Union Leaders Demand Gephardt Fire Senior Campaign Aide

[UpInArms]

http://www.rollcall.com/pub/1_1/breakingnews/3781-1.html

Two powerful union leaders are demanding that Rep. Richard Gephardt (D- Mo.) fire one of his top aides after she allegedly threatened to retaliate against their unions if they campaign for former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean in Missouri.

...more only if you have a subscription to RollCall... (which I unfortunately do not)

on the other hand - Gephardt is such a pig and this is just like his nasty self

[Demobrat]

1. Wow.

The bit question is, did Gep know about this ahead of time? I sure hope not. I don't want to have to think that badly of him.

[UpInArms]

2. I got the text from a friend, so I shall post a bit more

According to McEntee and Stern, during a Dec. 1 meeting with Missouri Gov. Bob Holden (D), his top aide and representatives from AFSCME and SEIU, Aboussie allegedly threatened to send a letter to top GOP state legislators asking them to overturn an executive order by Holden granting collective bargaining to unions representing Missouri state employees.

Holden is facing a serious primary challenge from state Auditor Claire
McCaskill next year.

[Nlighten1]

3. What did he know...

and when did he know it?

[Demobrat]

4. Nothing. She says.

Still. I wonder what, if anything, Dean's campaign will have to say about this.

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-gephardt-labor,0,1779197,print.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

WASHINGTON -- Prominent labor leaders on Wednesday accused an aide to Democratic presidential candidate Dick Gephardt of threatening retaliation against Missouri state employees if two prominent unions assist rival Howard Dean in the 2004 Missouri primary.

snip

Aboussie, a longtime aide to Gephardt, said she was not authorized by Gephardt or the campaign to discuss the unions' endorsements with anyone in Missouri.

[roguevalley]

5. In my mind, it doesn't matter what he knew or didn't know. Gephardt has

to do the right thing and ax her. I hate it when they
sit around and do it ten days later. I would hand her
her walking papers because even the image of this is
not good for him. To me, its a character issue. If he
isn't tough enough to do this because not doing it will
hurt his campaign, he isn't tough enough to be President.

Come on, Mr. G. I hope you act and swiftly. Please.
Someone in power act swiftly when you have to.

RV, who would have voted for Gep once but now finds too
much urgency to elect others.

[Debi]

20. As stated in First Read

The buck stops with Dick Gephardt! This staff member is too close to the top to have done this on her own on a whim. He probably thought SEIU/AFSCME wouldn't go public with it..Shame on him.

[Cocoa]

6. "this is just like his nasty self"

Has he done something like this in the past? That was my first question reading this, I don't know the answer.

What's the precedent for this?

[Red State Rebel]

7. Drudge had this link

to an article about her...she sounds like a doozy!
http://www.riverfronttimes.com/issues/2002-05-29/feature.html/1/index.html

[Cocoa]

8. thanks

Seriously, thanks for that link, but if I'm going to wade into the morass of St. Louis politics, I wouldn't start with that paper. It looks like a free weekly that wouldn't be caught dead printing anything goood about Dick Gephardt. God bless em, those kind of papers are fine, but it doesn't help me.

I'm sure the Cleveland paper that portrayed Kucinich as a racist nightmare is a fine publication, but that portrait wasn't really helpful to me to reevaluate Kucinich as my #2, behind Gep.

[Eloriel]

10. WooBoy!

Doozie is an understatement.

I DO, however, understand a lot more about quisling Gephardt now than I ever did before. I kept wanting to like him, too. Not gonna happen. Not now.

Edit: I hope the unions stick to their guns AND that Gephardt has to jettison the sludge. This is going to be really hard on him, and well-deserved, IMO.

Eloriel

[janx]

18. Yep. This certainly isn't going to help his campaign.

I wonder if any Iowans have heard about this yet...

[Debi]

19. I would suggest

Telling Iowans...oh, wait, I am one and I plan on telling the whole state one email at a time. Typical Gephardt tactics and WE ARE SICK OF IT!!

