General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPresident Obama Gets Early Endorsement From United Farm Workers
Thursday, Jan. 12, at 11 a.m.:
United Farm Workers offers early endorsement of President Obama with L.A. rally - Event kicks off series of union planned events across the country backing Obama's re-election
LOS ANGELES, CA - President Barack Obama's re-election campaign receives an early endorsement from the United Farm Workers of America, the nation's largest and oldest farm workers union, during an 11 a.m. rally on Thursday, Jan. 12, at the UFW's Los Angeles offices, 4545 E. Cesar Chavez Ave. in East L.A. The rally kicks off a series of union-sponsored events and rallies throughout the nation supporting the President.
"We are proud to endorse President Obama in this historic year during which the UFW celebrates its 50th anniversary," said UFW President Arturo Rodriguez. "President Obama stands with farm workers and immigrants. His administration is fighting against mean-spirited partisan legislation and gratuitous attacks by Republican politicians against hard-working, tax-paying immigrants who are among the most vulnerable people in our society."
Under U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, the administration reversed former President George W. Bush's last-minute changes to the nation's agricultural guest worker program that would have reduced wages and protections for both foreign and domestic farm workers.
The Obama administration also moved promptly to block SB 1070, the Arizona's anti-immigrant law that discriminates against Latinos and encourages racial profiling, and the administration is challenging similar legislation in Alabama and Georgia. Just last week, President Obama announced changes to federal immigration rules that would let relatives of U.S. citizens remain with their families while they work to adjust their immigration status.
"The theme of the 2008 Obama campaign reflected Cesar Chavez's famous cry of 'Si Se Puede!'," Rodriguez said. "In 2012, we can proudly examine our progress and say, 'Yes we can' ensure that the rights, wages, benefits and living conditions of the women and men who put food on our tables are enhanced and not diminished.
"We have taken many important steps forward over the last four years. We need President Obama leading the nation for the next four."
read: http://www.ufw.org/_board.php?mode=view&b_code=news_press&b_no=11670&page=1&field=&key=&n=803
Remarks by Arturo S. Rodriguez, President
United Farm Workers of America
Endorsing President Obamas Reelection
January 12, 2012East Los Angeles, Calif.
Today, the United Farm Workers of America issues an early endorsement of Barrack Obama's re-election campaign and kicks off a series of rallies and events for the President across seven states in the next 10 days.
The UFW is organizing events in Californias Central Valley, Central Coast and North State Wine Country. We are also organizing rallies or joining with supporters and sister farm worker groups in Oregon and Washington state; and in the key swing states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Florida.
We are proud to endorse President Obama in this historic year during which the UFW celebrates its 50th anniversary. We are proud to stand with President Obama because he has stood with farm workers and immigrants over the last three years.
His administration is fighting against mean-spirited partisan legislation and gratuitous, intolerant attacks by Republican politicians against hard-working, tax-paying immigrants who are among the most vulnerable people in our society.
As soon as President Obama took office, he reminded us that elections do matter. Under Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, the administration reversed George W. Bush's last-minute changes to the nation's agricultural guest worker program that would have reduced wages and protections for both foreign and domestic farm workers. Among the labor protections President Obama restored is the principle that U.S. farm workers be hired before foreign labor, a protection weakened under President Bush.
Congress still must remedy the nation's need for a legal and stable work force by enacting the historic, bipartisan AgJobs bill that President Obama supports. Negotiated by the UFW and the nations growers, AgJobs would let undocumented farm workers stay in this country by continuing to work in agriculture.
The Obama administration also moved promptly to block SB 1070, Arizona's anti-immigrant law that discriminates against Latinos and encourages racial profiling. The administration is challenging similar laws in Alabama and Georgia. The Obama Justice Department recently moved against Phoenixs anti-immigrant sheriff, Joe Arpaio, over his discriminatory policing targeting Latinos.
Just last week, President Obama announced changes to federal immigration rules that would let relatives of U.S. citizens remain with their families while they work to adjust their immigration status.
Never before in our nations history have we seen Latinos throughout the country being scapegoated and vilified as we have witnessed in the last few years. Republican presidential candidates are outdoing themselves to demonstrate ignorance and intoleranceor they are cynically pandering to voters who embrace these un-American traits.
