AFL-CIO Obama endorsement to come on Thursday.

WASHINGTON–The general board of the AFL-CIO on Thursday is expected to endorse presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). The board will convene Thursday in a conference call to make it official. The endorsement brings what will be the AFL-CIO’s largest voter mobilization ever–outreach to more than 13 million voters in 24 priority states in support of Obama. The labor federation has budgeted a record $53.4 million for their entire 2008 voting program, which includes down ticket races. Though it was not on his schedule, Obama met with AFL-CIO leaders and union presidents at the AFL-CIO building–down the street from the White House on June 18. Obama met the labor leaders–including AFL-CIO president John Sweeney–in a conference room for about 90 minutes for an informal discussion where he took a number of questions.