Big Labor Blitzing Swing States With Obama Mailer

[babylonsister]

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/big_labor_targets_swing_states.php

Big Labor Targets Swing States With Massive Obama-Not-Muslim Mailer Blitz
By Greg Sargent - July 29, 2008, 9:51AM


In a sign that Big Labor is about to ratchet up efforts to woo Rust Belt union Dems towards Obama, the AFL-CIO is set to blitz four swing states with a pair of mailers targeted directly at blue collar swing voters.

The first one is the more interesting one: It seeks to dispel a host of false rumors about Obama that could be proving worrisome to working class whites, including the falsehoods that he's a Muslim and doesn't show sufficient deference to the flag ...



The second mailer is a more straighforward testimonial to Obama's labor record, and the mailers will go out in the next couple of weeks to about 600,000 swing voters in Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, according to AFL-CIO spokesperson Steve Smith.

More broadly, the mailers signal the start of an aggressive new campaign by Big Labor in the swing states, where unions hope to get their membership fully behind Obama and thus function as a kind of "firewall" for Obama in working class swing-voter territory, Smith says.

"We're ramping up our efforts to really define Senator Obama among union voters, especially in these key Rust Belt states," Smith tells me, noting that the union's membership is "still learning about Senator Obama" and will be targeted by a campaign to tell them "exactly who Senator Obama is, what he supports, and why he's right for working families."

[Coexist]

1. BIG, HUGE, FAT, ENTHUSIASTIC K AND R!!

I love labor - they kick ASS during election cycles for Dems.

[Coexist]

2. Cool Union stuff: The Real McCain, the Blue Green Alliance:

http://www.bluegreenalliance.org/site/c.enKIITNpEiG/b.3227091/k.E4AB/Blue_Green_Alliance.htm

http://www.aflcio.org/issues/politics/mccain.cfm?source=mccainrevealed

Both are "don't miss" links.

[babylonsister]

3. Thanks, FLDem5. I thought this would be a great msg. Slow day

on the DU? Seems so...:D

[Coexist]

4. very slow, indeed.

[Coexist]

5. ** LOOK HERE ***! Is he a Muslim? Does he wear a flag pin?

[jenmito]

8. They asked the questions in such a way that the answer is IN it, rather than the LIE being in it...

Good job.

[thoughtcrime1984]

10. Excellent stuff!

Thanks for sharing!

[Alter Ego]

6. Well I'll be dipped--this is a really great flyer.

It hooks people who are negatively disposed towards him with the front then all of a sudden gives 'em a big ol' dose of truth right in the kisser.

[jenmito]

7. K&R. This is EXACTLY the type of thing Obama needs done on his behalf.

:hi:

[Gabi Hayes]

9. aren't they communists?

socialists for sure......

unions are what'a WRONG with america, don't you realize that?

people are individuals.

they need the freedom to bargain on their OWN

no commie front groups for us, usurping our freedom!

[Coexist]

11. regulations strangle ceo salaries!

[Gabi Hayes]

16. seriously, how can they afford their Bentley insurance when they only make, on average,

400 times the average hourly worker?

[Coexist]

17. .

[Coexist]

12. Jed Report: This is the most effective anti-smear message of the campaign

http://www.jedreport.com/2008/07/the-best-anti-s.html

Tue Jul 29, 9:45 AM Pacific

The most effective anti-smear message of the campaing

One of the big challenges with defending Barack Obama -- or anyone else, for that matter -- against false, viral smears is that the last thing you want to do is to inadvertently reinforce the smear.

In late June, Professor Sam Wang, a neuroscientist at Princeton (mindgeek at Daily Kos), penned a New York Times op-ed describing how debunking falsehoods by repeating the falsehoods can in fact strengthen the original falsehood. Consequently, the best way to spread the truth is by leading with the truth to debunk the smear. For example, emphasize that "Barack Obama IS a Christian" instead of saying what he is not.

Today, Ben Smith posted a new mailer from AFL-CIO aimed at debunking several of the most prominent smears against Barack Obama, and it is by far the best effort I've seen during the entire campaign to combat the smears.

As you can see, instead of answering each smear in the negative, the mailer instead poses questions that can be answered positively. In this fashion, the flier is reinforcing who Barack Obama actually is instead of who Barack Obama is not.

[Undercurrent]

13. This is so true!

Actually, I was confused by the approach taken on the Obama fight the smears site. The way these falsehoods are addressed in the union mailers is much more effective.

-typo-

[BlooInBloo]

14. Way to go unions!

[Cha]

15. Oh GOOD..Something Extraordinarily Postive!

I would think the Unions would be overwhelmingly for the Democratic nominee Barack Obama especially when they get to know all the facts about what he supports.

The voter who doesn't know the real mccain does so at their own risk.