Retired Teachers Chapter News

Vote for Hillary on primary day

Jan 17, 2008 4:14 PM

The New York primary is less than three weeks away! This year’s campaign to decide who will be the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates has been the longest one yet. So we’ve had plenty of time to look and listen.

Now it’s time to decide. We go to the polls on Tuesday, Feb. 5.

The AFT, after a seven-month process of polling membership — we’re part of AFT’s more than 1.4 million members — and meeting with candidates, announced its endorsement of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton to be the Democratic nominee.

The AFT invited all the major presidential candidates to respond to an AFT questionnaire and to meet individually for an extensive question-and-answer session with the union’s Executive Council and rank-and-file members. The seven Democratic candidates accepted the invitation.

Of the major Republican candidates who were invited to participate, all either declined or did not respond.

In announcing the Clinton endorsement in October, AFT President Edward McElroy said, “The candidates we met with have an impressive depth of experience and commitment to strengthening America. With so many strong candidates focused on the needs of America’s working families, it was really an embarrassment of riches.”

In the final analysis, noting the 50,000 member visits to the AFT-created Web site “You Decide 2008,” and the feedback from the national union’s outreach to members through meetings at the local level and regional caucuses, the AFT Executive Council made its decision.

“Our members have told us that they want a leader they can trust to strengthen public education, increase access to health care, promote commonsense economic priorities and secure America’s place in the world,” McElroy noted. “Hillary Clinton is that leader.”

In response to the endorsement, Clinton said she would work to strengthen defined pension systems and retirement security, to ensure that all Americans have affordable, quality health insurance and to protect the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively.

The reason the endorsement comes from the AFT and not from us at the UFT is because endorsements are made at the union level that corresponds to the office. So the UFT endorses at the mayoral level, NYSUT at the gubernatorial level and AFT at the national level.

Sen. Clinton is an old friend of the UFT. As first lady and senator she has often visited New York public schools. She was a guest speaker at the union’s annual Parent Conference and her husband received our prestigious John Dewey Award. The senator often turns to UFT President Randi Weingarten for advice on education and labor issues.

Acknowledging that there are many qualified Democratic candidates in this contested primary, the AFT said that it decided to make an early endorsement when 71 percent of polled members said they believed the union should examine the presidential candidate’s records and then recommend the candidate who is best on issues affecting union members and their families.

Supporting the endorsement is NYSUT’s resolution that recommended the AFT “give New York’s junior senator and the nation’s former first lady its full consideration for endorsement.” The New York State AFL-CIO weighed in on her behalf as a “favorite sister.”

In a statement following the AFT announced endorsement, Clinton said, “I am committed to improving and strengthening our education system for our teachers and ensuring our education system is able to meet the needs of the global economy. Expanding opportunity for our children has been my life’s work and it will be the work of my presidency. I will keep seeking you out and working in partnership with you to do what’s best for our children, best for our educators and best for the future of our country.”

This endorsement is only for the Democratic nomination. Endorsements for the general election in November will be made by delegates to the AFT Convention which will be held in Chicago in July.

Don’t miss the chance to have your vote count. Vote for Hillary Clinton on primary day.