Those repugnant politics stand in sharp contrast to President Obamas leadership.
The theme of the Presidents 2008 campaign borrowed from the words of Cesar Chavezs 1972 fast in Arizona, Si Se Puede!or Yes We Can!
In 2012, we can examine our progress and say with certainty, Yes we can ensure that the rights, wages, benefits and living conditions of the women and men who put food on our tables are enhanced, and not diminished.
We have taken many important steps forward during the last three years of the Presidents first term. We need President Obama leading the nation for the next four years of his second term.
read: http://www.ufw.org/_board.php?mode=view&b_code=news_press&b_no=11670&page=1&field=&key=&n=803
bigtree
(85,996 posts)no props for the UFW endorsement -- more energy spent here trying to convince that the President was somehow the enemy of unions.
Robb
(39,665 posts)Moosepoop
(1,920 posts)I'm very happy to see this endorsement, and also with the info that there are more union events planned.
Those who argue the notion that President Obama is "the enemy of the unions" will have a lot to be quiet about in the upcoming weeks and months, methinks.
K & R!
bigtree
(85,996 posts)We need more understanding and appreciation of our unions. We're at a tipping point right now; not only because of the weak economy, but because this president has breathed some life into a deliberately stalled National Labor Relations Board with his executive appointments to fill the remaining open seats. United we stand. The President will again witness the value of the organizing ability of these unions who've wisely signed on early. We'll elevate our concerns along with this presidency.
treestar
(82,383 posts)No mention of her. Yet we hear about Geithner all the time.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)Media has poisoned the left and the right for their conservative masters.
Tarheel_Dem
(31,233 posts)ProSense
(116,464 posts)The President's appointment of Cecilia Munoz to head the Domestic Policy Council makes it even sweeter.
DevonRex
(22,541 posts)Arturo Rodriguez's statement is fantastic. I hope everyone reads it.
Number23
(24,544 posts)Yep, that's a pretty strong and decisive statement.
DevonRex
(22,541 posts)some folks have been putting forward again about Latinos having a problem with Obama, doesn't it? I'm so glad to see this endorsement now.
ellisonz
(27,711 posts)The Obama administration has presided over a record number of deportations of illegal residents, a policy that has drawn extensive criticism from Latino leaders. By 59% to 27%, Latinos citizens and noncitizens say they disapprove of how the administration is handling the issue, according to the poll, released Wednesday.
Reporting from Washington Latinos by a 2-1 margin disapprove of how President Obama is handling deportations of illegal residents, but by an even larger margin, Latino voters favor him over Mitt Romney, according to a new survey by the Pew Hispanic Center.
The Obama administration has presided over a record number of deportations of illegal residents, a policy that has drawn extensive criticism from Latino leaders. By 59% to 27%, Latinos citizens and noncitizens say they disapprove of how the administration is handling the issue, according to the poll, released Wednesday.
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/28/nation/la-na-latinos-obama-20111229
This is why they made this announcement a week later:
Reporting from Washington The Obama administration will announce Friday a proposed new regulation that would allow certain undocumented immigrants to remain in America while applying for legal status -- a step aimed at keeping families intact and one that may also shore up the president's support with Latino voters.
------
As it stands, people living in the U.S. illegally who leave the country to apply for a green card face years of separation from family members.
-------
They can claim that their absence would pose a hardship for their spouse or parent and ask the Department of Homeland Security to waive the re-entry restrictions.
But to do that, they must first travel to a consular office abroad and begin a process that can take months or even years, experts say.
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jan/05/news/la-pn-obama-immigration-regulation-20120105
It's not talking points when it's grounded analysis in what the Obama administration should or shouldn't be doing if it wants to win what will be a highly contested election. The Obama administration isn't blind; they see when they might have a problem and they take steps to address them, but to deny that there's an issue doesn't help the cause. Team Obama needs to be pro-active in approaching socially contentious issues such as immigration or gun; being reactive simply sets one up to being dragged into the mud and exploited for not taking the initiative. Carpe diem...
bigtree
(85,996 posts)December 28
President Obama holds a wide lead among Hispanic voters when matched against potential Republican challengers, even as widespread opposition to his administrations stepped-up deportation policies act as a drag on his approval ratings among that group, according to a new poll.
