Amid rising fears among union leaders that Joe Biden would name Bernie Sanders as secretary of labor, Newsmax reported on November 23rd that he would instead turn to the favorite of labor chieftains and a personal friend as well: Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.
Newsmax was right. On Thursday, Biden did in fact name Walsh — the favorite of AFL-CI0 President Rich Trumka and American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees President Lee Saunders and himself a past member of a construction trades union.
Walsh, 53, is also a longtime supporter of fellow Irish-Catholic Biden and he and girlfriend Lorraine Higgins have what friends call a warm relationship with Joe and Jill Biden.
''And that’s what you have to remember,'' Bob Juliano, retired restaurant workers’ lobbyist and friend of Biden since 1973, told Newsmax. ''Joey knows what fits and what’s going to work. And that will have the last word over any kind of equation or scheme that ‘\'sounds good.'''
Juliano did not say specifically, but was clearly referring to the other strong prospect for secretary of labor after Walsh: California Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Julie Su.
The daughter of Chinese immigrants, Su had been likened by supporters to Frances Perkins, FDR’s secretary of labor and the longest holder of that position (1933-45) in history.
''If Biden picks Su, she could restore the agency’s mission to what it was under FDR’s labor secretary,'' the liberal The American Prospect recently wrote.
Whatever Biden’s feelings, he clearly wanted someone with whom he and organized labor felt comfortable. So he chose Walsh.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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