AFL-CIO Moves Quickly To Endorse Clinton

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, March 25) - The AFL-CIO, the nation's giant labor federation, today endorsed President Bill Clinton for re-election.

It was the earliest that 13-million-member labor organization has ever come out for a presidential candidate. Some labor leaders wanted to wait until later to endorse Clinton, who is headed for a fall showdown with Sen. Robert Dole (R-Kan.)

Last week, a new poll found wide support for Clinton among AFL-CIO members despite the president's support for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), with 67 percent saying they planned for vote for him and only 22 percent backing Dole.

Despite Republican Pat Buchanan's strong defense of American workers and attacks on corporate greed, only 16 percent of AFL-CIO members viewed him favorably. A full 55 percent had a negative view of Buchanan, according to the poll by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, Inc.

If Texas billionaire Ross Perot jumps into the race, Clinton would get the backing of 57 percent of union members, compared to 18 percent each for Dole and Perot.

"In the wake of Pat Buchanan's claim to own workers' issues, there's been a fair amount of broad speculation about where workers really are," AFL-CIO spokeswoman Denise Mitchell told the Associated Press. "We thought it was very important to have hard information based on a scientific poll about exactly where our members are."

The poll of 829 workers and retirees was conducted March 12-14 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points.

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AFL-CIO Moves Quickly To Endorse Clinton

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