N.M. AFSCME worker pushes Clinton in Iowa

Carter Bundy has left behind his home in Albuquerque for the past several weeks to spend time in Iowa persuading members of his union to caucus tonight for Hillary Clinton.

On the day of the Iowa Caucus, Bundy, the political and legislative director for AFSCME in New Mexico, still believes what he wrote in a column published on this site yesterday: that the race is wide open.

He’s only legally allowed to try to persuade AFSCME members to support Clinton, and he said the union has found that she is “the pretty clear favorite of our members.”

“But we’ve also found members who are supporting other candidates, including. Gov. Richardson, and we’re not here to badmouth any of the other candidates,” he said. “When I talk to any one of our members who’s a Richardson fan, I tell them he’s done a lot for our union and he’s an excellent choice.”

Bundy is spending today in Iowa City contacting union members who are identified supporters of Clinton to let them know where they can caucus tonight and to offer rides. Tonight he and others will be giving members rides and, potentially, volunteering with the Clinton campaign.

Bundy said the “disproportionate influence of rural areas gives John Edwards somewhat of an advantage in the delegate count,” and the fact that college students haven’t yet returned to Iowa hurts Barack Obama.

The three frontrunners all have “big cores of support,” he said, so Richardson must get the support of most undecideds and take some from Joe Biden and Chris Dodd to finish in the top three.

Bundy said he believes there is a chance many of the undecideds will pick Richardson. He said the frontrunners are all well-known, and many who are undecided at this point probably aren’t fans of any of them.

“If they haven’t closed a sale with you now, you’re probably looking for something different, and Gov. Richardson offers something different,” Bundy said.