Obama endorsed by AFSCME

By GottaLaff

A former critic of Obama's now endorses him. Gerald McEntee, the president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, had his doubts, but:

Today, McEntee sounded a much different note as he announced that his union -- the largest in the AFL-CIO, with 1.5 million members -- had endorsed Obama after supporting Hillary Clinton in the primary.

McEntee said Obama assured him and other labor leaders that he was intent on making sure that trade deals contained tougher labor and environmental provisions, a position Obama stated often on the trail, particularly in Rust Belt states, but that was called into question after his economic adviser Austan Goolsbee was reported to have assured the Canadian government that such talk was mainly for political consumption.

Obama denied those reports, but himself hinted at the political nature of his anti-trade talk this week when he told Fortune magazine that his anti-NAFTA rhetoric had gone a bit overboard. "Sometimes during campaigns the rhetoric gets overheated and amplified," he told the magazine. "Politicians are always guilty of that, and I don't exempt myself."

Hmm. I don't agree with Obama on everything. This recent NAFTA remark needs some clarification. Meanwhile, McEntee puts one more doubt aside:

"I think [Obama] has to, and should, take into consideration many points of view," McEntee said. "We're okay and willing to give this guy [Jason Furman, , a young on-the-rise economist who is regarded warily by some in organized labor on the left for some past writings presenting a positive view of WalMart] a chance."

The alternative, John Sidney McGramm, is not an option.