There are some bright spots for Gore along the union front. Championing issues such as expanding health care and improving education have helped him with unions and progressives in general. Nowhere is that more true than with teachers' unions, who have enthusiastically endorsed Gore's agenda, which includes big increases for school construction and modernization, teacher training and teacher salaries. We've never had a candidate for president who was this strong on education. The NEA, which boasts 2.5 million members, or just under 1 of every 100 Americans, voted overwhelmingly to endorse Gore at its July convention.
Education consistently ranks as the top priority of voters in polls.
Voters perceive both Vice President Gore and Bush as pro-education. But Bush supports providing private school vouchers to public school students and has proposed closing down underperforming schools - stances the NEA and AFT strongly oppose. They also disdain the rest of Bush's agenda. Among those minority voters who are another core Democratic constituency, support for the Clinton administration has been high. But some minority leaders have indicated that Gore's candidacy has not yet caught fire.