ELECTION 2008:

Tackling race to negate it

In break with Obama’s approach, union leaders broach skin color in campaign to assuage doubts about candidate among rank and file

Steve Marcus

According to poll data from the Pew Center, support for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama among working-class whites is slipping. The lead GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain held over Obama among working-class whites was 6 percentage points in June. The lead McCain held over Obama in a poll last month among the same group was 20 percentage points.

By Alexandra Berzon (contact), Michael Mishak (contact)

Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Obama's Speech on Race

Reader poll

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Not long after Sen. Barack Obama clinched the Democratic nomination for president, union bosses for the building trades realized they needed to better understand their members’ complicated views of the Illinois senator.

They commissioned a study by Harvard professor Gerald Zaltman and Penn State professor Jerry Olson, who have developed a method to understand consumers’ subconscious decision-making.

Researchers asked 15 Pittsburgh-area workers in the building trades, all white men over 35 who were leaning toward Republican Sen. John McCain or undecided, to sit down for one-on-one interviews lasting several hours.

They shared a sense that everything they had assimilated in their cultural upbringings was changing before them, said Tom Owens, spokesman for the National Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO.

For the most part, the responses were not overtly racist, Owens said. But they revealed anxiety that union leaders worry could become an election wild card.

“They’re nervous and scared and uneasy,” Owens said. “They live in a multiethnic society and see the culture their father and grandfathers had, the tightknit culture, all of it slipping away. Hip-hop music is everywhere and they don’t understand it. It fills them with a kind of trepidation. They understand Obama is with them on the issues. He stands up and protects unions. But then there’s that little element a lot of them had in the back of their minds: Is Barack Obama going to be the president for black America and not white America?”

The results were troubling to Building Trades President Mark Ayers and other labor leaders who have backed Obama over McCain and hoped their members follow. While Obama’s campaign has been mostly reticent to call attention to the racial dynamics of the race for fear of polarizing voters, union leaders are confronting the topic by talking directly to members.

To win, Obama needs them.

Nationally, 15.4 million workers belong to unions, and 73 percent of them are white. The AFL-CIO Building Trades represents a workforce of 2.5 million, including about 20,000 in Las Vegas. Another 10,000 members in Southern Nevada belong to the Carpenters Union, part of a rival labor federation.

Concluding that Obama’s skin color could be a factor for a fraction of those members, union heads have rushed to send out videos, print materials and talking points to send the message that despite misgivings, Obama is the far better choice for those concerned about their jobs, health care and retirement savings. The AFL-CIO is spending $53.4 million on its grass-roots mobilization to persuade members to come out for Obama.

Some of those messages are very direct when it comes to race.

One video, distributed by the Building Trades to union locals nationwide, features a white painter from Chicago who knows Obama. Using a metaphor, he tells viewers that a patient struggling with a heart ailment isn’t going to care about the color of his doctor’s skin. He just wants the best doctor. Right now, the worker says, Washington needs a heart transplant.

“We have to take it head-on and get it on the table,” Ayers said last week in an interview.

“Some of our members, if you ask them the problem with Obama, they’ll say he doesn’t wear an American flag pin (on his) lapel. And the answer is that’s not true,” Ayers said. “When you get right down to it they’ll tell you quietly that some of them don’t support Obama because he’s black.”

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka made similar comments in July at a United Steelworkers convention in Las Vegas.

Trumka recalled how race had been used in the past by companies to divide workers. “A lot of good union people just can’t get past the idea that there’s something wrong with voting for a black man. Well, those of us who know better can’t afford to look the other way,” Trumka said. “(There’s) no evil that’s inflicted more pain and more suffering than racism — and it’s something we in the labor movement have a special responsibility to challenge.”

He noted that industrial unions have stood up against lynching and racism, and that outside the military the labor movement is “the most integrated institution in American life.”

Still, Trumka acknowledged labor isn’t without its failings.

Nelson Lichtenstein, a labor historian at the University of California, Santa Barbara, said racial exclusion in the building and construction trades used to be customary. The discrimination, he said, stemmed largely from the way in which those crafts organized, limiting the pool of skilled workers and thus creating a demand for the union labor force.

“This has been a long tradition and it has been a huge fight,” Lichtenstein said. “It’s not like they’re ipso facto racist. But when an underground principle of your organization is to exclude as many people as possible, it reinforces the in-group, out-group sense.”

He added: “The only thing building tradesmen could give their offspring — besides the house when they die — was membership in the union. There was a very strong sense of ownership that goes back 100 years. That coincides with racism and reinforces it.”

Some building trades unions have worked hard to reverse that trend, Lichtenstein said. Several unions, for example, have targeted the largely Hispanic residential construction industry in Las Vegas and other parts of the Southwest.

Polls indicate Obama’s support is slipping among working-class white voters. In June, McCain led the group by 6 percentage points. He now leads working-class whites by 20 percentage points, according to a Pew Center poll conducted last month.

The role of racism in the election is still a question. According to a July New York Times/CBS poll, 5 percent of whites said they would be unwilling to vote for a black candidate. In a separate question, 19 percent said most of the people they knew would not vote for a black.

