Michigan: Falling Union Numbers Make Dems Nervous
According to the ToledoBlade.com:
ANN ARBOR — Mark Gaffney, president of Michigan’s AFL-CIO, doesn’t have to work hard at telling union members that the last eight years have been bad for them.
Few have much use for George W. Bush. Nor do they have any love for John McCain.
But he knows very well there are white, blue-collar union workers who just won’t vote for a black man.
He’s heard the stories. The guy who works in the mail room, who says he just isn’t going to vote for president this year. The electrician who says he isn’t biased, but some of his friends, well …
Will they abandon the ticket in enough numbers to prevent Barack Obama from carrying a state that voted for Al Gore and John Kerry, a state that is the most economically distressed in the nation?
“That’s the real question, isn’t it?” said Mr. Gaffney, a bearlike man of 52 and a lifelong Teamster who has led the labor federation for a tough nine years. “You can’t say [race] is not out there, because it is out there. But I think in the end, the number will be pretty small.”...click to continue.
