Text 14806, 106 rader
Skriven 2005-08-28 22:06:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Unions
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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,167274,00.html

Democrats Can't Take Labor Vote for Granted 
Sunday, August 28, 2005
By Martin Frost

The recent split in the ranks of organized labor has enormous 
implications for the Democratic Party and for American politics in 
general. It’s worth taking a detailed look at what could happen as a 
result. 

Several large unions have broken from the AFL-CIO (search), arguing that 
labor should concentrate more on recruiting members and less on 
politics. Since the bulk of labor’s money has gone to Democratic 
candidates in recent years, this will have an impact on Democratic 
campaigns.

But the impact goes far beyond dollars.

The Democratic Party has relied heavily on organized labor to provide 
the ground troops to run campaigns and, more importantly, the votes 
necessary to carry key industrial states in presidential campaigns.

It is the votes, particularly of white blue-collar organized workers, 
that have kept the last two presidential elections close. If labor 
distances itself from the Democratic Party or doesn’t run as strong a 
get-out-the vote effort as in the past, these votes will be missed much 
more than the money.

Each year that I served as chairman of the House Democratic Caucus (1999 
to 2003), Steve Rosenthal (search), the political director of the AFL-
CIO, made a presentation to the caucus about the impact of the votes of 
union households in key states.

The figures were dramatic. Union households turned out more heavily (as 
a percentage of registered voters) than non-union households, and union 
households voted much more Democratic than their non-union neighbors.

This was particularly true of white union members who have been one of 
the last groups of white voters to continue to give majority support to 
Democrats.

E.J. Dionne (search), writing in the July 29 Washington Post, 
underscored this point by looking at 2004 election results in 
Pennsylvania and Michigan — two states John Kerry won against George W. 
Bush.

According to Dionne, Kerry won union households in Pennsylvania 62 to 37 
percent while losing non-union voters 55 to 45 percent. The story in 
Michigan was similar. Kerry won the union vote 61 to 37 percent, while 
losing the non-union vote 55 to 44 percent.

Equally dramatic was the percent of votes that came from union 
households — 30 percent in Pennsylvania and 37 percent in Michigan.

Thus, in those two key industrial states, union households had a heavy 
percentage turnout and once they got to the polls, voted overwhelmingly 
Democratic.

Labor has been losing membership in recent years and needs to revitalize 
its organizing efforts. The best example of labor’s woes is that the 
largest company in the United States — Wal-Mart — is not unionized.

One can make a compelling argument that more money is needed for basic 
organizing; however, any de-emphasis on political activity on the part 
of labor could have major implications on the outcome of presidential 
and congressional campaigns.

It is not inevitable that the Democratic Party will suffer from a change 
in labor’s priorities, but Democrats can no longer rely on labor as a 
crutch to produce the blue-collar white votes necessary for victory.

Democrats must re-learn how to campaign in this swing constituency and 
once again become a party that stands for a strong America, at home and 
abroad. Democrats must stand for economic fairness and opportunity.

National and local Democratic leaders will no longer just be able to 
rely on organized labor to turn out blue-collar voters but must do it 
the old-fashioned way with a message that speaks directly to voters.

That, in and of itself, is not an unhealthy result. Democrats in some 
parts of the country have gotten soft by assuming the leadership of 
organized labor will indefinitely carry their message and produce 
results. Most union leaders will continue to support Democratic 
candidates but labor may not have the resources to get out the vote the 
way it has in the past.

Labor has a multiracial make-up and minority union members probably will 
continue to be solidly Democratic, but white union members — without a 
strong push from the top — may not be as reliably Democratic as they 
have been in recent years.

There is a lesson from recent events inside organized labor: Democrats 
will be in significant trouble if they don’t learn the right lesson.

Martin Frost served in Congress from 1979 to 2005, representing a 
diverse district in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. He served two terms as 
chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, the third-ranking leadership 
position for House Democrats, and two terms as chairman of the 
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Frost serves as a regular 
contributor to FOX News Channel. He holds a Bachelor of Journalism 
degree from the University of Missouri and a law degree from the 
Georgetown Law Center.

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