(The Associated Press distributed the following article on August 9.)
DETROIT — The Democratic presidential hopeful Richard A. Gephardt accepted the Teamsters union’s formal endorsement today in the union stronghold of Michigan before moving on to rally Teamsters in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Mr. Gephardt, a congressman from Missouri, told several hundred union members holding Gephardt signs and American flags near the Teamsters Joint Council 43 headquarters here that he was the best candidate to bring back jobs lost under President Bush.
“The president has made the economy a mess,” Mr. Gephardt said. “In 24 months, he’s turned everything on its head.”
Mr. Gephardt said he had worked in the House with former President Bill Clinton to balance the federal budget and help create 22 million jobs. Now, he said, “America’s working families are in trouble.”
Mr. Gephardt unofficially won the Teamsters’ endorsement on Aug. 1 and used today’s rallies in an effort to gain some ground in the nine-way fight for the Democratic nomination for the 2004 presidential election.
The Teamsters’ endorsement enables Mr. Gephardt to tap into 1.4 million Teamsters members. With the other unions that have endorsed him, he now has the support of unions with more than 3 million members, a major stride toward the 8.8 million needed for the endorsement of the nation’s largest labor confederation, the A.F.L.-C.I.O. The A.F.L.-C.I.O. probably will hold a special endorsement meeting on Oct. 15.
Although Iowa and New Hampshire lead the 2004 presidential selection process, the Feb. 7 Democratic presidential caucuses in Michigan make it an important target for Mr. Gephardt and the other Democrats in the race.
None of Michigan’s other major unions have issued endorsements.