For Labor, Tuesday's Democratic Forum Is About Issues -- and Survival

[DeepModem Mom]

Wall Street Journal: For Labor, Democratic Debate
Is About Issues -- and Survival
By KRIS MAHER
August 4, 2007; Page A2

On Tuesday, Democratic candidates will square off at the 10-yard line on Chicago's Soldier Field in another debate, this time hosted by the venerable AFL-CIO.

Organizers say the labor federation's Presidential Candidates Forum will have less of a union flavor than in the past and questions will focus on a broader set of issues that impact all workers. In part, that is because the event, where contenders get to make their pitch for the union vote -- and a coveted AFL-CIO endorsement -- will be bigger than in the past and broadcast live on television and satellite radio.

Four years ago, it aired on C-SPAN and drew about 2,500 union members. In the current amped-up climate, the federation got MSNBC and XM Satellite Radio Holdings to carry the debate live, with Keith Olbermann to moderate. Interest from union members ballooned, forcing the event outdoors. More than 12,000 union members and their families will attend, according to the AFL-CIO, which represents 10 million workers.

The AFL-CIO touts the event as a way to make its presidential-endorsement process more democratic by creating a forum for union members to directly hear from candidates at a difficult time. Unions are in dire straits and desperately hoping for a Democratic win in 2008....Yet labor leaders are energized because unions are widely seen as helping Democrats win a majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives last fall, and they couldn't have hoped for a stronger and more labor-friendly set of candidates. All of the Democrats on stage Tuesday have already said they endorse labor's pet programs, like legislation to make it easier to organize workers -- which elicited a veto promise from President Bush earlier this year....

Despite declining ranks, unions have a voter-turnout machine that still wields considerable power. The AFL-CIO spent more than $47 million in voter-outreach efforts in 2004 and mobilized millions of union voters, and it is expected to exceed that this time around....

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB118617046492587611-mYEKoY5vnzoDDGM6wKMotp2497M_20070902.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top

[jillan]

1. I am really looking forward to this debate!

They are an important endorsement to get, and all of the candidates are going to be out to impress.