From the New York Times
In its final burst of campaigning, the A.F.L.-C.I.O. is pushing to get one of the hardest to persuade groups — retirees – to support Barack Obama for president.
“We know that in this election, unlike other elections, we need to particularly reach seniors and retirees in a way we haven’t had to reach them before,” Karen Ackerman, the labor federation’s political director, said in a telephone interview. “Many are uncertain about whether Senator Obama represents their interests. Some are uncomfortable with him.”
To try to persuade this group, the A.F.L.-C.I.O., a federation of 56 unions with 10 million members, mailed out 500,000 pieces of literature to retirees and seniors in nine battleground states: Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. That comes on top of 8 million other items the federation has mailed to seniors and retirees in a total of 20 states.
Read more:
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/afl-cio-targets-seniors/?nl=pol&emc=pola2
I found a fantastic Tool on a AFL-CIO Organization's Working Families Vote 2008 website, you can even have it sent to folks via e-mail.
It is a virtual book called "McCain Revealed: The Briefing Book.
Just click on the TABS on the right and and it will turn the page (Or use the ARROW buttons below the book to turn pages) and you will see talking points that are NEGATIVE towards McCain on each TOPIC. Also on each page there is a LEARN MORE button that will take you to a page to learn even more about that specific TOPIC!
Check it out at http://www.aflcio.org/issues/politics/mccain.cfm
Juli Norwood
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-phonebank13-2008oct13,0,3386047.story?track=ntothtml
This is one of the best speeches made by anyone on the delicate subject of race and racism in this current presidential campaign. Below is the transcript of AFL-CIO's Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka. Enjoy the piece.
Peace,
Leslye J Allen
There's only one really bad reason to vote against him: because he's not white.
And I want to talk about that because I saw that for myself during the Pennsylvania primary.
I went back home to vote in Nemacolin and I ran into a woman I'd known for years. She was active in Democratic politics when I was still in grade school.
We got to talking and I asked if she'd made up her mind who she was supporting and she said: 'Oh absolutely, I'm voting for Hillary, there's no way I'd ever vote for Obama.'
Well, why's that? 'Because he's a Muslim.'
I told her, 'That's not true -- he's as much a Christian as you and me, so what if he's muslim.'
Then she shook her head and said, 'He won't wear an American flag pin.'
I don't have one on and neither do you.
But, 'C'mon, he wears one plenty of times. He just says it takes more than wearing a flag pin to be patriotic.'
'Well, I just don't trust him.'
Why is that?
Her voice dropped just a bit: 'Because he's black.'
I said, 'Look around. Nemacolin's a dying town. There're no jobs here. Kids are moving away because there's no future here. And here's a man, Barack Obama, who's going to fight for people like us and you won't vote for him because of the color of his skin.'
Brothers and sisters, we can't tap dance around the fact that there are a lot of folks out there just like that woman.
A lot of them are good union people; they just can't get past this idea that there's something wrong with voting for a black man. Well, those of us who know better can't afford to look the other way.
I'm not one for quoting dead philosophers, but back in the 1700s, Edmund Burke said: 'All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.' Well, there's no evil that's inflicted more pain and more suffering than racism -- and it's something we in the labor movement have a special responsibility to challenge.
It's our special responsibility because we know, better than anyone else, how racism is used to divide working people.
We've seen how companies set worker against worker -- how they throw whites a few extra crumbs off the table and how we all end up losing.
But we've seen something else, too. We've seen that when we cross that color line and stand together no one can keep us down.
That's why the CIO was created. That's why industrial unions were the first to stand up against lynching and segregation. People need to know that it was the Steel Workers Organizing Committee -- this union -- that was founded on the principal of organizing all workers without regard to race. That's why the labor movement -- imperfect as we are -- is the most integrated institution in American life.
I don't think we should be out there pointing fingers in peoples' faces and calling them racist; instead we need to educate them that if they care about holding on to their jobs, their health care, their pensions, and their homes -- if they care about creating good jobs with clean energy, child care, pay equity for women workers -- there's only going to be one candidate on the ballot this fall who's on their side... only one candidate who's going to stand up for their families... only one candidate who's earned their votes... and his name is Barack Obama!
And come November we are going to elect him president.
And after he's elected we are going to hit the ground running so that, years from now, we're going to be able to tell our grandchildren that 2008 was the year this country finally turned its back on men like George Bush and Dick Cheney and John McCain.
