Mulling 2016 Run, Biden Speaks With Top Labor Leader
By Jim Acosta, CNN
Updated 1:12 PM ET, Sat October 17, 2015
Washington (CNN)Harold A. Schaitberger, the president of the powerful International Association of Fire Fighters, spoke Friday morning with Vice President Joe Biden, who strongly indicated in the phone conversation that he is planning to run for president, a source familiar with the discussion said.
The IAFF is one of the most influential labor groups in the U.S. Biden is especially close to labor, which could be a key constituency for him if he seeks the White House.
Schaitberger declined to comment on the call, saying he does not discuss private conversations. But the source said Biden talked about campaign strategy with Schaitberger and indicated a final decision on whether he would run for president is imminent.
The source described the call as one of many the vice president is making to potential backers of a Biden candidacy.
Earlier this month, the New York Times reported the IAFF informed Hillary Clinton's campaign that it had abandoned its plans to endorse the former secretary of state. And in a profile on Friday, the Times reported Schaitberger's "close, longstanding relationship" to Biden, saying he personally lobbied the vice president in 2009 to expand a law that helped avert firefighter layoffs during the Great Recession.
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http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/17/politics/joe-biden-president-2016-firefighters/index.html
