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McCain/Palin winning some union support | |||||
2008-09-21 | |||||
You just knew that when Joe O'Connell, former head of the local AFL-CIO, got on stage here with John McCain and Sarah Palin things were not going smoothly for the Obama campaign among union voters. "I am a lifelong Democrat, an intelligent Democrat, who is supporting John McCain," O'Connell said last week as a crowd of 7,000 waved "Another Democrat for John McCain" signs and roared its approval. O'Connell assured the energized crowd that "organized labor will have a seat at the table when John McCain becomes president."
Democrats count on unions for get-out-the-vote efforts and for the support of members and their families. Without them, states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio -- which each have about 740,000 workers who belong to unions, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics -- would move into the Republican column. George narrows the problem down to race. "There is no question, earlier in the primary campaign the racial issue was there, just like the gender issue was with Hillary for some unions," he says. "We in America like to think we don't have any hang-ups or stereotypes. But because of our history and because of a lot of industrial psychology controlling the masses, people have innate prejudices."
Frank Stricker, a history professor at California State University and a union expert, says race is a key to what alienates segments of the labor movement, especially in Ohio and west of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania. Stricker says that other than people not voting for a black candidate, a couple of factors -- such as Obama's cultural style and pro-choice stand -- do not sit well with culturally conservative union members. University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato is blunter: "There's no question that race is at the heart of Obama's problem with blue-collar white union members. You'd have to be pretty naive to think otherwise." Sabato explains that, normally, today's severe economic dislocation would send union members flocking to the Democrats' nominee. "Well, they are not flocking. McCain is their kind of guy. His biography and maverick nature are appealing."
Stricker thinks Obama "must make a strong economic-populist appeal," one hinging on class warfare, in order to win Pennsylvania and Ohio. To that end, both George and Rugola are engaged in huge voter-contact efforts -- door-knocking, phone calls, mailings, peer-to-peer efforts. According to an AFL-CIO spokesman, 2.1 million registered voters live in union households in Ohio, 1.7 million in Pennsylvania. In a close election, every one of these votes matters for Democrats. "Approximately a quarter of all American households say there is a union member in the home," Sabato explains. "They are much more Democratic than average, but in GOP landslide years like 1972 and 1984, a majority has voted Republican." Sabato says that a third or more union members consistently vote Republican for president, despite their union leaders' recommendations. Part of Obama's problem is the contrast he presents: On one day alone last week, he spoke passionately about the country's economic concerns, then zipped off to Los Angeles to raise $9 million from Hollywood's elites. That's sort of like John Kerry windsurfing during the 2004 election: Union members in Youngstown or in "Little Washington," Pa., just can't relate. | |||||
Posted by:lotp |
#5 As a lifelong supporter of unions (when they are needed to protect workers; NOT solely for the benefit of union higher ups!!!) I say Cornsilk Blonde and Pappy hit the nail on the head. |
Posted by: WolfDog 2008-09-21 13:41 |
#4 Union members in Youngstown or in "Little Washington," Pa., just can't relate. And Obama's campaign has done a pretty good job of alienating them from the start. |
Posted by: Pappy 2008-09-21 13:17 |
#3 Union member Swistok gets it: tax the crap out of business and they take their jobs and $$ elsewhere. Big company in Seattle is doing just that; moving 30 miles north to escape the draconian D-led tax policies. |
Posted by: USN,Ret. 2008-09-21 11:38 |
#2 This former union member can personally think of 99 reasons, more or less, not to vote for Obama. Not a single one of them involves his race. |
Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie 2008-09-21 09:06 |
#1 Joe Rugola? An Obama supporter? You're making that name up! LOLz |
Posted by: Frank G 2008-09-21 08:51 |