The survey, conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center, revealed a general-election weakness for Republicans among an increasingly influential voting bloc with former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry each winning less than one-fourth of the Hispanic vote in hypothetical matchups against Obama.
Obama leads Romney by 68 percent to 23 percent and Perry by 69 percent to 23 percent among Hispanic voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 5.2 percentage points for the sample.
The presidents strong position with Latino voters comes even as Hispanic adults overall express disapproval with the way his administration is handling deportations of illegal immigrants, by 59 percent to 27 percent. (The margin of error among adults is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.)
read: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/wary-hispanic-voters-favor-obama-over-gop-rivals/2011/12/28/gIQAJa5eMP_print.html
ellisonz
(27,711 posts)I doubt that polling is among likely voters. That's really the issue to be concerned with, but as you can see clearly from the issue polling, there is some shakiness to that support. A lot can change between now and next November; we need to take efforts to make sure Latinos don't stay home because we really need their votes in Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. We can't stick our head in the sand on this issue and say everything is perfectly fine, and we don't need to take pro-active measures to shore up that voting bloc because it might aggravate other groups. Anyone that is going to be aggravated by such support for immigration reform probably isn't going to vote Obama at the end of the day or is in denial.
Here is my thread from the BOG (before my banishment) in which I say nothing but that, free of talking points of any form, very clearly saying nothing other than that:
What should Team Obama be doing to communicate to the Latino community that Democrats want real immigration reform? The Republicans are going to attack on this issue anyway so we might as well have a firm position heading into 2012.
There is nothing about immigration under "Issues' and the Latino's Group is plain: http://www.barackobama.com/latinos?source=primary-nav - Why isn't the Obama campaign getting out in front of this issue? I don't think we can win by shying away from the wedge issues. I think they should have recorded video statements for the website and youtube saying exactly where he stands. I'm really not happy with the way the website looks (it's "preppy" in color and "cloudy" in design - I'd like to see a more traditional layout and coloring), and yes I have applied for a job with the campaign and no luck
http://www.democraticunderground.com/11021786
Unless we're going to concede the Southwest - We need a strong campaign to Latinos and immigration reform is one of the big issues with similar basic concerns to other groups also being important. Let's not sit and count our blessings before we've been blessed again in November 2012.
bigtree
(85,996 posts). . . also factoring in Romney's opposition to the Dream Act, these polls are accompanied by reports of wide disaffection with republicans among Latino voters. The party leaders are counseling their recruiters to use the word 'conservative' instead of 'republican' because the party has been so hostile to their interests. That opposition to their interests by republicans encompasses policies and initiatives which go far beyond anything this administration has proposed or enacted, so it's unlikely that folks with those concerns are going to sit back and allow republicans to advance.
Poll watcher: Republican problems with Hispanic voters larger than ever
fresh numbers from the Pew Hispanic Center reveal that Republicans have made little progress since 2008 in courting a fast-growing Hispanic voting bloc, two-thirds of whom voted for Barack Obama.
In their basic political party identification the continental plates of American politics 67 percent of Hispanics identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party, compared with 20 percent who lean toward Republicans. The 47-point Democratic advantage is larger than at any point in more than a decade of polls, including 2008, when 26 percent of Hispanics sided with the Republican Party. As we noted Thursday, Obama leads Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney by 68 to 23 percent among Hispanic voters in a hypothetical general election match-up.
read: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/behind-the-numbers/post/poll-watcher-republican-problems-with-hispanic-voters-larger-than-ever/2011/12/13/gIQAZbWvQP_blog.html
ellisonz
(27,711 posts)...and especially with non-college educated White males. We don't just need to win the same margin as we did in 2008 with Latinos, we need to win bigger to offset other losses, and to do that we need to lead on the immigration debate rather than just sit back and say well we did alright in 2008, it should be fine.
