By David Lightman
The Hartford Courant

AP Photo/Susan Walsh Sen. Chris Dodd signs an autograph as IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger looks on at a press conference in Washington, Wednesday, held to announce the union's endorsement.

WASHINGTON — The International Association of Fire Fighters today officially endorsed Chris Dodd for president — and the union's head conceded that he's got a tough job ahead.

IAFF President Harold Schaitberger recalled his group's 2003 endorsement of Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry, who like Dodd was a decided underdog in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Kerry broke out of the Democratic pack just days before the Iowa caucuses in 2004 and gained enough momentum and votes to win the nomination.

"This time," said Schaitberger, "we're going to see if we can make lightning strike once again."

The 281,000-member union's executive board made the endorsement official this morning, and Schaitberger announced it at one of the biggest events of Dodd's struggling campaign. Dodd was surrounded on the Capital Hilton Hotel stage by about 100 firefighters, holding signs for Dodd and wearing yellow T-shirts announcing their support. Dozens more union members were in the audience and the aisles.

"We've ignored the polls. We ignored the campaign money, and we ignored the campaign pundits who have been off base, especially this early," Schaitberger said.

He recalled Dodd's legislative history — the Connecticut Democrat has led the fight for major bills to help firefighters win more funding — and how much members value Dodd's experience.

"We know experience matters," said Schaitberger.

The ebullient Dodd insisted the endorsement would be an important turning point for his campaign, which has been hard-pressed to attract 1 percent in most Iowa and New Hamsphire polls. "We've been making lots of calls to caucus attendees," he said. "The overwhelming majority say they're undecided."

The union, which has about 4,000 members in Connecticut, has about 1,570 in Iowa and 1,350 in New Hampshire. They can provide an instant network of workers for Dodd — and if he does well in the early states could give him an immediate corps of supporters nationwide. Florida, for instance, has about 25,000 union members and California has about 34,000.

Dodd and Schaitberger will begin a campaign tour Thursday, beginning at Firehouse 3 in Iowa City, followed by stops in Des Moines and Council Bluffs. Friday, they move on to New Hamsphire and head for Nevada Saturday.

Copyright 2007 The Hartford Courant Company
All Rights Reserved