by Rick Pearson and John McCormick, updated
DES MOINES—A union flyer hitting Democratic mailboxes in Iowa has ended up affecting all three top presidential contenders in the state: It was sent by a group backing Hillary Clinton, attacks Barack Obama and looks like it came from supporters of John Edwards.
The mailing was the product of the political arm of the national American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the public workers’ union that is backing Clinton’s bid for the presidency.
It criticizes the health-care coverage expansion plan offered by Obama, the Illinois senator, as being “timid” and a “band-aid solution.” And it quotes Edwards, a former North Carolina senator, as saying “as many as 15 million Americans would be without coverage” under Obama’s plan.Nowhere in the mailing does AFSCME mention its endorsed candidate, Clinton, a New York senator, who has proposed her own plan that would mandate people obtain health insurance coverage, though she has not given details on how they would be forced to do so.
“There have been a lot of misleading tactics and tricks in the last few weeks, but we’ve just never seen anything like this before,” Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, Edwards’ Iowa state director, said in a statement. “Either they are trying to trick people or they’ve realized that on health care, John Edwards is the candidate who speaks honestly about what it really costs and what will be required to have truly universal coverage.”
But Dillon also takes a shot at Clinton’s campaign. “It’s fine to have an honest debate about policy, but Iowans deserve better than planted questions and campaign fliers designed to fool them.”
Obama’s campaign launched a fundraising effort Thursday afternoon, based in part on the notion that outside groups are trying to wield influence in Iowa.
Bill Burton, an Obama spokesman, said outside groups such as AFSCME have spent more than $1.8 million on Clinton’s behalf in Iowa, while spending nearly $1.3 million for Edwards. He said Obama has received zero help outside groups.