Nobody paid much attention when Dean, addressing the Democratic National Committee in February, sought support of "white folks who drive pickup trucks with Confederate flag decals." The doctor dodged that bullet but brought it up again Nov. 1, reminding everybody: "I still want to be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks." When Dean's opponents pounced on him at the Nov. 4 candidates' debate in Boston, he bristled. It took him until the next morning to back away from the Stars and Bars. One onlooker said Dean has the harsh bedside manner of a surgeon.
Just when it appeared that Dean's prickly behavior might do him in, the two labor union endorsements confirmed him as front-runner. Backing from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) had been expected. But support from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) was a devastating blow to Gephardt and Teamsters President James Hoffa.
Until the end, Gephardt had hoped AFSCME's Gerald McEntee would follow 20 other unions into his camp, leading to an AFL-CIO endorsement of the veteran congressman. In private conversation, however, McEntee has complained that Gephardt is not "electable." So much for a career of organized labor's most faithful supporter in the upper reaches of the Democratic Party.
AFSCME's organizational muscle in Iowa strengthens Dean's hand in winning the Jan. 19 caucuses there, which stand as a last barricade against his nomination. He would be perhaps the most peculiar nominee of a major party. To prevent that or take advantage of it, his torrent of words is being searched in the greatest detail.