Before the primaries even have a chance to start, Hillary Clinton has snagged a pretty big endorsement. The American Federation of Teachers has picked Mrs. Clinton as their candidate of choice.
AFT made the announcement this past Saturday.
“Hillary Clinton, a product of public schools herself, believes in the promise of public education,” said Randi Weingarten, the president of the AFT. “From early childhood learning through higher education, she sees how that promise can create real opportunity for kids, building a much-needed bridge to the middle class,” according to Time.com.
Remember that Mrs. Clinton is the one who made the phrase “it takes a village to raise a child” popular here in America in the 1990s.
The article further states how much this endorsement may favor Clinton.
The union, which has more than 1.5 million members, will make over “1 million phone calls and knock on more than 500,000 doors in the run-up to the 2016 election” for Clinton.
Of course that’s just a cog in the machine that will help Clinton. She did receive the AFT endorsement in 2008 and the union’s president, Randi Weingarten, is a staunch supporter.
Supporters and critics of the endorsement have flooded social media in the days since, both within and outside the organization.
While this is the first shoe to drop in union endorsements, Clinton still has work to do. The AFL-CIO hasn’t made a decision yet and neither has SIEU. Clinton’s chief primary challenger, Bernie Sanders, will surely force both union groups to consider endorsing him.
It’s also important to remember that we’re just halfway through 2015, some potential candidates have yet to make a decision on running, and there are other teacher unions that will help sway the election.
