A Democrat Breaks Silence on Broadway Strike

A Democratic presidential hopeful, John Edwards, will put other leading White House contenders in an awkward position by announcing today that he supports the striking Broadway stagehands.

The Democrats so far have been noticeably quiet about the stagehand strike that is crippling Broadway and costing the city millions of dollars, though they have for the most part publicly supported the writers in the Writers Guild of America strike in Hollywood.

Political consultants say the candidates have nothing to lose in backing the writers because their financial support from Hollywood is assured, but the risk of alienating the power of the Broadway community is too great to take.

"Hollywood is a different part of the planet, a different universe. Producers will give money no matter what, and they have since the beginning of their industry," a political consultant, Hank Sheinkopf, said.

"To interfere with the power of the Broadway community is not smart, and the best thing to do as a politician is to stay out of it," he added.

Senators Clinton and Obama have publicly issued statements in support of the writers, but have remained quiet on the Broadway strike. Local politicians have likely opted to stay out of the fray because Mayor Bloomberg's offers to help mediate the dispute were rebuffed, Mr. Sheinkopf said.

Which politician chooses to come out favoring any side of a strike also reflects the scope, impact, and visibility of the issues at hand, a professor of public administration at Columbia University, Steven Cohen, said. The stagehands' strike affects only tourists and those involved in the industry, whereas the writers' strike has a national scope, he said.

"Broadway is a small little industry that happens to have a big impact on one part of town in New York City. If it spread to the traveling shows, it would have more of a political impact," Mr. Cohen said.

The city comptroller, William Thompson, has estimated a daily loss of $2 million to the city's economy since all but eight theaters went dark November 10.

On Broadway, the union, Local One, and the League of American Theaters and Producers negotiated for nearly 20 hours on Sunday, and restarted talks last evening at 7:00 p.m. As of late last night, the two sides had failed to reach an agreement.

In Hollywood, talks restarted Monday morning between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers following pressure from Governor Schwarzenegger and the industry's leading talent agents.