We're going to be able to say that 2008 was the year we started ending the war in Iraq so we could use that money to create new jobs building wind generators, solar collectors, clean coal technology and retrofitting millions of buildings all across this country
We're going to be able to look back and say that 2008 was the year the tide began to turn against the Rush Limbaughs, the Bill O'Reillys, the Ann Coulters and the right wing hate machine."
Watch him at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QIGJTHdH50&eurl=http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/1/22234/6599/102/617219
Solidarity Party for Obama & Biden -- Labor Movement Stands For Change
Please join labor and other activists in supporting Barack Obama by attending a major celebration and fundraiser at Club MCCXXIII (Club 1223) on Thursday, October 2.
Featured Special LIVE Musical Guests: The U-Liners (2007 WAMA winners)
Sign up to attend the party and make your contribution online:
Go to: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpl9gq
It's time for each of us to make this happen.
Join Us! Thursday, October 2 -- 5–8 p.m.
MCCXXII
1223 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Labor Movement Stands For Change Solidarity Party for Obama & Biden
Obama and Biden Fund Raiser Host Committee (Preliminary List):
Jay Witter, UAN ¨ Myke Reid, APWU ¨ David & Marianne Kolbe, Iron Workers ¨ Paul Lemmon, AFL-CIO ¨ Tahir Duckett, Working America ¨ Mike Podorzer AFL-CIO ¨ Karen Head, ATU ¨ Tina Lax, CTW ¨ Diane Ebenreiter, AFL-CIO ¨ Bernie Pollack, AFL-CIO ¨ Ed Feigen, AFL-CIO ¨ Ben Waxman, AFL-CIO ¨ Scott Reynolds, AFL-CIO ¨ Michael Nguyen, AFL-CIO ¨ Laura Reznick, AFL-CIO ¨ Taren Stinebrickner, AFL-CIO ¨ Michael Ingrao, TTD ¨ Gordon Pavy, AFL-CIO ¨ Glenn Adler, AFL-CIO ¨ Beth Levie, AFL-CIO ¨ Steve Francy, RN’s Working Together ¨ Marc Laitin, AFL-CIO ¨ Steve Wilhite, AFL-CIO ¨ Lauren Miller, Blue State Digital ¨ Heather Booth ¨ Roger Blacklow, NPMHU, ¨ Fred Ascarate, AFL-CIO) ¨ Bridgett Martin, IBB ¨ Eddie Acosta, AFL-CIO ¨ Nikki Budzinski, UFCW ¨ Chuck Rocha, USW ¨ David Carpio, AFL-CIO ¨ Keith Maddox, AFL-CIO ¨ David Jeffers, Indelium ¨ Bob Nicklas, AFGE ¨ Dan Pedrotty, AFL-CIO ¨ Denise Mitchell, AFL-CIO ¨ Bill Mountjoy, AFL-CIO ¨ Robert Fox, AFL-CIO ¨ Nick Unger, AFL-CIO ¨ Carolyn Jacobson, CLUW ¨ Seth Hahn, NALC ¨ Dave Hickey, LIUNA ¨ Roger Tauss, TWU ¨ Kim Fellner, Working America ¨ Seth Michaels, AFL-CIO ¨ Christine Kennegot, AFL-CIO ¨ Malcom Amado Uno, APALA ¨ Brad Burton, CNA ¨ Sherilyn Wright, IBEW ¨ Jeremy Bishop, PAW ¨ * Organizational listings for identification purposes only.
July 29, 2008AFL-CIO launches campaign to dispel Obama rumorsPosted: 05:55 PM ETFrom CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney A new AFL-CIO mailer seeks to dispel continued false rumors about Obama.(CNN) — The nation's largest labor conglomerate says it's set to launch a major effort Tuesday to dispel ongoing rumors surrounding Barack Obama that continue to percolate more than 18 months after the Illinois senator launched his White House bid.The organization is set to send out mailers to more than 600,000 union homes in crucial battleground states — including Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — that directly address the false rumors that he is not a Christian, refuses to wear a flag pin on his lapel, and was not sworn into the Senate on the Bible.It also beats back claims the Democratic presidential candidate was not born in America and refuses to put his hand on his heart during the Pledge of Allegiance. (view the mailer [PDF])A majority of AFL-CIO's membership is considered part of the working-class demographic — the key voting bloc that overwhelmingly supported Hillary Clinton in the prolonged Democratic primary race and is likely to play a key role in the battleground states this November.Watch: Obama battles rumors onlineThe AFL-CIO is also sending out a second mailer that features testimonials for union workers in support of Obama's policies on job creation, health care reform, and worker's rights. (View the second mailer [PDF])"The mailers are the leading edge of a massive campaign in August to clearly define Sen. Obama among millions of union voters and to contrast the policies and plans of Sen. Obama with those of Sen. [John] McCain," AFL-CIO spokesman Steve Smith said.That massive campaign will include a large-scale mobilization effort in 24 states, targeting 13 million union voters. The organization will also deliver more than 1 million fliers touting Obama's record at work sites across the country in August.
