GOP wins over union members in Midwest

[Omaha Steve]

Last edited Sun Nov 20, 2016, 09:10 PM - Edit history (2)

In the 2010 mid term general election UNION votes were a fire wall. The losses would have been much worse. Polling showed over 80% of union households voted D!!!

Make no mistake that the household of this retired AFSCME union member (Marta was CWA for 18 years and has a pension) with a contract pension and healthcare voted for Hillary!

Maybe Hillary should have dusted off EFCA and promised to pass it that Obama never really fought for.

OS



JASON REED | REUTERS
In this 2011 file photo, President Barack Obama gets a hug from union worker Ghana Goodwin Dye at a rally at the world headquarters of General Motors, in Detroit. Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin were strongholds for Obama in 2008 and 2012, but many union voters supported President-elect Donald Trump in the 2016 election.

By Jessica Wehrman
The Columbus Dispatch • Sunday November 20, 2016 10:06 AM

WASHINGTON — Perhaps one of the more stunning aspects of the surprise presidential victory of Republican Donald Trump was the way that states in the industrial Midwest fell like dominoes for him.

First, Ohio. Then Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Michigan, more than a week after the election, still hadn’t been called, but election officials said Trump looked poised to win that state as well.

All four were strongholds for President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, in large part because of strong union support. But with many of the union voters who once backed Obama now backing Trump, Democrats will have to revisit how they reach out to the working class in 2018 and beyond.

“The Democratic Party has lost its footing among working people and allowed the Republican Party to become the party of the working class,” said Robert Bruno, director of the Labor Education Program at the University of Illinois-Chicago. “And that’s an astonishing thing to have to admit."

FULL story: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/11/20/gop-wins-over-union-members-in-midwest.html

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. That's more irony than I think I can handle.

What will they do when the GOP guts what little remains of the right of collective bargaining?

[MyNameIsKhan]

2. Republicans are not party of working class... Trump

Very sucked message resonated to some... They are waiting for him to get lost jobs back... Waiting to manufacture TVs out here.

[LWolf]

4. It's a damned shame

that the neoliberal Democratic Party establishment drove so many of the working class away.

[bettyellen]

5. Hillary won the working class- you mean whites that make 70k and millionaires?

Sick of hearing how the "working class" is white.

[gollygee]

6. Yeah really

I keep hearing "working class" used in articles and what-not when it's clear it's referring only to white people.

[LenaBaby61]

7. John Legend ...

Had to set David Axelrod straight on Bill Maher's show, because Axelrod KEPT saying that Democrats pretty much had/have to coddle and kiss the asses of working white Americans if Dems are to become relevant again, and Legend said that he's sick and tired of people who keep saying that the working class consists of ONLY whites, because it consists of blacks, latinos and others.

So, the working class doesn't just revolve around white Americans.

WHO knew

[JI7]

16. axelrod also said he didn't think trump was really racist but

He does what he does to get support. Others brought up the housing discrimination.

I use to think axelrod was much smarter but i think it's clear most of obamas electoral success is because of himself and being such an extraordinary rare public talent.

[LenaBaby61]

25. I've never really ...

Been an Axelrod fan. I also didn't care for some of the things he said about Hillary that I read in print either. Not that Hillary or anybody's above criticism, but at times it appeared he was saying that it's Dems fault that those who live in rural areas and who are racist and voted for tRump are that way because we don't show them any love. Yeah, I guess that woman in WV who WAS ( ) an ELECTED OFFICIAL who called Flotus Michelle an ape in heels on social media for all to see lies at the feet of .... Michelle

Axelrod's not as smart as most folks think he is, and you're right: MUCH if not ALL of Pres. Obama's success is due in large part to him being that "rare pubic talent" who you said he IS.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

3. Also

with both Michigan and Wisconsin becoming right-to-work states, I would imagine that previous union members felt no need to follow the lead of the unions.

[LenaBaby61]

11. Sad now ...

As you rightfully said, those states that used to be very union are now slowly becoming right to work states thanks to the ever-increasing GOP presence there ie: Governors, legislatures, etc., and those union folks who voted for tRump will be seeing far fewer jobs making their way back to MI., WI., PA. and especially to WV. In fact, those jobs said good-bye to this country in a big way 40-50 years ago due to automation (And even before that automation had made it's way into the American work force via Henry Ford in the 1930's), And, the few jobs that do trickle into those states will be low-paying jobs with absolutely no pension plans/no health care plans attached to them--jobs that you cannot support a family on. Now, tRump will be fixing a FEW parts of our infrastructure however, and those jobs will be given to private contractors and completed by THEIR work force. Lemme see, the prison industry will get a big boost and business going their way due to all the "business" a tRump DOJ intends on sending their way, so we'll need more prisons built, and those jobs will be given to private contractors and completed by .... Don't need to say more.

