This article reports on two national teachers' unions' different approaches to the 2008 U.S. election campaign. The National Education Association is ready to spend $40 million this election year, but it is not ready to endorse a candidate for president. The American Federation Teachers, by contrast, is working aggressively for U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, who represents the home state of more than a third of the union's 1.3 million members. The union is not united, though: Its Illinois affiliate and the Chicago local are recruiting volunteers for their state's favorite son, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. Clinton's chief rival for the Democratic nomination. Meanwhile, the 3.2 million-member NEA's state affiliates are making their own decisions. Some are endorsing candidates, while several affiliates have remained neutral but seen their leaders make personal endorsements, all among Democrats. While both national teachers' unions are using different tactics, they are each making decisions that will ensure they have clout in the long run, one union observer said.