Conventional wisdom is that labor is pushing for a Gephardt veep nomination, and the CW is generally right. There's no doubt that Gephardt is the choice of most of the building trades and,
especially, Hoffa's Teamsters. While many of us may groan at the idea of Gephardt as Kerry's sidekick, his nomination would put a charge in the efforts of many unions and their members.
But aside from that, Edwards is getting grudging acceptance amongst the old union set. Even Hoffa, who flirted with Bush the past two years, has said he would accept Edwards. His economic message (two Americas) resonates well with union audiences and has helped raise Edwards' veep stock even higher.
It's funny, everything I hear is that Edwards is increasingly the top choice of many party insiders, but that Kerry doesn't like Edwards and would have to be dragged into chosing him. It's the root of just about every rumor I hear -- "everyone wants Edwards, but Kerry is not convinced and doesn't much like him. Hence, he's taking a look at ---."
What's funny is that I don't think I've ever read anything indicating that Kerry, indeed, doesn't get along with Edwards.