FOR THE RECORD
There was never much doubt that Hillary Clinton would get District Council 37's endorsement in her bid for a second term as U.S. Senator. For one thing, she's regarded as a shoo-in, and DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts's fondness for incumbents who might help her union is exceeded only by her fondness for those who are sure things.
But an indication that there would be an open process before deciding on an endorsement has left some hard feelings among both some DC 37 activists and the camp of Ms. Clinton's opponent in the Sept. 12 Democratic primary, Jonathan Tasini.
Mr. Tasini, whose constant criticism of Ms. Clinton's vote authorizing President Bush to go to war with Iraq resonates with some DC 37 officials, has had a hard time making his case, with his underfunded campaign not even qualifying for a televised debate although he's in double digits in the polls.
On June 22, however, his campaign received a letter from DC 37 Political Action Director Wanda Williams telling him that he would be invited to a candidate screening session at a future time.
But according to Mr. Tasini's spokeswoman, Anna Mumford, "They never got in touch with us," and on Aug. 16, the only candidate to come before the union's 17- person screening committee was Senator Clinton.
When Tasini campaign manager Stephanie Cannon called to inquire about his exclusion, she said screening committee head Lenny Allen told her Ms. Williams's letter had been sent by mistake.
"At the beginning of the conversation," she said in a phone interview the following day, "he said they had decided to endorse Hillary Clinton about six months ago, and so there was no sense in bringing my candidate down there to waste his time. He said the interview with Hillary Clinton was just to discuss issues with her."
One DC 37 official who usually is at odds with Ms. Roberts said he saw nothing wrong with the pre-ordained decision, and questioned why it was even necessary for Senator Clinton to come to the union.
But Fred Newton, a DC 37 delegate and activist from the Civil Service Technical Guild, suspected that either Ms. Clinton or Ms. Roberts was fearful that Mr. Tasini could convince some screening committee members that the Senator's vote to authorize the war with Iraq was reason enough to deny her a second term.
"It's obvious that they're scared that Hillary won't get 100 percent - that she might only get 70 or 80 percent - if Tasini is allowed to appear before the screening committee," Mr. Newton said.
Mr. Allen brushed off that claim, saying, "That's not true. He's on an island all by himself."
He said the screening committee long ago reached a consensus that there was "no reason to interview anybody else. What we wanted to do was bring Hillary in and talk about issues of interest to the union."
So why had Ms. Williams sent the letter to Mr. Tasini? "You have to speak to Wanda Williams about what that was all about," Mr. Allen replied.
Ms. Cannon declined to speculate on the awkward machinations at DC 37, but said, "I don't think it's a very democratic process. I don't know what they had to go on - they never heard Jonathan speak."
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