Eliot Seide

Today's Wall Street Journal has a front page story, "Labor Makes Big Comeback in '08 Races." That's certainly true in the Minnesota U.S. Senate race. It's a story we've been tracking for months, in A Tale of Two AFSCMEs, A Tale, Chapter Two and A Tale, Chapter Three.

This week, Education Minnesota endorsed DFL U.S. Senate contender Al Franken over Mike Ciresi, the other top contender in the race. The endorsement of the state's biggest union (70,000-plus members) is huge. Add the endorsement of AFCME Council 5, at 43,000 members, and now you're talking super huge. These top two state unions are highly motivated, and that will be tough, but not insurmountable, to the Ciresi team. Ciresi earned the endorsement of AFCME Council 65, which boasts 11,000-plus members.

Our Tale of Two AFSCMEs continues. AFSCME Council 65's executive director, Steve Preble, back at AFSCME Council 5:

“While one can appreciate the sharp wit of a candidate [Al Franken], we feel a solid platform on middle class issues, honest answers to tough questions and a career track record of victories for middle class Americans and all Minnesotans is more important when choosing a United States Senator...We are proud to endorse Mike Ciresi, he is the best candidate to defeat Norm Coleman and represent us in the U.S. Senate.”

And Leslie Sandberg, communications director for the Mike Ciresi campaign:

"Mr. [Eliot] Seide's comments should be put in context of his endorsement of one of Mike's challengers. Momentum is with the Ciresi campaign as the polls and delegate count clearly show. We are consistently the leading Democrat in the polls and are not burdened with the extremely high negatives Mike's challenger has. Mike is a demonstrated leader in Minnesota, where he has lived, been educated, and worked his entire life. He has made life better for all Minnesotans through his professional and philanthropic work. Powerful special interests don't laugh when they hear he's coming -- they know they will be held accountable and will have to change their ways."

The big lesson that PIM draws from the Tale is that AFSCME endorsements matter hugely for DFL candidates. Our informal survey, gleaned from questioning key Democrats the last week, distills down to this: If the DFL endorsing contest was held today, Franken would probably win, however, Ciresi has the momentum. Now, much more than in the past, Democrats are wondering whether Franken can withstand the scrutiny in places like Michael Brodkorb's Minnesota Democrats Exposed of every off-color joke or comment Franken has ever made.

Last week I wrote that AFSCME Council 65's endorsement of Mike Ciresi instead of Al Franken in the DFL U.S. Senate endorsing contest was a big win for Ciresi. Eliot Seide, the executive director of the other AFSCME group, Council 5, begs to differ. In a phone conversation, Seide called Council 65's endorsement "a last gasp of the Ciresi campaign." Here's the statement, verbatim, that Seide sent to PIM:

"The struggling Ciresi Campaign is suggesting that the AFSCME Council 65 endorsement will keep their candidate alive. It won’t. AFSCME Council 5 has the capacity to help Al Franken get across the finish line. We’re one of the largest and most politically active unions with 43,000 members in 87 counties throughout Minnesota. Our member-driven endorsement comes with a war chest and an army of 1000 volunteers dedicated to electing Al Franken and restoring the middle class. Because of our track record, the media calls us 'politically potent.' With our support, Al Franken is in the strongest position to win the DFL endorsement and general election. Our members endorsed Al Franken because he’s a lifelong union member who grew up in Minnesota and will use sharp wit, hard work and progressive convictions to restore the middle class."

OK, DFL readers, your turn. What do the dueling AFSCME endorsements mean to the candidates' campaigns?