Union Members for Bush

[Turbineguy]

I saw that on a bumper sticker. What can only be next?

Zygotes for Abortion

Firefighters for Arson

Children for Molestation

Cardinals for Heresy

Jews for Hitler

Women for Rape

Undertakers for Immortality

Just to name a few.

[Sporadicus]

1. On the Reception Counter at a Local Union Hall

is a sign stating, 'any working person who votes for * is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders.'

[Osamasux]

2. Probably printed by the RNC to plant the idea.

They try to weaken our bases one at a time. It certainly was not produced by the Unions. Things like that do have an impact, because Unions would have to waste time and resources making sure members were still on board. That time could have been spent doing what they do best - manning phone banks.

[semass]

3. Did the bumper sticker have a union "bug" on it?

[Turbineguy]

5. Good point!

Not that I noticed but I was only close enough to read the message. Orange letters on a yellow background.

[TomClash]

4. I really don't want to hear some union guy

or minimum wage worker who voted for * complaining to me about their plight.

They made their bed so they can lie in it.

[KharmaTrain]

6. Sadly There Were A Lot Of Union Votes For *

Sorry, can't find a link, but I recently saw an article that showed a this regime got the highest voting percentages from union voting households in recent memory...lots of Joe Six Packs who are armchair patriots (love that shock & awe thing as long as they don't have to serve), the gay marriage thing and all the right wing bile that spews from hate radio.

Laugh as you will about unions...but their weakness has caused tremendous problems for the Democratic party and one that is very much ignored.

[pintobean]

10. Could you explain

what you mean by "weakness"?

[KharmaTrain]

15. Votes & Money

Losing union votes in "purple" and "red" areas in states like West Virginia, Iowa & Missouri...states that we should have won. Also, with a strong union turnout, Ohio would have not been close...Diebold or no Diebold.

The GOOP has done a great misinformation job in splintering union leadership from rank & file...with many believing that their union dues go to Democrats without their say and this also turned into GOOP votes.

Need more?

[pintobean]

16. No thanks.

I'll focus on the positive and consider how many blue states would have been red without the union vote.

[KharmaTrain]

17. You Lost Me On That One...

Why focus on what you won? Again, this is from an article I read and I can see, in some cases, this being true. Do you think teamsters came out heavy for Kerry? These are people who the Democrats have long fought for and some have taken for granted, others have ignored.

Had we gotten through with a POSITIVE message of our standing up for their hard-fought rights and benefits rather than let the GOOP infiltrate this area and put a wedge in some key unions in the south & midwest, it could have meant a swing not only in the Presidential, but also in key Senate and Congressionals.

It appears you are just trying to hold on to what we have here, I want to take the offensive.

[pintobean]

18. I'm not trying to hold on to anything.

I got the impression you were blaming the unions for our loss. I don't see how that helps.


Sweeney hailed the success of the AFL-CIO and its affiliates who turned out 27 million voters, or 1 in 4 of the ballots cast, 2-to-1 for Kerry. “Our program was the biggest ever. I traveled to nearly every swing state over the past three months and I’ve never seen our members so energized.”
http://www.cpusa.org/article/articleview/597/1/27/

That's a net gain of nearly 9 million votes. Yes, we can do better, but I won't blame the unions by calling them weak.

[K-W]

22. It isnt the Union's fault that they are weekend.

It is mostly the fault of corporate political warfare to regain control over labor.

[Lefty48197]

19. "Union households favored Kerry, 65-34"

"nonunion households went for Bush, 54-43." -- That was in Michigan. Consider the fact that Kerry won Michigan by about 2.5%.

http://www.detnews.com/2004/politics/0411/03/politics-324486.htm

[KharmaTrain]

20. That's The Rub...

With those numbers, obviously that margin could have been greater.

I'm also very suspect of numbers released by the organization that is influenced by them...such as the AFL's own numbers. They just don't jive with the male vote and the margins in many union states that should have gone overwhelmingly Democrat.

This is not to discount labor...and there are unions, like the AFT and Municipal employees unions that worked very, very hard for both Kerry and other Democrats (AFSCME was very important in our local congressional race).

Being from Michigan, you know the power of the UAW...and I'm sure they came out for Kerry, but, just like the teamsters and other male-dominated, primarily hard labor jobs (construction, teamsters, long shoreman) that the report I saw indicated an erosion of their support for the Democratic party. That was the purpose of my initial response.

[Lefty48197]

24. 65-34 isn't good enough?

I doubt that we're ever going to see union members voting 90-10% for the Democratic candidate, or anything like that.
Considering that union members only make up about 10% of the population, we're just not going to get many more total Democratic votes out of the union members. Getting the non-union members to vote Democratic should be our goal.

I don't understand why you don't trust the numbers in my original link either. Here's another one.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/US/P/00/epolls.0.html

These numbers were compiled by CNN, not a union, and they said that union members voted 61-38 for Kerry. Again, those are pretty impressive numbers in my books.

Having spent several years as a member of one of Michigan's construction unions I know a lot about the political activities of the the trade unions. I think it's safe to say that the union members I know will still be Democrats, even if others abandon the party.

The Greens, the Naderites, Socialists, PETA members, NRA members, etc. all seem ready to walk out on the Democratic party whenever they disagree with us on one single issue.

Take a construction trade union member that's walked picked lines in single digit temperatures, that's watched the Republicans fight to cut their wages and benefits, and that's watched those same Republicans fight to disband the very union that won those livable wage and benefit packages, and you've got the makings of a dependable Democratic voter.

Please find a link to your original source about the declining level of support by union members for the Democratic party. I'd like to read it.

[katinmn]

7. I was surprised the numbers of union workers I called

on behalf of the AFL-CIO during the campaign who said they were voting for *.

It came down to whether or not they lived in the city or the burbs. The suburb people are trending toward neocon thought. They are buying into the fear.

[Davis_X_Machina]

13. Same here with bells on...

...did a little phone banking, and there is a distressing subsection of the union ranks who would be happy to live under a bridge in a cardboard box and eat sparrows roasted on an old curtain rod so long as faggots can't marry and brown people who worship the wrong God get killed in job lots.

[katinmn]

14. amazing isn't it? what the hell are they afraid of?

Are they worried it is something that might rub off on them? They're the kooks!

[hollowdweller]

23. Dems have lost a lot of union votes over gun control and NAFTA

[Deja Q]

8. Gays for Phelps.

[McKenzie]

9. we get them over here...sigh

not many I should add. Enough to make me question their sanity though. Turkeys and Christmas and all that.

[ikojo]

11. Many union members are not educated by their locals

or the union movement to understand the need for unions.. Many wrongly assume that if they got a job elsewhere their benefits would be the same minus the union dues.

Also, a lot of union members in Missouri work for Boeing and support shrub based upon military spending. As if Democrats didn't spend money on weapons. Yeah right, Dems are hardly opposed to increased military spending.

[leeman67]

12. Sadly, many union members are social conservatives

and we all know it's much more important to make certain gays can't marry than to secure one's own job. :P

[Ernesto]

21. You don't HAVE to be smart to be a union member........

but it helps!