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By Harry Kelber
What are our chances of winning the White House this year, after losing in 2000 and 2004.? There are a few good signs: The Republican Party is in disarray. It has lost three recent congressional elections it considered safe. It has substantially fewer members than the Democrats and less support among independent voters. It can’t match the Democrats in fund-raising.
Its standard bearer, John McCain is 73 years old and admits he knows very little about the domestic economy. He won’t leave Iraq until he can claim victory, even, as he says, if it takes a hundred years.. He hasn’t won an endorsement from a single labor union, nor has he courted the labor vote. And he is closely linked to President George Bush, who is down to 28 percent in the polls
It looks like any Democrat would be a sure winner against McCain. But wait, Senator Barack Obama, the expected Democratic nominee, has his own set of problems.
Obama lacks hands-on experience in foreign affairs, especially in military matters. He can’t match McCain as a potential Commander-in-Chief and national guardian against terrorists. His plan for withdrawing from Iraq raises many questions. He will be hounded and pounded by his tie to Reverand Jeremiah. Wright and his “elitist” comments about ordinary town folks. He will be attacked as a closet Muslim, because of his name and early background.
The Republicans will play the race card to the hilt, with a bag of dirty tricks designed to isolate him from white America, and they will also emphasize that he has not much support among blue-collar workers and union members.
Labor May Hold the Key to the 2008 Election Results
Here is where the American labor movement has a crucial role in deciding the outcome of the election.
The AFL-CIO web site and those of many of its affiliates have expressed their strong opposition to the Republican candidate, John McCain, whom they see as continuing President Bush’s policies on tax cuts for the rich, the open-ended war in Iraq, the attack on worker rights, the outsourcing of jobs and a flawed health care plan..
Realistically, the only way to oppose McCain is to vote for Barack Obama, the only major alternative. Labor can give him a critical lift if its 16 million union members are energized to support him. They have the votes to put Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia and other battleground states into the Democratic column.
As a start, the leaders of the AFL-CIO and Change to Win should get together and agree to a united campaign against McCain. They should create opportunities for them to be invited as guests on talk shows and national press interviews, so that the public will know where labor stands on the issues of the day. In this election, our leaders must be seen as prominent players, not as shadowy, voiceless figures.
There should also be a mobilization of thousands of articulate, well-informed speakers from hundreds of Central Labor Councils, who will describe labor’s views and aspirations at public gatherings across the nation, and challenge right-wing organizations to debate the issues.
This election year provides labor with a marvelous opportunity to reach out to millions of unorganized workers who are now more likely to listen to. union volunteers visiting their worksites or their homes.
In 2004, union households cast 26 percent of the total vote. If it does as well or better, labor can enjoy the victory that has eluded it in the two past elections.
Visit our web site: www.laboreducator.org
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