We Talked. We Walked. We Won!!
Labor scores big at polls.
AFSCME members and their sisters and brothers in Labor showed on Nov. 3 that they’re a force in American politics that ain’t going away. They turned out in record numbers for a non-presidential election — and turned in votes that surprised the TV pundits, almost all of whom bet that the Gingrich gang would continue to corral voters.
Quite to the contrary, in races across the country, extremists were defeated as they tried to pit the haves against the have-nots; those who can afford private education for their children against those who cannot; those who can gamble their Social Security futures on Wall Street against those who cannot. When the extremists raised divisive, fringe issues, they forgot the issues of working families. But working families registered their views at the polls, in a resounding, “No more!”
Victory went to those who stood for moderation, for policies and principles that reflect concern for all Americans, not just those who can buy time on the airwaves and legislative seats.
IT'S THE ISSUES... The results were not earthshaking or balance-shaking, for that matter, in terms of the federal legislature. Democrats gained five seats in the still Republican-controlled House. The Senate balance remains unchanged with a 55 to 45 GOP majority.
All the hoopla over election results was simply that pollsters, pundits and Right-Wing mouthpieces, such as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, all expected big Republican gains — anywhere from 10 to 40 seats. Extremists were geared up for the battle and blatantly targeted progressives, pouring money and negative advertising into races.
Massachusetts Rep. John Tierney (D) was one such target. He looked vulnerable, having won the last election by only 371 votes. But with Tierney’s 100 percent AFSCME voting record, union people such as Joe Martin, president of AFSCME Local 1736 (Council 93) went into action.
Martin was infuriated at GOP candidate Pete Torkidsen’s ads which insinuated that because Tierney voted for federal funding to monitor the next Teamsters election that all unions were corrupt and so was Tierney. Martin said his local identified 70 percent of the voters in his precinct and that on Election Day nine out of 10 union households voted in favor of Tierney, who won this time by more than 25,000 votes.
Working families didn’t want smear campaigns, it turned out, nor any more harping on Monica Lewinsky. Voters wanted to hear about issues such as Social Security, quality education, and health care, according to pollsters. And candidates who talked about them won.
In governors’ races, there was a marked shift toward more moderate positions among the candidates. Two candidates, with strong connections to Labor, upset the political trends in their states with solid wins. In California, Gray Davis became the state’s first Democratic governor in 16 years by focusing on education and other issues of importance to working families. Tom Vilsack did the same in Iowa, becoming that state’s first Democratic governor in 32 years.
REAPING WINS. While the far right counted its chickens, Labor was sowing its votes. Council 61 in Iowa reports that more members were active in this fall’s campaign than in any before. The same was heard at local and council levels in many parts of the country.
Instead of buying media ads for this campaign, AFSCME and other AFL-CIO affiliates focused on education and voter registration. The results were significant:
- Half a million union members and members of union households registered to vote in this election.
- 9.5 million pieces of election-related literature were sent to members.
- 5.5 million personal phone calls went out to union members.
- 600 union members ran for public office.
- Tens of thousands of union volunteers walked the streets, knocked on doors, made phone calls and just talked to get the message out.
“Democrats and progressives won the war on the ground,” pollster Celinda Lake notes. Door knocking, phoning, talking one-on-one to members and getting them to the polls were key to victory, Lake says. But also important, she says, was the groundwork laid by unions before these particular campaigns began.
Unions now know, Lake believes, that they can’t make phone calls or drive up on Election Day and expect to get their members to the polls. Accordingly, California AFSCME members note that some of their success at the polls in November was due to member education prior to the Paycheck Deception vote last spring.
According to Lake, 70 percent of all union members polled said they got election information from their unions. In Nevada, organizers estimate that union callers reached 90 percent of the state’s registered union members.
Unions also focused on spreading the word to African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans and other minority groups. African Americans played a big role in this election, especially in the South.
IN UNION DROVES. In 1994, about 14 percent of the electorate came from union households. In this election, union households accounted for 22 percent of the vote.
According to Lake, Labor made a big difference — sometimes THE difference — in races. Lake reports that without Labor support Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and governors-elect Gray Davis of California and Tom Vilsack of Iowa probably would not have won their seats.
But union members by no means vote uniformly. In some races, more than one candidate is appealing. In New York, for instance, Rep. Charles Schumer (D) defeated Sen. Alfonse D’Amato (R) in a hotly contested race. While Schumer has an excellent Labor-voting record, D’Amato was instrumental in steering passage of several laws important to Labor, especially in the corrections area. As Pres. Gerald W. McEntee says, “What matters is not whether you’re a Republican or Democrat. It’s where you stand on issues that are important to working families.
“Union members are making a clear connection between political activity and the kind of governance and economic environment they will have for raising families and retirement.”
HOLDING THEM ACCOUNTABLE. Lake notes that many races where Labor votes were decisive were also very close and that this year’s gains must not be taken for granted. Regaining seats lost to extremists in the past two decades will take time.
That means that everyone who voted and worked hard in this election still has a job to do. Politicians must be held accountable to voters on the issues that got them elected.
If politicians don’t deliver, there is always the next election. For politicians and those who elect them, political contests must be won over and over again.
By Catherine Barnett Alexander
Related Stories:
- Maryland: Labor Shows Its Gratitude
- Pennsylvania: Republican Specter Scores on the Issues
- Iowa: Newcomer Wins Old-Fashioned Victory
- California: Shake-Up in Reagan Territory
- Washington State: Radicals Routed After Bitter Campaign
- Oregon: Paycheck Deception Downed Again
