Today one of the big prizes in the presidential candidate bid for labor support will be up for grabs, as the Service Employees International Union board is meeting to consider an endorsement. By all accounts, John Edwards is the front-runner, but given SEIU's unhappy experience with an early 2004 endorsement of Howard Dean, there's some sentiment for delaying any nod.

At SEIU's candidate forum earlier this week, Barack Obama's speech was generally rated as the best, with Edwards' a close second. And Bill Richardson, whose own speech drew strong applause, had the worst moment when he said to the crowd, "Thank you, AFSCME," an unfortunate reference to SEIU's main union rival for public employee members.

UPDATE: SEIU did not make an endorsement today, but could move towards one as early as next Monday. It appears, unsurprisingly, that Edwards has the most support within the union, but Obama seems to be relatively close behind. And SEIU locals in Illinois and New York may be the source of the reluctance to endorse, on behalf of their home-state candidates.