Edwards picks up more union support on Labor Day

Labor is starting to get involved in the race at a quickening pace. A week after Dodd, Clinton and Edwards all picked important endorsements, two more unions announced today they were endorsing Edwards: the United Steelworkers and United Mine Workers. The Steelworkers are an especially strong force; they represent 1,2 million workers, including almost 8600 in Iowa.

Here's UMWA President Cecil E. Roberts's statement on his union's endorsement:

"Senator Edwards' positions on the issues of importance to UMWA members make him the best fit of all the candidates for president. We need a president who cares about ordinary working people instead of the richest Americans and the big multinational corporations. We believe John Edwards is that person, and we will work as hard as we know how on his behalf anywhere and everywhere we can."

And Edwards's answered by emphasizing his anti-establishment campaign message:

"These workers have felt the negative impact of a broken system in Washington that is rigged against America's working families for far too long--whether it's the tragic lack of oversight in mine safety, trade agreements written to benefit multinational corporations while they ship American jobs overseas, or the millions of working Americans who still can't afford health insurance. As president, I will proudly lead the fight on behalf of working families with their support--and together we will win."

Keep in mind, though, that unions had lined up behind Howard Dean and Dick Gephardt in the 2004 race, and this was supposed to give them a huge boost, especially in Iowa. When the results came in, Dean and Gephardt were third and fourth, far behind Kerry and Edwards. Many speculated that this marked the end of union influence on primaries. But what probably had done unions in then was that they were divided between many candidates. If they had been thrown all their weight behind a single candidate, that would probably have made a huge impact.

Labor in 2008 will probably be even more divided than it was in 2004. The AFL-CIO passed on endorsing a candidate last month, and decided that individual unions would be free to support a candidate. Edwards is likely to get the most support from labor, but Clinton, Obama and - as we saw last week - smaller candidates like Dodd will get some endorsements too. This makes it unlikely that Edwards benefit a great deal from labor support when it comes to logistics or turnout operation.

But these endorsements could prove very valuable to Edwards in other ways. His campaign message is that he will fight the broken establishment and radically change it, as nothing more can be done within the existing system. He has been using this theme with more clarity in the past months. This has been a message many (such as myself) have been looking to hear from a Democrat for quite some time, but Edwards has been suffering a lack of credibility, as some question whether he is the right person to carry this message. With most Democrats right now hesitating between Clinton and Obama, the Edwards campaign has been increasingly frustrated as to why the Democratic base is not responding to his economic populism and anti-DLC positions -- the very same base that was angry at the Clinton Administration for his rightward shift. After all, Edwards has been taking stances that Democrats have shied away from for a long time now. I myself am unclear why Edwards's often amazing positions on issues have not sealed the deal for me in his favor.

But there is no question that with endorsements like today's, Edwards's populist credentials are going to be taken much more seriously by many progressives.