(The Associated Press circulated the following story by Will Lester on October 6.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Organized labor is stepping up its effort to educate, register and mobilize blacks, Hispanics, women and young voters — using a model that proved so successful in 2000 that it was copied by some Republicans in elections two years later.
A new organization called Voices for Working Families hopes to raise $20 million to $25 million for a voter registration drive aimed at increasing participation, said Gerald McEntee, chairman of the group and president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
“Voices for Working Families will build on organized labor’s successful political education campaign, we will take our campaign to working people whether in unions or not,” McEntee said Monday. “Our strategy is to reach households in the targeted communities with at least 10 personal contacts, including door-to-door visits, telephone calls, mail and e-mail.”
The political organization is one of many being set up to capture millions of dollars in unregulated money that can no longer be contributed to political parties under the campaign finance law. While the group is considered a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, it will work against the re-election of President Bush, who labor leaders have said pursues policies hostile to working families.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said the group’s goal is to register 500,000 Hispanic voters, targeting four battleground states — Arizona, Florida, New Mexico and Nevada.
“Republicans are fighting for the Hispanic vote, but it will take more than Spanish lessons for Republican candidates to convince Hispanics that Republicans support the average working family,” Richardson said.
The 16 battleground states also include Iowa, Maine, Missouri, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Geraldine Ferraro, Walter Mondale’s running mate on the Democratic ticket in 1984, said women around the country will be asked to walk precincts regularly to help register voters.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said he is “urging all of our unions to give this our full support.” The AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions will do its own voter mobilization drive aimed at union members.
The voter drive is using organized labor’s efforts as a model because the movement has effectively delivered votes for Democratic presidential candidates in the past. The labor vote provides a core of Democratic support that even extends to white voters, a major demographic group that Democratic presidential candidates have not carried for decades, according to a report by the National Annenberg Election Survey.
Almost six in 10 voters from labor households voted for Democrat Al Gore in the 2000 election. The Annenberg survey found that white voters from labor households went for Gore by a 55-40 margin. White women from that group supported Gore by a 60-35 margin and white men were almost evenly split between Gore and Bush.