I feel for those union folks who didn't drink the tRump sour kool-aid and who weren't bamboozled by that lying POS tRump, but who have to suffer right along with those who drank that sour trump kool-aid.

[madinmaryland]

8. Interesting point, Steve. As I watched the campaign unfold, I recall the candidates touring

factories with the owners and talking about them as job creators, but what about the labor that produces those products. No one seemed interested in addressing those issues. Bernie want a higher minimum wage as did Clinton. But the whole campaign was essentially all about tRump.

[duffyduff]

22. Thanks to the nonstop media coverage. Dems are not responsible for this debacle.

Ultimately the media bear the entire blame for promoting this dipshit in the first place.

[elleng]

9. BAD news.

[Wellstone ruled]

10. Same crap happened

with Nixon and the Teamsters. The Membership wanted a Dictator rather than a President of all the people.

[gulliver]

12. The white working class left their spouses for a floozy.

Let's see if the Republican Party really loves them.

[meow2u3]

15. Perfect analogy

I'd have said that the WWC left their spouses for a hooker/gigolo.

[Qutzupalotl]

13. I blame the hate radio workers hear on job sites and in transit.

There's no liberal AM counterbalance since Air America died. Most advertisers are business owners who skew Republican, so that's where the money is. Conservatives own the airwaves up and down that dial. Truckers hear the long narratives.

[duffyduff]

24. This thing predated the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine

In truth, it is rooted in racism and later sexism. Nixon exploited the hard hats back in the late 1960s and early 1970s by using racist code.

We haven't had the blue collar types ever since.

[JI7]

14. didn't Reagan win union votErs also. it just shows they don't always vote based

I issues concerning unions.

[duffyduff]

21. Reagan began the destruction of the social contract with the PATCO firings

This was the first salvo in the destruction of the living standards of the United States. These stupid white dudes voted for him in 1980 and in 1984, cheered on the air traffic control firings by calling Reagan "Rambo" against the union "thugs," and continue to mostly vote GOP today. They shoot themselves in the goddamned ass every fucking time.

These idiots whine about the blacks and the illegals and the women "taking" "their" jobs away from them. They are ignorant, total jackasses.

I quit feeling sorry for them years and years ago.

[JI7]

23. yup, they voted against the democratic senate candidates

who oppose free trade and have a record of it. And voted for pro free trade republicans.

[Omaha Steve]

34. Reagan often argued that private sector workers rights to organize were fundamental in a democracy

And was president of SAG during it's first strike.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/03/opinion/reagan-vs-patco-the-strike-that-busted-unions.html

Snip: Although a conservative, Reagan often argued that private sector workers’ rights to organize were fundamental in a democracy. He not only made this point when supporting Lech Walesa’s anti-Communist Solidarity movement in Poland; he also boasted of being the first president of the Screen Actors Guild to lead that union in a strike. Over time, however, his crushing of the controllers’ walkout — which he believed was justified because federal workers were not allowed under the law to strike — has helped undermine the private-sector rights he once defended.

Workers in the private sector had used the strike as a tool of leverage in labor-management conflicts between World War II and 1981, repeatedly withholding their work to win fairer treatment from recalcitrant employers. But after Patco, that weapon was largely lost. Reagan’s unprecedented dismissal of skilled strikers encouraged private employers to do likewise. Phelps Dodge and International Paper were among the companies that imitated Reagan by replacing strikers rather than negotiating with them. Many other employers followed suit.

By 2010, the number of workers participating in walkouts was less than 2 percent of what it had been when Reagan led the actors’ strike in 1952. Lacking the leverage that strikes once provided, unions have been unable to pressure employers to increase wages as productivity rises. Inequality has ballooned to a level not seen since Reagan’s boyhood in the 1920s.

Although he opposed government strikes, Reagan supported government workers’ efforts to unionize and bargain collectively. As governor, he extended such rights in California. As president he was prepared to do the same. Not only did he court and win Patco’s endorsement during his 1980 campaign, he directed his negotiators to go beyond his legal authority to offer controllers a pay raise before their strike — the first time a president had ever offered so much to a federal employees’ union.

[JI7]

36. pres of SAG was long before he got into politics. and poland had more to do with his anti communist

position than support for unions.

[Omaha Steve]

37. BUT it was a BIG reason in Raygun Democrats voting was the point

He was at SAG during a strike, must be so pro union. Had some endorsements like PATCO on that too. OOPS!

[JI7]

41. They voted for him because of the"welfare queen". They have been voting

Republican since then. Including voting against anti trade dems like strickland and feingold and for pro free traders like portman and johnson.

[Martin Eden]

17. What will Republicans and Trump actually do FOR unions and the working class?

(aside from the white nationalists for whom hate is a priority)

[duffyduff]

20. Being willfully stupid is no excuse. These are racist, sexist assholes who think

they deserve jobs simply because they are white dudes.