In Macomb County, a suburb of Detroit and a microcosm of working-class white America, a recent poll found that only 47 percent of white union members support Obama. Not unlike the Pittsburgh building workers in the AFL-CIO study, one-third of Macomb voters said they were concerned Obama would put the interests of blacks ahead of other Americans’. But even more, the voters said Obama was not connecting with them on the economy and they were concerned he did not have enough national security experience.

On the other hand, no Democratic presidential candidate since Lyndon B. Johnson has captured a majority of white support.

For Obama, who has staked his candidacy on transcending racial barriers, discussing race has risks.

In July, speaking to a crowd in rural Missouri, Obama said Republicans would try to scare voters by pointing out that he “doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.”

McCain campaign manager Rick Davis seized on the comments, saying Obama “played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck.”

Obama’s campaign gave a muted response — and moved on.

Labor leaders in Las Vegas say they haven’t seen signs of racism at play in the election.

“We think we’re a little different in Southern Nevada,” said Steve Redlinger, a Las Vegas political consultant and spokesman for the Southern Nevada Building Trades Council. Redlinger said building trades unions in Las Vegas have more Hispanics than similar unions in many other parts of the country. Recent analysis shows most Hispanics are inclined to vote for Obama.

Danny Thompson, executive secretary-treasurer of the Nevada AFL-CIO, said the federation’s issues-based campaign is resonating with members. “We’re talking to them specifically about the things they care about: their paycheck, their job. We’re getting very positive feedback.”

But street-level organizers say they’re seeing some subtle signs of anxiety.

“We find that the more our members know about Barack and are educated on McCain’s record, the more at ease they are with Obama as the candidate,” said Mike Reineke, who’s directing the state AFL-CIO’s field effort. “We’re not going to change people’s racial attitudes this election. If you took faces and names away and just did voting on records, it would be an obvious choice.”

Reineke tells organizers to make a simple pitch: “Are you better off today than four years ago?”

Discussion: 24 comments so far…

By gqbossing

9/10/08 at 8:24 a.m.

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The article basiclly says Obama is the better candidate, and people are voting McCain because he is white. I don't mind the questioning, but don't like that approach.

We already know over 90% of black people are voting for Obama, how many of those are because he's black? Where's the article for this?

I'd rather stick to who would be a better candidate and get past the race crap, we all know if you are someone voting on race your mind isn't going to be changed, this election is all about the people in the middle, IMO paying attentiuon to trying to change peoples racist views (blacks and white) is a losing battle
By thebs

9/10/08 at 8:28 a.m.

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gqbossing, 88% of African Americans voted for Kerry in 2004.

Did they vote for him because he is white?

Given the economic climate, a small swing of 2-4% of additional voters for Obama is completely reasonable.
By jfnance32

9/10/08 at 9:05 a.m.

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Blacks are a monolothic voting block.

They have voted 80% to 90% for the Democratic party for decades.

This makes their political power very small.

Democrats have them in their back pocket and they have do very little to get their vote.

Obama currently has disavowed his anti-Israel friends and embraced pro-Israel stands.

In many polls over 70% of blacks think Israel is an evil government.

The Democratic party totally ignores the black voters' political wishes. The Democratic party knows it can do nothing and still get the black vote.

White women split their vote and they have a ton of political power. Both parties do head stands to get the white women vote and listen to their political desires.

Inner city black children are totally screwed over by the public school system. If they got school vouchers then they might have a chance to get out of those hellish school systems. Even Rev. Wright church could offer education option's to inner city black youth. That is what the Republican party is offering....freedom from the broken inner city school systems.
By thebs

9/10/08 at 10:09 a.m.

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"In many polls over 70% of blacks think Israel is an evil government."

Wow, that line STINK of "Nance-ified" statistics!

Sorry, but if the Republicans want to claim that African Americans are voting for Obama ONLY because he shares some of their heritage, they need to do ALOT better than that!

History and election results tell the truth.
By gqbossing

9/10/08 at 12:41 p.m.

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ALOT = A lot by the way

Please disreagard my ignorace on the democratic party's history, I am not a very political person and don't keep up with historical voting trends. Maybe Kerry was half black, below the belt? ;-)

I just think focusing on people who are voting because of race is a pointless exercise, you have those people on both sides of the fence and no matter what you say and what they tell you they aren't changing their vote.
By jfnance32

9/10/08 at 1:41 p.m.

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http://www.adl.org/anti_semitism/2002/as...

In this poll, 35% are strongly anti-semitic.

Another, 43% are somewhat anti-semitic.

Only, 23% consider themselve not anti-semitic at all.

Wow....over 78% of blacks either somewhat or strongly anti-semitic.

But the Democratic Party is a very strong supportor of Israel with some rare people like some Obama advisors.

Blacks are ignored in the Democratic Party.

There feelings on Israel are totally ignored.
By thebs

9/10/08 at 1:52 p.m.

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LOL, where's your quote on "evil government?"

