Silent Partner Keeps Lame Duck Afloat
by Bill Onasch
November 7, 2012
Even with a lower voter turnout than 2008, or 2004 for that matter, and winning only a relatively narrow plurality in popular votes, President Obama’s showing in electoral votes was commanding. He becomes only the second Democrat President in the postwar era to win a second term.
The vacuous, often vicious political ads run by both sides that dominated our television were undoubtedly more annoying than persuasive. Some pundits attribute the incumbent’s victory to growing confidence in economic recovery--but opinion polls don’t support that wishful thinking.
More important was the sophisticated electoral metric methods used by Team Obama to construct an achievable model of an Electoral College majority--and then relentlessly focus on assembling it.
This Money Ball approach requires a voter turnout machine in targeted “battlegrounds” that can only be realized through grass root volunteer networks. The media has noted how the loony right undertones of the Republican campaign galvanized women’s, civil rights, and immigrant rights movements who shrugged off their bitter disappointment with the current administration to mobilize in the precincts.
But mostly ignored by both the President’s team and the mainstream media was the indispensable contribution of the union movement. Obama could not have been elected in 2008 without them and they played an even more crucial role in his victory this time. Without the hundreds of millions of union dollars, and especially the tens of thousands of member volunteers getting out the vote in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado, and Nevada, America would be getting a new President in January.
This cold shoulder is neither new nor surprising. The President issued a twenty-page position paper shortly before the election detailing his platitude-laden plan for rebuilding the Middle Class. There was not a single mention of any role unions might play in this resurrection. His references to unions in his stump speeches were as frequent as his warnings about global warming.
The labor statespersons commanding our unions are content to be the silent partners of their friend getting four more years in the White House. But that description is only half correct. The President grants them only the right to remain silent.
In his lame duck term, the President will be free to pursue his goal of a grand compromise with the evil Republicans just vanquished by labor’s herculean efforts. Whether there is some crow those living off scraps from the White House table will not eat will soon be tested as the attacks on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, public education, and much more escalate.
We’re not optimistic about these coming test results. Their track record reminds us of how John L Lewis characterized the mainstream union movement of an earlier time–lions being led by asses.
If you are in the Kansas City area, I invite you to a meeting beginning at Noon this Sunday, November 11, where there will not only be a discussion of the meaning of the election results but also, more importantly, action taken to relaunch Labor Party Advocates in Kansas City. Whether you are a union member of not, we hope you will join us in promoting the need for a working class party to defend our side in the face of growing attacks.
For more information about the Sunday meeting call me at 816-753-1672.
by Bill Onasch
November 7, 2012
Even with a lower voter turnout than 2008, or 2004 for that matter, and winning only a relatively narrow plurality in popular votes, President Obama’s showing in electoral votes was commanding. He becomes only the second Democrat President in the postwar era to win a second term.
The vacuous, often vicious political ads run by both sides that dominated our television were undoubtedly more annoying than persuasive. Some pundits attribute the incumbent’s victory to growing confidence in economic recovery--but opinion polls don’t support that wishful thinking.
More important was the sophisticated electoral metric methods used by Team Obama to construct an achievable model of an Electoral College majority--and then relentlessly focus on assembling it.
This Money Ball approach requires a voter turnout machine in targeted “battlegrounds” that can only be realized through grass root volunteer networks. The media has noted how the loony right undertones of the Republican campaign galvanized women’s, civil rights, and immigrant rights movements who shrugged off their bitter disappointment with the current administration to mobilize in the precincts.
But mostly ignored by both the President’s team and the mainstream media was the indispensable contribution of the union movement. Obama could not have been elected in 2008 without them and they played an even more crucial role in his victory this time. Without the hundreds of millions of union dollars, and especially the tens of thousands of member volunteers getting out the vote in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado, and Nevada, America would be getting a new President in January.
This cold shoulder is neither new nor surprising. The President issued a twenty-page position paper shortly before the election detailing his platitude-laden plan for rebuilding the Middle Class. There was not a single mention of any role unions might play in this resurrection. His references to unions in his stump speeches were as frequent as his warnings about global warming.
The labor statespersons commanding our unions are content to be the silent partners of their friend getting four more years in the White House. But that description is only half correct. The President grants them only the right to remain silent.
In his lame duck term, the President will be free to pursue his goal of a grand compromise with the evil Republicans just vanquished by labor’s herculean efforts. Whether there is some crow those living off scraps from the White House table will not eat will soon be tested as the attacks on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, public education, and much more escalate.
We’re not optimistic about these coming test results. Their track record reminds us of how John L Lewis characterized the mainstream union movement of an earlier time–lions being led by asses.
If you are in the Kansas City area, I invite you to a meeting beginning at Noon this Sunday, November 11, where there will not only be a discussion of the meaning of the election results but also, more importantly, action taken to relaunch Labor Party Advocates in Kansas City. Whether you are a union member of not, we hope you will join us in promoting the need for a working class party to defend our side in the face of growing attacks.
For more information about the Sunday meeting call me at 816-753-1672.
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