Exclusive: U.S. labor powerhouse to launch anti-Trump ad campaign

[Miles Archer]

Source: Reuters

The AFL-CIO, the largest U.S. federation of labor unions, will launch digital attack ads targeting Republican front-runner Donald Trump next week as part of a multi-pronged effort to derail the New York billionaire’s bid for the White House and dampen union workers' enthusiasm for him.

Officials at the AFL-CIO, an umbrella group of 56 unions representing 12.5 million workers, told Reuters the ads will depict Trump as anti-union, and will appear on Facebook and Twitter.

The officials said the anti-Trump advertising effort would likely expand over the coming months. At the same time, an AFL-CIO affiliate organization will ramp up a door-to-door campaign to undermine the candidate in Ohio and Pennsylvania, key battleground states in the Nov. 8 presidential election.

"Donald Trump has tapped into the very real and understandable anger of working people. But while he says he's with America's working people, when you look close, it's just hot air," AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka told Reuters. "Donald Trump is nothing but a house of cards, and once we educate people, the house of cards comes crashing down," he said.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-unions-exclusive-idUSMTZSAPEC3BVV3QJO

[underpants]

1. H1-B visas? Use 'em, have to they're there, bad for workers

And other actual nonsense from last night

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027673489

[pampango]

2. "Donald Trump's bigoted comments are bad enough. Now, he supports right to work. Tell him right to

work is wrong for working people."

The AFL-CIO typically waits to endorse a presidential candidate until there is a de facto Democratic nominee. But Trumka, a former coal miner and leader of that union, has made clear he believes Trump in particular would be a disastrous candidate for workers. In a speech last week he called him a "bigot" and "anti-American."

Trump has been widely criticized for describing Mexican illegal immigrants as rapists and criminals, and for proposing a temporary ban on Muslims seeking to come to the United States.

There are some signs Trump's message is resonating beyond the 20 to 30 percent of rank-and-file union members that vote Republican, attracting political independents and even some frustrated Democrats.

Labor strategist Steve Rosenthal said that in every presidential election there is a sense that white, working-class union men could desert the Democratic Party. "But I think when all is said and done, when unions put their programs into gear, in person and one-on-one in homes and in their communities, union members will vote overwhelmingly for the Democratic nominee," Rosenthal said.

[Trust Buster]

3. I think this is a foolish move. I want Trump.

Let him win the nomination and then attack.

[democrattotheend]

4. That's what I initially thought, but my mom convinced me otherwise

She pointed out that Cruz is a lot less appealing than Trump and crazy, and thus would be an even worse candidate for the Republicans than Trump.