They can go to hell. The Democratic Party doesn't need them or their bigoted ideas.

[Omaha Steve]

26. AFSCME women make up close to 60% of the unions membership

Several large unions have women members in the majority.

http://www.afscme.org/members/education-and-trainings/womens-leadership-training

AFSCME women make up close to 60% of the union’s membership. The AFSCME Women’s Leadership program is housed in the Education and Leadership Training Department and aims to prepare and develop women leaders for state battleground fights across the country. The Department offers programs designed specifically to increase the knowledge and skills of women activists and leaders. Signature programs include public speaking to help participants hone their presentation skills and style; online learning with topics of particular interest to women; and online networking, to keep women connected by sharing information with other AFSCME women.

[duffyduff]

27. Oh, please. This is all on white dudes.

I don't care about AFSCME or the other few women-dominated unions. This election vote debacle is practically ALL on white males, union and non-union, and you know it. But of course you were a Sanders supporter. Hillary Clinton couldn't do anything right in your eyes.

These dudes have been this way for decades, and they keep shooting themselves in the collective ass over and over and over again. I won't waste one minute of my time feeling sorry for their "plight."

The time to have screamed bloody murder was during the Reagan years. Instead, these dudes sucked GOP dick.

I have no sympathy for these dudes. None.

[Omaha Steve]

29. Hillary lost the white women's vote

We voted CLINTON in this house. So much for caucusing for Bernie being a right!

Hillary lost the women's vote. Got a mirror?

OS

https://mic.com/articles/158995/more-white-women-voted-for-donald-trump-than-for-hillary-clinton#.JNSqFNC9r

More white women voted for Donald Trump than for Hillary Clinton

One might think Donald Trump's sexist and vulgar statements would sway female voters away from the candidate. But roughly 53% of white women voted for Trump on Tuesday, CNN reported.

White women turned out for Trump far more than other minority women. Around 4% of black women and 26% of Latina women voted for the Republican candidate, CNN's exit polls revealed.



Roughly 53% of white women voted for Trump.Source: Mic/CNN
Why white women voted for Trump
It appears that many women weren't concerned with Trump's comments about women. The official "Women for Trump" website doesn't overlook it — the site, which is not officially affiliated with or supported by the Trump campaign, acknowledge's Trump's sexist comments and rationalizes they make him authentic.

"That's because he's not working off a TelePrompTer or a script fine tuned by a consultant and focus groups," the Women for Trump site stated. "We look at his actions, not his words."

FULL story at link.

[Omaha Steve]

31. BTW Marta & I were for US Senator Warren until she said she wasn't running!

Bernie was second choice! So there...

OS

[Omaha Steve]

32. Feb 8 2015

Feb 8 2015: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141009690

Dec 4 2012: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021926910

[seaglass]

40. Yep, my husband's union IAFF had no problem endorsing Kerry, Obama 2X but would not endorse Clinton.

F*ck the IAFF.

[Omaha Steve]

42. IAFF Endorsement Philosophy

http://www.iaff.org/politics/firepac/endorsementpolicy.html

The IAFF believes that every IAFF member has an absolute right to vote for the candidate that he or she feels best represents and embraces that individual’s views and political philosophy. No one, including your union, has a right to tell you how to vote.

The IAFF knows that its members are intelligent enough to review the history, positions and platform of each candidate and to make a decision based on that information. The IAFF will never criticize any member for his or her choice of candidate. There are many issues that are important to all Americans – including IAFF members – beyond fire service and labor issues. Consequently, the IAFF respects its members’ right to vote for candidates who have not won the endorsement of the IAFF or your local affiliate.

However, the IAFF asks that its members respect the IAFF’s duty to make its endorsement based on fire service, employment and labor issues that directly affect our members. This union views candidates through a very narrow focus. Decisions are predicated on how candidates stand on fire fighter and labor issues such as collective bargaining rights, protection of fair labor standards (FLSA) and overtime rights, pay fairness and equity for federal fire fighters, presumption of disability for federal fire fighters, funding for first responder initiatives, full funding of the FIRE and SAFER programs, protection of pension and social security benefits, and protection and extension of health care benefits for active and retired members to name a few. These are the types of issues that IAFF FIREPAC will base its decision on when deciding whether or not to support a candidate. IAFF FIREPAC does not and will not base its decisions on issues such as Second Amendment rights, reproductive rights, the environment or other social issues that many of our members hold firm beliefs about.

The IAFF has one mission: to improve the lives and livelihoods of professional fire fighters. This union is an advocacy group similar to the NRA, Christian Coalition, Sierra Club, Chamber of Commerce, National League of Cities, etc. Its range of issues is very specific. No one expects the NRA to base endorsements on fire fighter bargaining rights. Likewise, no one expects the Christian Coalition to base its support of candidates on funding the FIRE or SAFER Acts. Consequently, no one should expect the IAFF to base its endorsement on anything other than its specific set of issues.