(CNN) — The nation's largest labor conglomerate says it's set to launch a major effort Tuesday to dispel ongoing rumors surrounding Barack Obama that continue to percolate more than 18 months after the Illinois senator launched his White House bid.
The organization is set to send out mailers to more than 600,000 union homes in crucial battleground states — including Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — that directly address the false rumors that he is not a Christian, refuses to wear a flag pin on his lapel, and was not sworn into the Senate on the Bible.
It also beats back claims the Democratic presidential candidate was not born in America and refuses to put his hand on his heart during the Pledge of Allegiance. (view the mailer [PDF])
A majority of AFL-CIO's membership is considered part of the working-class demographic — the key voting bloc that overwhelmingly supported Hillary Clinton in the prolonged Democratic primary race and is likely to play a key role in the battleground states this November.
Watch: Obama battles rumors online
The AFL-CIO is also sending out a second mailer that features testimonials for union workers in support of Obama's policies on job creation, health care reform, and worker's rights. (View the second mailer [PDF])
"The mailers are the leading edge of a massive campaign in August to clearly define Sen. Obama among millions of union voters and to contrast the policies and plans of Sen. Obama with those of Sen. [John] McCain," AFL-CIO spokesman Steve Smith said.
That massive campaign will include a large-scale mobilization effort in 24 states, targeting 13 million union voters. The organization will also deliver more than 1 million fliers touting Obama's record at work sites across the country in August.
Do you remember how you felt on the morning of September 11, 2001? Do you remember the thoughts that you had as you watched our Twin Towers crumble to the ground? As the Pentagon was burning? As you looked at the gaping hole in the earth in Pennsylvania?
Did you ever stop to wonder if the firefighters that ran into the towers just before they fell happened to be Democrat or Republican? Do you think anyone cared whether the firefighter or other Good Samaritan who helped them out of the WTC was white or black, Christian, Jew, Muslim or Atheist? Would YOU have cared? On that day and the few weeks after, we were all Americans. Just simply and beautifully, Americans.
On November 4th, you have the opportunity to be - just simply and beautifully, an American. After 8 years, our country is in dire straits. Don’t vote race, don’t vote smears, and don’t vote lies. This Iraq war was a lie, WMD was a lie, 4100 troops died for a lie. These lies have continued on and on for 8 years in part due to distractions. Some have counted on distractions, not truth to further their cause and they continue to do so. Stop. Listen. Learn. We have a candidate who wants to fight and win the RIGHT war and avenge the deaths of 3,000 Americans and bring Bin Laden to justice. One who was for the right war, and against the wrong one from the beginning. One who has people around the world waving American flags again instead of burning them. If you have been honest with yourself, and you discover after much soul-searching that this decision will come down to race for you, I ask you this: Imagine that you are stuck on the 65th floor of the WTC on the morning of 9/11 and someone is there just on the other side of the door ready to help you and bring you to safety. They are kicking at the wall and you hear their voice getting closer and closer. All the sudden, the person breaks through and reaches through ready to pull you to safety. They say, “Grab my hand!” You look, and the outstretched hand is brown. You hear glass shattering around you, the heat of the fire suffocates you, the screams of people dying rings in your ears. You look down at your own hand, close your eyes, and then…..well, the choice is yours.
This November 4th, I hope that you will vote the issues. I hope that you will reject the politics of fear, lies and distractions. I will cast my vote for Barack Obama, and I am stretching out my hand, grasping for yours, asking that you do the same. This November 4th, I will vote American.
This message from the AFL-CIO Working Families Network is worth copying and sending to your family and friends.
Gordon
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Phil Gramm is the national co-chair of John McCain’s presidential campaign. When he called us a nation of “whiners” and said we’re in a “mental recession,” rather than a real recession, McCain tried to head off a media storm by distancing himself from Gramm. But the truth is, the former U.S. senator from Texas has been McCain’s chief economic adviser for many years and is on McCain’s short list for Treasury secretary.
Here’s part of what Gramm told the Washington Times this week:
"You’ve heard of mental depressions; this is a mental recession....We have sort of become a nation of whiners....You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline....We’ve never been more dominant; we’ve never had more natural advantages than we have today.... We have benefited greatly" from the globalization of the economy in the last 30 years.
