Free McKilt
01-18-2008, 06:29 PM
I think it would be a great idea to try to get local unions to endorse our candidate for the Republican primary. I think some of them could be convinced to endorse RP in their state primary.
Look--industrial unions get screwed by the Dems and big labor (AFL-CIO). The big unions (especially state employee unions and the teachers) usually have the union power in the state Democrat parties and look out for their interests at the expense of smaller, working-class, unions. The Dems just take the unions for granted. I've worked with people as an organizer in the past--I know. The non-mainstream, more industrial unions, are treated like crap by the AFL-CIO and the Dems and like to be important every once and a while. I'm thinking about the Carpenters, Boilermakers, Woodworkers, etc. Even the Teamsters. They tend to be very fiscally and socially conservative and are often hotbeds of Dem crossover voters.
I think it would be completely reasonable for state/local campaigns to ask them to endorse RP as the Republican candidate in the state primary. These folks love their freedom and their country. And they sure as hell won't get a better shake from the other candidates. An endorsement would attract some Dem and Independent crossovers.
Also you don't need to get the whole union to endorse. Often union locals have endorsing power themselves.
Is there anybody at the state level qualified or capable of contacting these folks? Ideally it should be a union member, and preferably a shop steward.
Look--industrial unions get screwed by the Dems and big labor (AFL-CIO). The big unions (especially state employee unions and the teachers) usually have the union power in the state Democrat parties and look out for their interests at the expense of smaller, working-class, unions. The Dems just take the unions for granted. I've worked with people as an organizer in the past--I know. The non-mainstream, more industrial unions, are treated like crap by the AFL-CIO and the Dems and like to be important every once and a while. I'm thinking about the Carpenters, Boilermakers, Woodworkers, etc. Even the Teamsters. They tend to be very fiscally and socially conservative and are often hotbeds of Dem crossover voters.
I think it would be completely reasonable for state/local campaigns to ask them to endorse RP as the Republican candidate in the state primary. These folks love their freedom and their country. And they sure as hell won't get a better shake from the other candidates. An endorsement would attract some Dem and Independent crossovers.
Also you don't need to get the whole union to endorse. Often union locals have endorsing power themselves.
Is there anybody at the state level qualified or capable of contacting these folks? Ideally it should be a union member, and preferably a shop steward.