http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/eyeon2010/2010/10/afl-cio-mailers-tell-10-millio.htmlAFL-CIO Mailers Tell 10 Million Union Households: Vote!
By Christina Bellantoni | October 25, 2010 5:00 AM
As candidates and party leaders focus on get-out-the-vote efforts across the nation, the massive AFL-CIO labor union is stuffing 10 million fliers into voters' mailboxes from Providence to Fresno in an attempt to spark a sense of urgency about Election Day.
CQ Politics got an early look at the microtargeted new mailers, which are labeled "Your official union ballot" and show voters every candidate endorsed in their state. The slate cards are targeted locally so each voter sees their district's Congressional and state legislative candidates. They even have positions on (some) ballot measures. The AFL-CIO is staying neutral on the marijuana legalization measure on California's ballot.
"People like you who vote can keep our economy moving forward. After all we've been through, we can't risk going back," the mailers tell union households, pointing them toward their polling places and urging members to vote next week.
Joining the flier in union families' mailboxes will be a personalized letter from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. He lays out the stakes:
"My message is simple. As bad as things are they can get a whole lot worse. And it is up to you, me and every union member to make sure they don't succeed," Trumka writes. "On Tuesday, get mad, and do something about it. Stand up for a fair break for working families. Go to the polls and vote."
There's also a second letter saying voters should get to the polls because outside corporate interests are trying to influence the elections.
A top AFL-CIO official says the mailers were sent using the "most sophisticated" get-out-the-vote program the union has ever done. In total the union has sent 28.6 million pieces of mail during the midterm election cycle.