Democrats Could Lose 2010 Labor Vote to Republicans

Organized labor and working class Americans will be key to President Obama's 2012 reelection prospects. On Labor Day 2010, these groups understandably feel let down, ignored and left behind by Obama administration policies, and could desert the Democratic party at the polls this November..

Democrats should be terrified by new conservative efforts to woo organized rank-and-file labor workers to Republican ranks, illustrated by Sarah Palin's recent speech in which she cleverly beseeched:

"To my hardworking, patriotic brothers and sisters in the labor movement: you don't have to put up with the scare tactics and the big government agenda of the union bosses. There is a different home for you: the commonsense conservative movement. It cares about the same things you and I care about: a government that doesn't spend beyond its means, an economy focused on creating good jobs with good wages... "

After all, recent headlines herald only terrible economic news for union workers, who are predominantly female, Latino and older white men:

• From ABC News via AP - "Whenever companies start hiring freely again, job-seekers with specialized skills and education will have plenty of good opportunities. Others will face a choice: Take a job with low pay -- or none at all...

  "That's the sobering message American workers face as they celebrate Labor Day at a time of high unemployment, scant hiring and a widespread loss of job security. Not until 2014 or later is the nation expected to have regained all, or nearly all, the 8.4 million jobs lost to the recession."

• From economist Robert Reich in the New York Times - "Even though the American economy kept growing, hourly wages flattened. The median male worker earns less today, adjusted for inflation, than he did 30 years ago...

  "In the late 1970s, the richest 1 percent of American families took in about 9 percent of the nation's total income; by 2007, the top 1 percent took in 23.5 percent of total income... little has been done since 2008 to widen the circle of prosperity."

• From the Los Angeles Times on Sept 5, 2010 - "Unemployment, long considered a temporary, transitional condition in the United States, appears to be settling in for a lengthy run...

  "Major employers including automakers and building contractors were at the core of the meltdown this time around. Even when the economy picks up, these sectors won't quickly rehire all the workers they shed during the downturn."

As a further complication, a new poll found "a huge 51% of Latinos less excited about the Democrats than they were in 2008" and concluded that "Obama and Senate Democrats took Latinos for granted, and now must scramble in the next two months to convince them to get to the polls and vote Democratic... "

The ranks of organized labor are heavily Latino in certain states, as Nevada, which were essential to Obama's 2008 victory.

How does the Obama administration respond on this Labor Day to the real distresses of America's working class?

With a new $100 billion dollar tax credit for U.S. corporations, which is dandy for big businesses and, in the long run, helpful to the U.S. economy. But does absolutely zero to help American workers in the next few years.

And with a sudden, feverish announcement today of a $50 billion bill for an "infrastructure plan designed to expand and renew the nation's roads, railways and runways." Again, a terrific plan for the long term, one that should have been part of the 2009 stimulus bill, but a plan that does absolutely zero to help American workers in the immediate future.

President Obama would be very wise to listen Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO president, when he called today "a defining Labor Day," adding about the 2010 elections, ""This election is about economic patriots, and it's also about corporate traitors."

Lately, Trumka has stuck vociferously by the White House, arguing that if Republicans retake control of the House:

"... we will go back to where corporate America and Wall Street ran wild. They will do everything they can to continue the policies of the last 30 years. You will see more tax cuts for the rich...

"You won't get health and safety laws passed even though miners will continue to be killed or refinery workers will get killed on the job. You won't see constructive legislation, you won't see extensions of unemployment, you won't see job creation."

Problem is, given the intense pain today of high unemployment, insecure jobs, poor job creation prospects, and high foreclosure rates, working class Americans are too overwhelmed by the painful challenges of the present to worry about the future.

On Labor Day 2010, working class Americans and their families are markedly worse off than they were on the day they voted for Barack Obama to be President. And they see no hope of help from the White House in the near future.

That, in a nutshell, is why Democrats should be terrified by new conservative efforts to woo organized rank-and-file labor workers and working class Americans to Republican ranks.

For more, read one of the most poignant and important speeches of 2010, at Labor Leader Trumka's Speech on Financial Woes of Americans.

(Photo of SEIU workers: Alex Wong/Getty Images)