AFT Endorses Clinton For President

First Read reports that the American Federation of Teachers union has decided to publicly endorse Hillary Clinton for president.

This endorsement of Clinton is not a big surprise. Clearly Obama hurt his chances for union support when he told both AFT and NEA members that he supports merit pay for teachers based upon standardized test scores. While Edwards has worked very hard for labor support, his standing in both national and key primary and caucus polls is pretty low and the union wants to back a winner. So Clinton gets the nod.

The endorsement comes on the heels of a Washington Post/ABC News poll showing Clinton solidifying her lead over Barack Obama (she leads him by 33 percentage points) and news last night that Clinton out-raised Obama $27 million to $20 million in third quarter political donations.

Clinton really looks like a lock for the Democratic nomination.

The only bad news she has gotten lately is a recent Newsweek poll showing Obama with a slim 2 point lead over her with likely caucus voters.

But barring a pre-election scandal (which is always a possibility with the Clintons) or an Obama win in Iowa (which could be a real momentum shift), I just don't see how she loses this nomination.

What do you think?

Does she have the Democratic nomination sewn up? And if so, can she actually win the White House? And if she does win the White House, will she be good for public education and teachers? Finally, if you're an AFT member, are you happy about the endorsement or would you rather have seen the union endorse another candidate or not tender an endorsement at all?