electionU.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown is sign that his populist message is resonating among Ohio's voters.

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.middletownjournal.com/hp/content/oh/story/news/local/2006/11/13/mj111306labor.html


Unions giddy after elections
AFL-CIO says election of U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown is sign that his populist message is resonating among Ohio's voters.

By Jessica Wehrman

Staff Writer

Monday, November 13, 2006

WASHINGTON — Organized labor is positively giddy about the results of Tuesday's elections, and points to efforts in Ohio as a prime example of how its get-out-the-vote effort and financial contributions helped elect Democratic U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown as the state's next U.S. senator.

For the AFL-CIO, the election of Brown is a double-victory: Not only did it endorse Brown, but it says Brown's populist appeal to the middle class is evidence that its own messages of increasing the minimum wage, renegotiating trade deals and working for better health care is resonating among voters.

Bill Burga, president of the Ohio AFL-CIO, said the volunteers who came in from out of the state in 2004 were replaced this year by Ohioans going door to door.

The labor group also used "microtargeting" – using demographic and other information to better target which voters were more likely to show up on Election Day. And the AFL-CIO focused on get-out-the-vote efforts among "drop-off" voters, including 496,000 in Ohio – people who generally vote in presidential years, but not midterm elections.

The AFL-CIO nationally credits Working America, the union's community affiliate, with helping increase the vote for Brown among Working America members from 53 percent to 72 percent throughout the fall, largely through its grassroots effort.

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