Last Saturday, they gave us all a lesson in what it means to be an American. I write this not as a Hillary supporter (I am, although I think highly of the other candidates as well), nor as a member of a union that did a lot of good work in
I write it as an American who is optimistic about the future diversity of this country.
When the main casino workers’ union endorsed Barack Obama shortly after
Plus, the Nevada Democratic Party had put caucus sites in nine casinos specifically for shift workers on the Strip.
The Culinary is 60,000 strong, growing fast, and have a nationally-admired union steward structure. Considering that
When an endorsement isn’t an endorsement
Union endorsements can be very effective if they’re done right. Doing it right means extensive polling of the membership, long discussions with leaders from around the country, and a detailed combing over of voting records, policy proposals and political abilities.
I’d humbly submit that AFSCME’s endorsement of Sen. Clinton was done well, with over 800,000 phone calls to members, polling in 23 states, dozens of meetings with candidates, multiple public forums and serious research.
There were strong pockets of support around the country for local Democratic stars like Governor Richardson, Obama, and even Joe Biden and Chris Dodd. Yet Hillary won all the states in which we polled except
Nationally, Hillary was the favorite of AFSCME membership by about a 2-1 margin. She got the support of two-thirds of our elected leaders from across the country. The endorsement followed.
The Culinary, by contrast, seemed to make a late-breaking, isolated decision without asking their membership in any real depth.
When persuasion isn’t persuasion
On top of following the members’ wishes, it’s critical to be respectful of them as voters and citizens. In our efforts in
We explain her record in a positive way, and in the case of caucus states, ask members to consider her as a second choice if their first choice was someone else. I personally met dozens of our members in
The Culinary apparently did it differently. I wasn’t in
On caucus day, they allegedly – according to many witnesses – threatened Hillary supporters’ jobs.
That’s a black eye for the entire union movement, and I hope none of our unions in
When an immigrant American is simply an American
Contrary to all projections, including her campaign’s, Hillary won seven of the nine casino-based sites. That’s not the important part. The workers’ reasoning was.
They said, “We didn’t come to this country to have someone order us how to vote. We won’t be scared into changing our votes.” They were American. They were free. While their union had every right to let them know who they were supporting and why, their votes were ultimately their own.
My favorite story – maybe my favorite political story in recent memory – comes from the Mirage. Both Obama and
Barack’s folks were chanting “O-bam-a!” One of the Culinary workers supporting
“U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!”
You couldn’t make it up. Hillary’s staff couldn’t have dreamt it up. It came from immigrant workers, there to exercise the defining right of citizens in a democracy. It was a spine-tingling moment for everyone, even for veteran observers.
Vote
Tom Tancredo and other immigrant-bashers who fear for
In
Bundy is the political and legislative director for AFSCME in