[UpInArms]

15. here's a link to

what Gep's record is:

http://www.quinnell.us/politics/2004/gephardt.html

[Debi]

21. Dirty Politics

is Gephardt's style...he just has those below him do it for him..have you been reading some of Steve Murphy's interviews lately? He gets his 'thugs' out to smear other campaigns while he smiles sweetly and says he's for the people. He just got caught this time.

[goforit]

9. Here's a St.Louis Post Dispatch follow up..........

<http://www.stltoday.com>


Two union leaders accuse Gephardt staffer of making threats
By Deirdre Shesgreen
Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau
12/03/2003


Presidential hopeful Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Mo.
(Reed Saxon/AP)

WASHINGTON—Two top union presidents accused one of Rep. Richard Gephardt's senior campaign advisers Wednesday of threatening the unions with political retribution if their Missouri members campaigned for Gephardt's Democratic presidential rival, Howard Dean.

Gerald McEntee and Andrew Stern, presidents of two of the largest AFL-CIO unions, demanded that Gephardt fire Joyce Aboussie, his national campaign vice chair, saying she issued an "ultimatum" to their unions during a Dec. 1 meeting that also included Gov. Bob Holden.

McEntee is head of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union and Stern is president of the Service Employees International Union. Both unions have endorsed Dean and have pledged to help him win the Democratic presidential nomination.

Aboussie was traveling and did not return calls for comment. Gephardt's campaign issued a statement affirming his support for workers' rights and a spokeswoman, Kim Molstre, said Gephardt did not authorize or know about Aboussie's alleged demands to the two unions. Molstre said Aboussie would not be fired.

In a sharply worded letter sent to Gephardt Wednesday, McEntee and Stern said that during the Dec. 1 meeting, Aboussie "demanded that AFSCME and SEIU not campaign for Howard Dean in Missouri." The letter says Abouisse outlined three specific prohibitions:

*the unions shouldn't send any of their Missouri union members to Iowa, a must-win state for Gephardt and a place where the two men are locked in a tight race for the lead
*the unions shouldn't make an independent expenditures for Dean in Missouri
*and the unions shouldn't communicate with their Missouri members about their support for Dean.

Con't....................

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I always knew this guy was no good. Ever since he sold out the
Dems on the Iraq War; Poorly supported Gore in 2000; has never
been able to recruit a majority in the house; attacks Dean more
than Bush; and has no concept of what the internet is all about.

Gepthart lost dignity a long time ago and thinks he's better than sliced bread.
Why the hell the DLC continues to support schmucks like these
is a big wonder to me.

[goforit]

11. There goes Gepthart handing Missouri over to the Repugs!!!

What a jacka**!!!

[DUJunkie]

12. can somebody

please explain to me why the AFL-CIO is backing Richard Gepardt.:shrug:

[Cocoa]

13. are they?

I thought they decided not to endorse any candidate.

[Freddie Stubbs]

16. The AFL-CIO is not backing Gephardt

[Eloriel]

14. This needs a

:kick:

Eloriel

[Debi]

17. This is not new behavior

From either Gephardt or his staff....besides the meeting was held at Gep. HQ with the State Campaign Chair in attendance...kinda hard for the fair-haired bully to say he didn't know about it.

Two years ago Gep. released the DCCC to spend almost $500,000 in a DEMOCRATIC primary to help his 'chosen' (and UAW endorsed) candidate win - she eventually lost the general - when asked about it he said he was unaware of the occurance and did not authorize it. THE EXACT SAME WORDS HE USED ABOUT THIS INCIDENT.

This kind of politics belongs in the dumpster...along with the Gephardt for President signs and stickers.

[DUJunkie]

22. sorry!

My bad.:think:

[Debi]

23. Don't be sorry

Gep has several union endorsements...that's the problem! His campaign got mad when someone else received two BIG endorsements and decided to punish them...funny you don't hear them threatening the Firefighters because they endorsed Kerry!

Gep didn't have a play 'b' in case he didn't get the AFL-CIO endorsement - so now he's just bashing the other leading candidate.

DIRTYDIRTYDIRTYDIRTYDIRTYDIRTYDIRTYDIRTYDIRTYDIRTYDIRTYDIRTY