MSNBC: Labor could hold the key to Democratic nomination

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24029078/

By Matt Berger
NBC/National Journal Reporter
updated 9:24 a.m. CT, Wed., April. 9, 2008


Matt Berger
NBC/National Journal Reporter

PHILADELPHIA - Ellen Williams walked down two flights of stairs to answer the door. Before she even got to the landing, she was already telling the canvasser that she'd be voting for Barack Obama — just like the Service Employees International Union wants her to. But she also told the union representative that she holds a place in her heart for Bill Clinton.

"He kept us working for eight years," she told Thea Jackson at the door. "I was making $18 an hour then. I came from a higher class, and I'm not making what I used to make. The unions are not as strong as they used to be."


Alex Brandon / AP
Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., shakes hands before speaking at the Communication Workers of America legislative conference on April 8.
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Jackson spent a brisk Sunday afternoon canvassing north Philadelphia for the Illinois senator. The 40-year-old housekeeper at Lankenau Hospital said she has been involved in union politics for 18 years, and she sees a more active and engaged membership for this election than ever before.

"This has been our biggest voter registration turnout," Jackson said. "A lot of people are watching the news, listening to the issues and getting involved."

Although she said she doubts Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has the strength to be president, she also remembers the Clinton administration fondly. "He did right by us," she said.

Pennsylvania is the sixth-largest union state in the country, with 745,000 members in 2006, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And now that the 2008 primary race is largely centered in the Keystone State, Pennsylvania's unions have a rare opportunity to influence the future of the Democratic Party.

FULL story at link.