We have to capitalize on groups that we do well with: women, Latinos, African-Americans and the college educated. Pretty incredible when you think about that so many Latinos still support Republicans, no? We won't be able to get scientific until the Republicans have a candidate, and I'm not sure it's going to be Romney, but there really are no issues that Obama is just going to be able to dodge in 2012.
"so it's unlikely that folks with those concerns are going to sit back and allow republicans to advance."
Stranger things have happened...
bigtree
(85,996 posts)I think they need to work on registration and organizing for election day. That shouldn't come as a surprise to the Obama campaign. This endorsement will go a long way in providing the resources and manpower to get out the vote and register more folks in regions where the Latino voter can make a difference.
ellisonz
(27,711 posts)Last edited Fri Jan 13, 2012, 03:56 AM - Edit history (1)
Fired up! Ready to go!
bigtree
(85,996 posts)joshcryer
(62,270 posts)Expressly. It has nothing to do with reality based criticism. It's all about making people, the poor, downtrodden, stay home, not register, basically let the elites continue to walk all over them.
ellisonz
(27,711 posts)The media doesn't want to highlight anything good about the Democrats, so it its up Team Obama to lead the highlighting of our positions, otherwise we just get cast in the "Democrats aren't different" basket. This is all about message control. You don't control your messaging at your own peril with the obvious contingency that you get attacked and put on the defensive. IMHO the best defense is a good offense. We have to fight. We can't sit on our laurels, people want to hear what we are going to try and deliver in the next 4 years.
P.S. What you're describing, I call the Nader Fallacy. Worked against Gore good enough.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)Scurrilous
(38,687 posts)sufrommich
(22,871 posts)produce on DU crack me up.
Anyway, great news for us!! k&r.
CakeGrrl
(10,611 posts)"Obama bad" threads. A pattern here.
joshcryer
(62,270 posts)So they actually aren't seen.
politicasista
(14,128 posts)pampango
(24,692 posts)AnotherMcIntosh
(11,064 posts)In contrast to that, Ronald Reagan (the Republican President who crippled the air traffic controllers' union) signed the law giving amnesty to illegal aliens.
Reagan's amnesty program program did not raise the wages of the members of the UFW.
For those of us who favor union workers, let's hope that President Obama remembers the UFW's endorsement.
pampango
(24,692 posts)to citizenship as a means to deal with the presence of many illegal immigrants.
While the inflow has stopped, the 11 million who are here aren't going anywhere and have to be dealt with. Rather than keep them living in the shadows (with the exploitability that republicans love), the Progressive Caucus and organized labor including the UFW, support a path to citizenship as a component of comprehensive immigration reform. Repubs, of course, want no part of that and have blocked it in congress.
I, too, hope that Obama remembers the UFW's endorsement of comprehensive reform.
UFW members, farm workers turn out for Washington, D.C. rally for immigration reform
http://www.ufw.org/_board.php?mode=view&b_code=cre_leg_back&b_no=6042
The march, organized by the Reform Immigration FOR America national campaign, which includes the United Farm Workers, is pushing for comprehensive immigration reform legislation that would allow approximately 12 million undocumented immigrants to legalize their residency status in this country.
UFW President Arturo Rodriguez, who will be representing farm worker union members and will be a speaker at the Washington D.C. rally, said now more than ever a comprehensive U.S. immigration reform is key in helping rebuild our country and giving back American working families the prosperity and equality they deserve.
The current comprehensive immigration bill includes AgJOBS legislation, which would allow farm workers to earn the legal right to permanently stay in this country by continuing to work in agriculture. That is the aim of the UFWs landmark, broadly-backed AgJOBS bill negotiated by the union and the nations agricultural industry.
"The farm worker movement Cesar began is the root of the Latino political movement, he continued. Now we have a president, Barack Obama, whose own roots are like ours and whose presidential campaign was rooted in Cesar's grito, Si se puede! or Yes we can!
Zalatix
(8,994 posts)Did you mean he was opposed to illegal aliens being exploited for low wages and poor working conditions? That he wanted them to be afforded the same rights as everyone else?
FarLeftFist
(6,161 posts)ellisonz
(27,711 posts)I think Hilda Solis should be the keynote speaker at the DNC Convention.
Zalatix
(8,994 posts)[img][/img]