It had all the trappings of a re-election rally: thousands packing a convention center, Barack Obama T-shirts, videos celebrating the health care law, and a wall-size banner with encouraging messages to the incumbent president.
"You are our knight in shining armor - Sarah C., Norman, Okla.," read one inscription.
But this Obama love fest in Washington was not a campaign event. The nearly 9,000 gathered were teachers in town for the National Education Association's weeklong annual convention.
For the Republican teachers in attendance, the digs at their political views were impossible to overlook.
(AP) National Education Association (NEA) members write notes to Republican Presidential candidate Mitt...
Full Image
"What I don't like is the harassment going on for people to be an 'EFO' - an educator for Obama," said Maureen van Wagner, a special education teacher from Anchorage, Alaska.
In interviews with The Associated Press, roughly a dozen teachers who identified themselves as Republicans said they felt pressure from union leaders and the rank-and-file to support Obama's re-election - and felt marginalized when they wouldn't. Some interviewed said they were so worried about retribution from their colleagues that they wouldn't provide their names for publication.
National unions such as the NEA - it's the largest teachers union in the U.S. - have long been stalwart supporters of Democratic candidates, and to be effective, they must speak with a unified voice. But teachers, like other professional groups, are not monolithic in their political views, prompting inevitable tensions when the union mobilizes its political machine.
NEA leaders have been urging members to hold house parties to educate their friends about why Obama, who addressed the convention Thursday by telephone to thank teachers for their support, deserves a second term. So it wasn't really a surprise that the union showed its support for Obama so overtly at the convention. After all, 72 percent of delegates at last year's NEA convention voted to endorse Obama for re-election - the earliest the group has ever endorsed in a presidential election cycle.
But what did take Republican teachers off guard was the criticism they received for expressing support for Mitt Romney.
My Way News - GOP teachers balk at Obama-centric NEA convention
"You are our knight in shining armor - Sarah C., Norman, Okla.," read one inscription.
But this Obama love fest in Washington was not a campaign event. The nearly 9,000 gathered were teachers in town for the National Education Association's weeklong annual convention.
For the Republican teachers in attendance, the digs at their political views were impossible to overlook.
(AP) National Education Association (NEA) members write notes to Republican Presidential candidate Mitt...
Full Image
"What I don't like is the harassment going on for people to be an 'EFO' - an educator for Obama," said Maureen van Wagner, a special education teacher from Anchorage, Alaska.
In interviews with The Associated Press, roughly a dozen teachers who identified themselves as Republicans said they felt pressure from union leaders and the rank-and-file to support Obama's re-election - and felt marginalized when they wouldn't. Some interviewed said they were so worried about retribution from their colleagues that they wouldn't provide their names for publication.
National unions such as the NEA - it's the largest teachers union in the U.S. - have long been stalwart supporters of Democratic candidates, and to be effective, they must speak with a unified voice. But teachers, like other professional groups, are not monolithic in their political views, prompting inevitable tensions when the union mobilizes its political machine.
NEA leaders have been urging members to hold house parties to educate their friends about why Obama, who addressed the convention Thursday by telephone to thank teachers for their support, deserves a second term. So it wasn't really a surprise that the union showed its support for Obama so overtly at the convention. After all, 72 percent of delegates at last year's NEA convention voted to endorse Obama for re-election - the earliest the group has ever endorsed in a presidential election cycle.
But what did take Republican teachers off guard was the criticism they received for expressing support for Mitt Romney.
My Way News - GOP teachers balk at Obama-centric NEA convention