2008 presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton was in Senate re-election mode on Wednesday when she collected the endorsements of top officials from New York City's two firefighters unions. But at the ceremony announcing their support, rank and file members of New York's bravest were nowhere in sight. "Mrs. Clinton chose to make a modest, almost quiet, appearance with about a dozen or so union officials in front of Ladder Company 157 on Flatbush Avenue," reported The New York Times. "The only audience members were hastily alerted reporters and camera crews, clustered on an empty sidewalk, instead of the crush of star-struck voters that often crowd her announced events."The stealthily arranged ceremony - which was being touted as a major feather in Mrs. Clinton's political cap as soon as it was over - was undoubtedly kept on the QT to avoid an embarrassing repeat of what happened to Hillary the last time she met with firefighters. At Paul McCartney's post 9/11 concert for New York City, an audience of cops and firefighters booed her off the stage as a she struggled to introduce Jerry Seinfeld. The year before, the Uniformed Firefighters Association and the Uniformed Fire Officers Association had endorsed Hillary's opponent, Rick Lazio.
Mrs. Clinton's "tireless" work on 9/11 issues is said to have made the difference this time around. But judging from the sullen expressions sported by even the union chiefs as they bestowed their support on the former first lady, Hillary still suffers from a popularity deficit at the FDNY.