2 big unions back Dean's candidacy

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Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean collected endorsements from two of the largest unions in the AFL-CIO yesterday, giving his Democratic presidential campaign access to a built-in network of money and volunteers.

The 1.6 million-member Service Employees International Union and the 1.4 million-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees both endorsed Mr. Dean at a ceremony at the Mayflower Hotel in the District yesterday.

"We have a candidate, we have a leader, who represents our values, and who I believe -- we all believe -- can defeat this president, who actually never won," said Gerald McEntee, president of AFSCME, after the union's board unanimously voted to endorse Mr. Dean.

Last week, SEIU's board decided to endorse Mr. Dean, but held off on an official announcement so SEIU and AFSCME could deliver a double punch yesterday.

"They represent one of the big events of the campaign so far," said Ron Faucheux, a political analyst and former editor of Campaigns & Elections magazine.

He said the endorsement helps Mr. Dean position himself as the front-runner, and makes it more difficult for one of the other eight Democrats running to mount a successful "anti-Dean" candidacy -- particularly Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri.

"To stop Dean from getting the nomination, the establishment of the Democratic Party would have to unite behind one candidate, and a key part of that establishment would be organized labor," Mr. Faucheux said. "Gephardt would be, I think, the prime candidate to become the labor candidate."

The endorsements bring money -- AFSCME, for example, plans to spend at least $1 million in Iowa, the first binding nomination contest. They also bring manpower: The unions are among the largest in Iowa and in New Hampshire, which holds its primary eight days after the Iowa caucuses.

"We have built an enormous grass-roots organization in our campaign so far. But what you have just done dwarfs even our organization: 3 million members between the three of you," Mr. Dean told the union members gathered yesterday.