Are you going to admit you pulled that one out of your behind? LOL!

And anti-semitic?

Is that kinda like Sarah Palin quoting an anti-semite in her acceptance speech but not naming him?

http://www.wsj.com/article/SB12210022685...

Or when she took her kids to church to listen to a speaker preach that Palestinian violence against Jews is God's "judgment" against the Jews?

Is it sorta like that?
By jfnance32

9/10/08 at 2:48 p.m.

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You got me theBs....anti-semitic dummies would consider Israel to be a good wonderful government.

LOL............you are so funny!!!!!!
By thebs

9/10/08 at 3:02 p.m.

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Yes, I want you to prove your statement:

"In many polls over 70% of blacks think Israel is an evil government."

Instead, you brought up an irrelevant poll about antisemitism.

Be my guest, show me a poll about what the African American population of the United States thinks about the Israeli government.

It's more "Nance-ified" statistics.
By jfnance32

9/10/08 at 3:04 p.m.

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According to your logic, anti-semitic people do not think Israel is an evil government.

Hmmmmmmm......interesting logic.........
By thebs

9/10/08 at 3:12 p.m.

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So you have nothing to back up your erroneous statistics, then?

I'm waiting for you to post a link, a quote, a poll or something to prove your statement.

Quit stalling and prove your statement:
"In many polls over 70% of blacks think Israel is an evil government."
By jfnance32

9/10/08 at 3:20 p.m.

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A poll said that over 70% of blacks are somewhat or strongly anti-semitic.

Common sense says that anti-semitic people would think Israel is an evil government.

I understand why it is so hard for you to understand that.

You need to go out a buy a jar of common sense.
By thebs

9/10/08 at 3:24 p.m.

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You mean, you have no support or proof of your claim?

Not a single link, quote or poll to prove it?

Thought so.

The rest is just stalling.

Another Nance myth, debunked!
By cignetti

9/10/08 at 4:06 p.m.

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Obama is the product of a white mother and an Arab What makes him an African American???? Altough his grandmother was African that still does not make him African American if you use common sense. Color is not the sole judge here.
By thebs

9/10/08 at 4:28 p.m.

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His father was not "Arab." He was Luo, an ethnic group from Kenya. Obama's father was born in Kenya and thus, was African.

The ignorance surrounding people's perception of Obama is stunning sometimes.
By jfnance32

9/10/08 at 5:22 p.m.

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theBS thinks that anti-semitic people believe that Israel is not an evil government.

Good thinking!!!!!! LOL!!!!!!
By firedawg2000

9/10/08 at 5:45 p.m.

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Here comes the race card. The ultimate sign of desperation by liberals. That race card sits in a glass case. In case of emergency, breal glass! This is there way to get votes by the "White Guilt" syndrome that a lot of white folks seem to carry.

I predicted this old liberal tactice last year that the Obama people would use it. Now that the polls are moving into McCain's favor, here it comes. Everyone can expect more of this as we get closer to Nov 4th.

So all those white folks who are afraid of being labled a racist for not voting for Obama, I hope you stand up to these race card playing liberals and vote for who you really like.
By thebs

9/10/08 at 7:07 p.m.

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LOL, look at firedawg getting indignant.

You admitted you live in Oregon and are going to fly back down here to vote.

Yeah, kinda funny to hear a morality speech from someone that plans on committing voter fraud. Another fine Republican!

And yes, God, I will call anyone ignorant who can't perform a simple google search before maligning the ethnicity of ANY candidate.

Don't like it? Do some research.

Still waiting for a quote, poll, article, etc, proving your statistic, Nance.

Sorta feel like I'll be waiting awhile, huh?

"Nance-ified" statistics work that way.

Wait, wait, did I just hear something?

Nope, just crickets from Nance.
By jfnance32

9/10/08 at 9:08 p.m.

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theBS thinks that anti-semitic people believe that Israel is not an evil government.

Yes that is right.

theBS believes that anti-semitic people belive that Israel is a good and righteous government.
By thebs

9/10/08 at 9:27 p.m.

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So, still no stat to support your assertion?

Just crickets?

You made a very clear assertion that "over 70% of blacks think Israel is an evil government."

I'm just asking you to back that up with, you know, a fact!

It's tough, Nance... proving what you believe.

That is, if what you believe is supported by facts.

Prove me wrong.
By azsk8fan

9/11/08 at 8:01 a.m.

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Dear Mr. Obama, if the press is going to continue to include race, which you KNOW they are - why have you not at least tried to correct them and remind them that you are Bi-Racial, which is NOT quite the same as being African American - or do you want to continue to disrespect the very woman who gave you life? Any man who disrespects his mother is NOT really a man at all........
By thebs

9/11/08 at 8:26 a.m.

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Uh, his father was from Africa, his mother was born in America.

If anyone deserves to call themselves an African American, it's Obama.
By videogurl

9/12/08 at 6:29 p.m.

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Union leaders are courageous to take this difficult issue on. See Mr. Trumka's inspiring speech at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QIGJTHdH...