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CWA Gears Up to Take Back White House
CWA is leaving no corner of the country behind as it heads toward Election Day 2004, pledging to create its most ambitious political network ever to send President George W. Bush back to Texas.
"We've been building a grassroots political campaign around the country and we'll be ready to go in every state, knocking on doors, making phone calls, passing out flyers, answering questions - doing everything in our power to elect a president who cares about working families," CWA President Morton Bahr said.
CWA held training sessions Feb. 18 and 19 at headquarters for seven state political coordinators who have been hired fulltime for the duration of the campaign in battleground states. They will work with a network of 200 CWA local political coordinators, who in turn are building a network of worksite coordinators.
The training included presentations from political strategists at the AFL-CIO and affiliate groups and a nuts-and-bolts session with Steve Elmendorf, deputy campaign director for Sen. John Kerry.
Speakers made it clear how vital CWA and the rest of the labor community is going to be in defeating Bush. AFL-CIO Senior Campaign Specialist Suzanne Granville showed the coordinators how relatively few votes in 16 battleground states - where votes were extremely close in 2000 - can tip the balance for Democrats.
Granville said the 2000 election and Al Gore's popular vote victory illustrated how repeated contact with union families - via mail, e-mail, phone and personal visits - can make a substantial difference. In 2000, union households accounted for 26 percent of all voters, and the AFL-CIO says labor must match that in November. "Union turnout is the winning difference," Granville said.
The battleground states are Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
CWA's coordinators are working with the AFL-CIO in nine states: Scott Ramsey in Arizona and New Mexico, Marilyn Lenard in Florida, Steven Abbott in Iowa, Brian Fletcher in Missouri, Jim Meyer in Minnesota, Leitha Jackson in Ohio and Jay Boyle in Oregon and Washington.
Recent CWA training sessions in two of the states, Michigan and Ohio, drew more than 100 local officers, activists and staff.
The Michigan meeting was the first state battleground event since CWA endorsed Sen. John Kerry for president. Mike Grace, CWA's political director and administrative assistant to Bahr, said Kerry's endorsement was widely popular among the CWA leaders and members, as was reflected in the senator's sweep of the Michigan caucuses Feb. 7. Grace said one of the meeting's highlights was an appearance by former New Hampshire Gov. Jean Shaheen, a co-chair of Kerry's campaign. A representative from the Michigan AFL-CIO also spoke to delegates.
In Ohio, IUE-CWA Local 84755 hosted a training session that emphasized Ohio's critical role in the electoral count for president. With 20 electoral votes, Ohio is seen as a must-win for the Democratic nominee. President Bush won the state in 2000 by a narrow margin but since then Ohio has suffered massive job losses, particularly in the manufacturing sector. More than 173,000 good-paying industrial jobs have disappeared from the state.
Ohio participants heard from David Kolbe, legislative/political director of the Ohio AFL-CIO. The state federation has launched an aggressive field operation to "Take Back Ohio" for working families. CWA will closely coordinate its campaign efforts with the state AFL-CIO's activities.
"We've been building a grassroots political campaign around the country and we'll be ready to go in every state, knocking on doors, making phone calls, passing out flyers, answering questions - doing everything in our power to elect a president who cares about working families," CWA President Morton Bahr said.
CWA held training sessions Feb. 18 and 19 at headquarters for seven state political coordinators who have been hired fulltime for the duration of the campaign in battleground states. They will work with a network of 200 CWA local political coordinators, who in turn are building a network of worksite coordinators.
The training included presentations from political strategists at the AFL-CIO and affiliate groups and a nuts-and-bolts session with Steve Elmendorf, deputy campaign director for Sen. John Kerry.
Speakers made it clear how vital CWA and the rest of the labor community is going to be in defeating Bush. AFL-CIO Senior Campaign Specialist Suzanne Granville showed the coordinators how relatively few votes in 16 battleground states - where votes were extremely close in 2000 - can tip the balance for Democrats.
Granville said the 2000 election and Al Gore's popular vote victory illustrated how repeated contact with union families - via mail, e-mail, phone and personal visits - can make a substantial difference. In 2000, union households accounted for 26 percent of all voters, and the AFL-CIO says labor must match that in November. "Union turnout is the winning difference," Granville said.
The battleground states are Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
CWA's coordinators are working with the AFL-CIO in nine states: Scott Ramsey in Arizona and New Mexico, Marilyn Lenard in Florida, Steven Abbott in Iowa, Brian Fletcher in Missouri, Jim Meyer in Minnesota, Leitha Jackson in Ohio and Jay Boyle in Oregon and Washington.
Recent CWA training sessions in two of the states, Michigan and Ohio, drew more than 100 local officers, activists and staff.
The Michigan meeting was the first state battleground event since CWA endorsed Sen. John Kerry for president. Mike Grace, CWA's political director and administrative assistant to Bahr, said Kerry's endorsement was widely popular among the CWA leaders and members, as was reflected in the senator's sweep of the Michigan caucuses Feb. 7. Grace said one of the meeting's highlights was an appearance by former New Hampshire Gov. Jean Shaheen, a co-chair of Kerry's campaign. A representative from the Michigan AFL-CIO also spoke to delegates.
In Ohio, IUE-CWA Local 84755 hosted a training session that emphasized Ohio's critical role in the electoral count for president. With 20 electoral votes, Ohio is seen as a must-win for the Democratic nominee. President Bush won the state in 2000 by a narrow margin but since then Ohio has suffered massive job losses, particularly in the manufacturing sector. More than 173,000 good-paying industrial jobs have disappeared from the state.
Ohio participants heard from David Kolbe, legislative/political director of the Ohio AFL-CIO. The state federation has launched an aggressive field operation to "Take Back Ohio" for working families. CWA will closely coordinate its campaign efforts with the state AFL-CIO's activities.