The national head of the firefighters union yesterday endorsed Sen. Christopher J. Dodd for president and vowed the same kind of "neighbor to neighbor" push that he said catapulted Sen. John Kerry to the nomination when the union backed him in 2003.
Mr. Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat registering single-digit support in national and state polls, called the endorsement by the International Association of Fire Fighters — the union's earliest ever — a "great boost."
He insisted that polls showing Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois in the lead are meaningless and said his campaign finds most Iowa and New Hampshire voters undecided.
"When we jumped in and began campaigning for John Kerry everyone thought we were crazy ... [because] he didn't have a shot, they said," said Harold Schaitberger, IAFF president.
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