Former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) was the only Democratic presidential candidate to mention nine South Carolina firefighters who died in a blaze Monday, although many candidates addressed labor groups yesterday.
The nine deaths represents the most firefighters killed in a single event since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Edwards, speaking at the Take Back America conference, which was cosponsored by the AFL-CIO, took a few moments at the beginning of his remarks to “acknowledge … the incredible sacrifice those firefighters have made and that those families have made.”
Edwards, a South Carolina native, called the deaths “a great loss for my home state.”
The former senator and other candidates, including Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.), did not mention the tragedy during their morning remarks at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees conference.
Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), speaking to an AFL-CIO rally on Capitol Hill, also did not mention the fire.
All of the major Democratic candidates have actively courted the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) endorsement, as the group was considered by many to be crucial to Sen. John Kerry’s (D-Mass.) resurrection in the 2004 primaries.
An IAFF official yesterday said Edwards had called the organization’s president, Harold Schaitberger, to express his condolences, but the official added that Schaitberger was traveling and it is possible other candidates had reached out as well. Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Richardson also called Schaitberger to offer their condolences and support, as did Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.).
At least three of the nine firefighters killed when a burning furniture store in Charleston, S.C., collapsed were IAFF members with the Charleston Local 61.
The early-voting state of South Carolina is a Right-to-Work state.
Obama did not mention the tragedy in either of his speeches yesterday, but his campaign posted a statement of condolence on the “Community Blogs” section of his campaign website early in the afternoon.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) appeared to be the first out of the gate with a statement e-mailed to reporters.
Other campaigns appeared to be unsure of how to respond yesterday afternoon, as they replied to inquiries by asking if other campaigns had issued statements.
Clinton, Biden and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) had not issued statements by press time.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R), whose candidacy many firefighters oppose, addressed the fallen firefighters during a press conference in Dallas. The former mayor told reporters he was asking people to pray for the families, harkening back to the firefighters lost during his tenure as mayor and on Sept. 11.
A spokesman for the City of Charleston said Clinton, Edwards and Giuliani had called the mayor’s office to offer support.
When Schaitberger took to the campaign trail in 2003 and 2004 to voice the union’s endorsement of Kerry, he almost always referred to the time in 1999 when Kerry canceled a trip to attend memorial services for six firefighters who were killed in Worcester, Mass.
An aide to Kerry said yesterday the senator had called the Charleston mayor’s office and Bob McCarthy, president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts (PFFM), to offer his condolences and support because the fire is “such a terrible reminder of what happened in Worcester.”
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