Chicago Teachers" Strike Poses Risks for Obama Democrats left their convention in Charlotte, N.C., with an unusual amount of unity and enthusiasm, but the three-day-old strike by 26,000 teachers in Chicago has quickly deflated some of that enthusiasm - and could, some political analysts say, ultimately put some sizable cracks in the coalition that President Obama hopes to ride to re-election. The strike pits several core components of the Democratic coalition against one another: The teachers" union and much of organized labor are on a war footing against Rahm Emanuel, Chicago's Democratic mayor and Mr. Obama's former chief of staff. What is more, the strike pits organized labor against myriad wealthy liberals - vital donors to Democratic coffers - many of whom contribute heavily to efforts to finance charter schools and weaken teachers" unions. "Any time we're fighting among ourselves, it's never helpful," said Michael Fraioli, a Democratic strategist. Any time you waste money and time fighting each other, it's money we're not spending fighting our real opponents. Ever since he was inaugurated, Mr. Obama has walked a fine line with the nation's teachers" unions, angering many teachers by promoting ideas they dislike, including nonunion charter schools and aggressive efforts to shut underperforming public schools and lay off many of their teachers. At the same time, Mr. Obama has heartened many teachers by defending the collective bargaining process and by battling to give billions of federal dollars to deficit-stricken cities and states to minimize the layoffs of teachers and other public employees. Thanks to his labor-friendly efforts, Mr. Obama has won enthusiastic endorsements from the nation's two main teachers" unions, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, which together have 4.5 million members. Those unions can normally be counted on to provide tens of millions of dollars and tens of thousands of campaign foot soldiers to help the Democrats in national elections And now with a strike pitting two of Mr. Obama's most prominent allies against each other - the teachers" union and Mr. Emanuel - the president could face many land mines if he steps into this battle. "It only gets more complicated for him if the strike drags on for a long time," said Joe Williams, executive director of Democrats for Education Reform, a national advocacy group that has often battled teachers" unions. President Obama really has to thread the needle here. On Monday, the day the Chicago walkout began, Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee, moved quickly to seek to brand Mr. Obama as a close ally of teachers" unions. "Teachers" unions have too often made plain that their interests conflict with those of our children," he said in a statement. President Obama has chosen his side in this fight. Mr. Obama's aides took pains to say that he was not taking sides in the Chicago showdown. His education secretary, Arne Duncan, issued a careful, anodyne statement: "I hope that the parties will come together to settle this quickly and get our kids back in the classroom." Michael J. Petrilli, a former official in President George W. Bush's administration and executive vice president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative-leaning education policy group, sees only a downside for Mr. Obama in the Chicago fight. "There's no doubt that this hurts President Obama," Mr. Petrilli said. He needs teachers to be energized and to go out and knock on doors and man phone banks for him. Right now they're watching his former chief of staff go toe to toe with the teachers" union in Chicago. This is not a position that the president wants to find himself in. Some conservatives have suggested that Mr. Obama can emerge a winner, with more support from independents, if Mr. Emanuel gets the teachers" union to accede to some of the changes he is seeking, like relying heavily on student test performance to determine whether teachers should be dismissed or receive raises. But Mr. Petrilli said that if Mr. Emanuel wins the battle, his victory might at the same time enrage and alienate many rank-and-file teachers across the nation, making them less enthusiastic about knocking on doors and making phone calls on behalf of Mr. Obama and other Democrats. "It's hard to see how this can translate into any kind of advantage for Obama," Mr. Petrilli said. Teachers in nearby Wisconsin, an increasingly important swing state, are keeping a close eye on the Chicago battle. Mary Bell, president of the main teachers" union there, the Wisconsin Education Association Council, insisted that the Chicago confrontation would not detract from her union's efforts on behalf of Mr. Obama this fall. "We're going to have differences of opinions with some big-city mayors," Ms. Bell said. But every presidential race is a choice, and the choice is pretty clear here because there's such a contrast between what President Obama believes about education and what Romney is proposing in terms of eliminating unions and privatizing a significant segment of the public schools. G. Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., said the strike was not of great concern or consequence to many of the people in swing states like Pennsylvania and Ohio. Instead, people are much more worried about issues like the economy and being able to pay for college for their children. Mr. Madonna said the president would not be hurt much by the Chicago fight, partly because he was deliberately keeping his distance from it. "There won't be much of a carry-over that will hurt the president," he said. If the president was to be actively involved on one side or the other, then it might have an effect. But he's dealing with it with benign neglect.