McEntee said. “Maybe in an asylum.”