MORE at link.

[seaglass]

43. Already know that. n/t

[AmericanMan1958]

18. I have been Union for 33 years

My family has lived a great life because of it.
My oldest is also in a Union, he is 26 and has his own house and very independent.
He is also a die-hard Democratic member.

Unions members are gun lovers. The NRA has exploited the crack in our armor.

I tell my gun humping buddies that we don't wont your guns. We want gun laws to protect the innocent. In Michigan very little would change with comprehensive gun reform. Hell, a lot of us have guns, ourselves.

My favorite question to them is this:
Say you are without a job and out of money.
The only thing you have of value are your guns.
Your family is starving and you have to feed them.
So you have you go to pawn shop and hock your guns for cash.
Who took your guns from you the Republicans or the Democratic Party?

They don't say much after that and I have turn many with that question.

[duffyduff]

19. Total jackasses and the article is b.s. about blaming the Dems

A bunch of stupid, entitled white dudes keep shooting themselves in the ass in election after election. These assholes refuse to vote for a woman because they are assholes, a lot of them MRA types, and would further sell this country down the river by voting for a union-busting moron and a union-hating political party. I am supposed to feel compassion for these MORONS who keep voting for the same people who keep destroying their living standards?

They are 35 years too goddamned late to the party. They should have been screaming bloody murder against Reagan and his neoliberal, anti-union policies instead of sucking GOP dick.

These morons can't be fixed. I don't give a shit about them. Let 'em and their families get thrown out into the street and join the "bums" they so arrogantly trash.

Robert Bruno is totally full of shit. The Democrats have NEVER had these morons ever since the days of Nixon.

He can go fuck himself with a cattle prod.

[ucrdem]

28. Union households voted 51% Clinton, 43% Trump per this year's exit polls

that's from a few paragraphs down. In Ohio, Trump won, barely. So the headline might be overstating the case...

This year, according to exit polls, Clinton didn’t enjoy such a big boost from union households. Fifty-one percent of such voters supported Clinton, while 43 percent of those in such households backed Trump, according to CNN’s exit poll. In other words: She still won among voters in union households, but Trump made a dent.

In Ohio, Trump won among union voters, earning the support of 49 percent of those polled to Clinton’s 44 percent.

[jodymarie aimee]

30. reality check... in WI unions are only 7% of households now

Thanks to union busting Walker we have NO unions anymore.

[DemonGoddess]

33. In my state

which is another "right to work" state, the unions were canvassing both in person and by phone, for DEMOCRATS. USW being the most prominent of them.

I received many, many of these calls. I agree with what another poster said. We lost the so called "white working class" years ago. That poster said with Nixon, but honestly, we lost most of them with LBJ and the Civil Rights Act. Most of what was left after that, went with Nixon, and then you had Reagan. So, that's a group that hasn't been with Democrats for many, many, years.

[OhioBlue]

35. The fact that the GOP won union households

in the midwest is very troubling. It is a canary in the coal mine telling us what the Dem party is doing WRONG! If we are not supportive of unions and labor, what is our economic platform? Unions are about labor banding together, negotiation with the capital class for their labor to gain better wages, benefits, and working conditions, in solidarity. This is the backbone of our economic agenda. This is the way we work to equalize wealth disparity.

We can argue minimum wage, progressive taxation, trade deals, etc. But if we don't support and champion solidarity in the working class, we are losing the floor from which we stand.

I am not negating the many other issues on which we are right, climate change, civil rights, equal rights, marriage equality, freedom to choose, etc. However, I feel we win hearts and minds when we lead and champion solidarity.

Reagan sucked not only because he hoodwinked the air traffic controllers and hurt labor, but because he championed greed, selfishness and divisiveness. We need leaders that win the message. Obama tried - "I am my brother's keeper". But we need more. We need to hone and repeat and win the one line message wars like the Rs have done. And, I agree with Omaha Steve - we should have done better with EFCA and I think it would have helped Hillary to champion it and have a better message for labor.

[geek tragedy]

39. They didn't win them, they just narrowed the gap from 2008 and 2012.

Also keep in mind that Trump's naked appeal to racism and xenophobia probably helped with some white voters in union households.

[geek tragedy]

38. Trump made an awful lot of big promises to those union members.

He promised their jobs would come back just from punishing immigrants and foreign countries. And he promised them their healthcare would be getting much better.

Democrats have gotten too complacent in taking union members' votes for granted. They need to put labor front and center again--talk about worker protections, and ways to create good jobs by doing something new.

[Vinca]

44. Give it a year and they'll be "former union members."