A politically powerful firefighters' union has reportedly dropped plans to endorse Hillary Clinton in the 2016 White House race.
Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, dropped the bombshell during a telephone call Monday to Clinton's campaign manager, according to the
New York Times.
Schaitberger told campaign manager Robby Mook the union's executive board and rank-and-file membership didn't support a Clinton endorsement, particularly as Vice President Joe Biden's candidacy remains a possibility, the Times reports.
"Secretary Clinton doesn’t sell well here," Roy McGhee, a union board member representing Texas and Oklahoma, tells the Times. "I think the Republican attack machine, the media machine, has made sure of that. The vice president will do better. He’s popular among firefighters."
The union represents only about 300,000 members, but has a history of political influence. For example, the Times reports, the union, which backed the presidential campaign of Secretary of State John Kerry in September 2003, is credited with helping fuel his victory in Iowa's 2004 caucuses that propelled him to the Democratic nomination.
So far, Clinton has gotten union endorsements, including those from the United Brother of Carpenters and Joiners of America, and the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers. But two other major groups, the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, have said they'll delay their endorsements, the Times reports.
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