Labor Day and Every Day

On Labor Day, President Obama traveled to Milwaukee to tout the nation's economic recovery – and talk about how much further we have to go.

"I want an economy where your hard work pays off – with higher wages, and higher incomes, and fair pay for women, and workplace flexibility for parents, and affordable health insurance, and decent retirement benefits," Obama said. "I'm not asking for the moon. I just want a good deal for American workers."

The President made it clear: "If I were busting my butt in the service industry and wanted an honest day's pay for an honest day's work, I'd join a union. If I were a firefighter or police officer risking my life and helping to keep my community safe, and wanted to make sure I came home safely to my family, I'd join a union. I'd want a union looking out for me," he said.

That's important to hear.

As CWA President Larry Cohen told The Ed Schultz Show, "We need Democratic leaders like the president and vice president to be saying that every day, not just Labor Day, and make that the message of this election, so working people turn out to vote."

Economic populism is what's going to motivate workers to go to the polls. And it's a message that will cut through the distortions and misrepresentations in all the negative ads this campaign season.

"We have to fill the space with what should good government be doing, rather than personal issues or social issues the Koch brothers and others would use to divide us," Cohen said.

At a time when the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's attacks on collective bargaining have "totally taken over the Republican Party," Cohen said, politicians must remind voters of what it takes to build a strong, vibrant middle class.

"Elections are about choices, and the choice is clear," he said.