Unionists Slam "Hypocritical" Leaders for Anti-Obama MailerUnion members in Illinois and Iowa are denouncing their national leaders as hypocrites for sending out a deceptive campaign mailer aimed this week at Barack Obama. They are livid that the political arm of their 1.4 million member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) financed a mailer to Iowa voters slamming Obama for opposing individual health care mandates - the same sort of mandates long opposed by the union.
"This is definitely hypocritical, absolutely," said Carter Woodruff, an activist with Iowa AFSCME and a former official of the union state council. "It's a desperate attempt to attack
for unfounded reasons. It's a shame they stooped so low."
The union's direct mail flyer was written in a disguised manner that suggested it came from the John Edwards campaign and not from AFSCME and it slapped Obama for taking what it called "the timid way out, offering yet another band-aid solution."
AFSCME's national leadership endorsed Hillary Clinton last October and is expected to spend millions on her behalf if she wins the nomination.
Woodruff along with Henry Bayer, Executive Director of Illinois-based AFSCME Council 31, spoke to reporters on a conference call organized by the Obama campaign. Council 31, representing 75,000 Illinois public employees, endorsed Obama this month. "Senator Obama has fought like hell for working people," said Bayer. "His health care plan is most in line with that of our national union."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/12/21/unionists-slam-hypocriti_n_77899.html
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