In February, McCain told the Houston Chronicle: “He’s probably the smartest—not just economist, but politician—there is.” In January, McCain said in an interview with the New York Post, "I would rely on the circle I have developed over many years of people like Jack Kemp, Phil Gramm, Warren Rudman, Pete Peterson and the Concorde Group" (a right-wing think tank).
As soon as Gramm's comments hit the airwaves, blog world and headlines, McCain began backing away from Gramm faster than a falling Dow Jones stock. He claimed Gramm doesn't speak for him and said he didn't agree with the comments. But in an interview with Fox News in April, the candidate himself said he thinks the recession is all in our minds, "A lot of our problems today, as you know are psychological—the confidence, the trust, the uncertainty about our economic future, the ability to keep our home." Along with sharing a penchant for playing shrink to voters worried about the economy, the McCain-Gramm pair shares pretty much the same economic philosophy and love of deregulation, especially in the banking and energy industries. In April, the Washington Post credited Gramm with creating the legislative highway for the subprime lending crisis that is causing foreclosures on the home mortgages of more than 3 million working families:
“Gramm’s aggressive efforts when he was chairman of the Senate Banking Committee to deregulate the banking and financial services industry...culiminated in the passage in 1999 of a sweeping financial services law that tore down the Depression-era Glass-Steagall wall separating regulated commercial banks from largely unregulated investment banks....To many liberal economists, Gramm’s efforts set the stage for the current crisis.”
If, heaven forbid, McCain takes the White House, you can bet, because he's said so many times, that the McCain administration's economic policies will be straight of the Gramm playbook. Pretty scary, eh?
Help spread the word by forwarding this message to your family and co-workers. We've got to stop that from happening.
In solidarity,
Working Families e-Activist Network, AFL-CIO
Senator Obama said that he would tie the millions of dollars which the Pakistani government receives to the realization that Musharraf is actually moving against the entrenched al-Qaeda leadership. Obama would work with Musharraf, grant him added monies, help him set up secular schools to combat al-Qaeda's Islamic extremist influence, but would also demand real action against America's enemies.
And Senator Obama added that he would move against al-Qaeda if Musharraf did not. This is the part that received the most play, and got attacked by others, especially Senators Dodd and Clinton.
My 3-point strategy going forward ..
1) Continue pointing out that a future president should actually include the American people in such considerations, compared to holding closed-door deliberations exclusive to Washington insiders. It is that secretive approach - pushed by Clinton - which got us into the Iraq horror story to begin with. Senator Obama started this strategy in the AFL-CIO debate, and should continue to pound it home.
2) Question why Senator Clinton and others have a problem committing to going after the people who actually executed 9/11. Point out that they are the naive ones, thinking that America will have success against al-Quida by keeping our hands tied while we wait on the likes of Musharraf to do the job.
3) Challenge Senator Clinton's contention that moving against al-Qaeda in Pakistan would serve to destabilize the Musharraf regime. In point of fact, al-Qaeda makes up only 10% of the population, so the vast majority of Pakastanis would welcome their departure, thereby strengthening the government.
One further note .. Senator Obama should stop referring to his opponent as "Hillary." He should be saying things like: "Senator Clinton seems to think ..." That has a more serious and less deferential tone, making the point as an equal.
Well, I hope they're listening. Good bye for now from beautiful Saratoga Springs, NY.
We're debating the most important foreign policy issues that we face, and the American people have a right to know. It is not just Washington insiders that are part of the debate that has to take place with respect to how we're going to shift our foreign policy.
Flashbacks to the 2004 debates?
The debate in Chicago yesterday seemed to open up a new faultline in the presidential race between the candidates.
On the one side, you have Edwards and Obama, both candidates of a newly resurgent, newly confident left, both relatively young and having risen quickly due to charisma, speaking ability, and sheer talent.
And on the other side, you have the establishment candidates of Dodd and Biden, both who have served long careers in the Senate, often making arguments about the wisdom that comes with the years --- Biden recently called Obama a "Johnny-come-lately" and scorned Edwards yesterday as a late-comer on union issues.
Chris Cillizza made an interesting observation:
Expect the spin out of the debate to center on these two groups. The Obama/Edwards allies will paint it as a choice between change and more of the same. Supporters of Clinton/Dodd/Biden will cast it as experience versus inexperience.
What's interesting to me is that this dynamic isn't particularly new. Is anyone else getting flashbacks to the 2004 debates?
