Obama spends day off wooing union activists in hometown

Sun Apr 20, 2008 2:06 PM EDT

politics, obama, barack-obama, john-mccain, hillary-rodham-clinton, democrat-barack-obama

Images

(showing 1 of 11 photos)

CHICAGO — How does Barack Obama spend a day off in his hometown? By urging hundreds of union activists to back his presidential bid in the final Democratic primaries.

That meant criticizing Republican presidential candidate John McCain, whom Obama accused of failing to offer "any meaningful change from the policies of George W. Bush."

"This is the most anti-labor administration in our memory," Obama told activists from the United Food and Commercial Workers union, which has endorsed him. "You and I share a vision for our country. We'll have a National Labor Relations Board that actually believes in unions."

Obama avoided mentioning his Democratic rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, by name. While contending that "we can be a party that exploits the divisions that exist in our country for pure political gain," he said he wouldn't follow that path.

The Illinois senator and Chicago resident had been scheduled to take a day off from campaigning. Instead, he said he decided to stop by the labor meeting to thank the activists for their support but also to warn them that he needs their help in looming contests.

"I have to ask you to keep on working and keep on fighting and keep on organizing," he said. "If I've got working families behind me, we'll not just win this nomination, we'll win the general election and we're going to change this country forever."

The pitch focused on a group that has given Obama trouble in recent primary contests — lower-income working families that have favored Clinton and were likely to play an important role in primaries in Indiana and North Carolina in two weeks. He lost last Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary to Clinton by nearly 10 percentage points.

He told the union activists, "It's good to be among friends and home at the same time."

The UFCW represents 1.3 million workers across the country, including many in meatpacking plants that have been targeted for raids seeking illegal immigrants. Obama vowed to press for "comprehensive immigration reform" that he said has been sidetracked by political infighting.

"We know that enforcement is not enough, that we need to fix our immigration system," Obama said, and he called the existing policy "nothing but scattershot immigration raids at meatpacking plants around the country."

"This election is our chance to finally stop playing politics with an issue as important as immigration reform," he said.

7 Votes
Enjoy this article? Help vote it up the 'Vine.

Published to:

Mike Glover's Column, All of Newsvine
Groups: none
Regions: United States , Lebanon , Philadelphia

Public Discussion (6)

What's this?

Who's leading the conversation?

This visualization below allows you to see the impact that each user has on the current conversation. The top row contains the group of users who have had the most impact, the 2nd row the group of users who have had the 2nd most impact (et cetera). Users with similar impact are grouped together, and the average score of the group is shown to the left of the group. The author of the article is also shown on the left, in their corresponding group. Each user's score is based on the number of comments the user has made plus the number of votes their comments have received. The scores are calculated relative one another, so while their absolute value is not particularly important, their relative difference does indicate a larger difference in impact on the conversation.

2.2

1.1

{"commentId":1714941,"authorDomain":"Strath3303"}

Strath3303

I feel like thats saying a kick in the shin is better than the crotch. It still hurts, its just the degree of pain.

{"commentId":1714941,"threadId":"253119","contentId":"1442310","authorDomain":"Strath3303"}

#1 - Sun Apr 20, 2008 8:02 PM EDT

{"commentId":1715124,"authorDomain":"bluecollarbytes"}

bluecollarbytes

It's hard out there for a Democrat, to admit anything positive about any Republican. Yeah there are plenty of Republicans who feel the same way about Democrats.

{"commentId":1715124,"threadId":"253119","contentId":"1442310","authorDomain":"bluecollarbytes"}

#2 - Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:19 PM EDT

{"commentId":1715131,"authorDomain":"Strath3303"}

Strath3303

Well, I will concede that McCain is better on some issues than Bush, but he is a continuation of the hallmarks of W: Iraq, Neo-con hawks in the WH, Tax cuts, Deficits, etc

{"commentId":1715131,"threadId":"253119","contentId":"1442310","authorDomain":"Strath3303"}

1 vote

#2.1 - Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:22 PM EDT

{"commentId":1715757,"authorDomain":"winsomecowboy"}

winsomecowboy

Wow that's set a new benchmark for damning with faint praise.

{"commentId":1715757,"threadId":"253119","contentId":"1442310","authorDomain":"winsomecowboy"}

2 votes

#3 - Mon Apr 21, 2008 2:50 AM EDT

{"commentId":1716895,"authorDomain":"miasma"}

miasma

By the same token, I have some dead pets that would be a better chief executive than George W. Bush.

{"commentId":1716895,"threadId":"253119","contentId":"1442310","authorDomain":"miasma"}

1 vote

#3.1 - Mon Apr 21, 2008 12:50 PM EDT

{"commentId":1717497,"authorDomain":"jdl-28"}

jdl-28

McCain would be the same as Bush and I do not want him in office period, he has not help the State Of Arizona sense he been in office. But I also do not like Obama or Clinton we need someone who help this country not tear it apart. All three of them want illegal to stay and more H1-b visa people coming in to take the American job, our wages have been going down and now we also will lose our jobs. As far as Capital Hill is concern they do not need us any more, they are making there money under the table from large corporation. Our country is done and so are we get use to being a poor third world country because of the people who sucker you to put them in office. As everyone state the American people are stupid and I must agree this time around, we have taken our kids future away.

{"commentId":1717497,"threadId":"253119","contentId":"1442310","authorDomain":"jdl-28"}

1 vote

#4 - Mon Apr 21, 2008 2:50 PM EDT

{"canLink":false,"threadId":"253119","isPrivate":false}

Defection of longtime superdelegate jolts Clinton	Associated Press	Thu Apr 24	6
President McCain? It could happen	New Statesman Contents	Sat Apr 19	0
Today on the presidential campaign trail	Associated Press	Thu Apr 24	0
Believing in Obama \| Wilkes-Barre latest headlines \| timesleader.com - The Times Leader	timesleader.com	Mon Apr 21	2
McCain Admits Hagee Endorsement Was A Mistake (but hangs onto it)	ABC News Blogs	Mon Apr 21	9

Backyard

Obama spends day off wooing union activists in hometown

Published to:

FUN STUFF:

COMPANY STUFF:

LEGAL STUFF: