Unions get out the vote...

Unions join in get-out-the-vote effort - Yahoo! News Unions join in get-out-the-vote effort By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN, Associated Press WriterSun Nov 5, 1:26 PM ET Victoria Cook moved to California last year and cannot vote in Michigan. That did not stop the labor organizer from returning to the state this fall to help turn out the union vote for Democratic candidates. Union votes were critical in helping Debbie Stabenow beat Republican Sen. Spencer Abraham by a single percentage point in 2000. With Stabenow up for re-election and Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm facing an opponent who has spent at least $35 million of his own money in the race, unions in Michigan are not leaving anything to chance. For union members such as 44-year-old Joel Gutzki, that means staffing a phone bank every day at Michigan AFL-CIO headquarters through Tuesday. Taking a few minutes away from his phone on a recent night, he said most union members he is reaching are very engaged in the election. "They're really enthusiastic when you call, which is not always the case," Gutzki said. He is a veteran of five other elections who works in Lansing for Local 1390 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Organized labor is spending close to $100 million nationally in its effort to reclaim its leading role in getting out the vote for candidates friendly to labor — usually Democrats. That effort includes the AFL-CIO's $42 million — the federation's largest election commitment — and millions more from member unions. AFSCME, for instance, is spending $33 million separate from the AFL-CIO investment. The ramped-up effort to contact union members and their families and encourage them to vote is especially evident in heavily unionized Michigan. Some 2,000 volunteers are working more than 260 phone lines making calls to union households in the final days of the campaign. Union volunteers also are walking door to door in three targeted legislative districts. Fliers were being handed out to workers at plants and construction sites urging them to vote Tuesday for union-supported candidates such as Granholm and Stabenow. Michigan's deep economic problems — worsened by the downward slide of U.S. automakers — could spell serious trouble for incumbents like Stabenow and Granholm, although the national anti-Republican trend has somewhat alleviated Democrats' worries. The low-profile Stabenow was seen as somewhat vulnerable against Republican Mike Bouchard, who got $849,205 in help from the National Republican Senatorial Committee last week. Republicans borrowed heavily in recent years from the union's successful get-out-the vote strategy, outperforming the unions and Democrats in 2002 and 2004 based on election results. But the unions are aiming to improve their performance in 2006 by borrowing some of the GOP's new techniques. Michigan GOP Chairman Saul Anuzis (R-Douchebag) said it is posing a challenge the Republican Party is having to work hard to meet. "There's no independent effort like that anywhere," he said of the union push. "They're jumping in and leaping over their traditional ways of doing it." The final phase of the national AFL-CIO program, focusing on four days through the election, started Saturday. About 100,000 union volunteers in Michigan and other states contacted voters, especially people who voted in the 2004 presidential election but not the 2002 races. Karen Ackerman, political director of the AFL-CIO, said the union effort would be turning out more voters than in 2004 because the unions are targeting twice as many states as in 2004 — 32 this time — and 175 races. Michigan AFL-CIO President Mark Gaffney said union polling has showed the extra effort is getting the union message out to members. In one recent poll, Granholm was doing well among union manufacturing households, but was losing among nonunion manufacturing households that had not been contacted by the AFL-CIO. This year marks the first national election since the labor movement split in two last year. Several of the largest unions — including the Teamsters and the Service Employees International Union — broke away from the AFL-CIO and formed their own federation in a dispute over money and priorities. Several of the breakaway unions are working with the AFL-CIO's get-out-the-vote operation. But the Teamsters — which is involved in various labor election activities — is not working directly with the AFL-CIO's national effort, said Gerald McEntee, president of AFSCME and chair of the AFL-CIO's political committee. Cook, a former president of the SEIU state council in Michigan who now works for the national AFL-CIO, worried it would be awkward trying to get the AFL-CIO and breakaway unions to work together in Michigan. But she said it has not been a problem. "No matter what's going on with the split, every single leader is out there working," said Cook, dressed in a bright red T-shirt proclaiming "Labor 2006 — We Have the Power." This year, the unions will focus more on all the voters in union households, instead of focusing heavily on just union members. Unions also are doing more specific targeting of voters — another strategy used by the GOP, McEntee said. "By the next election," he said, "the Republicans will be learning from us again." ___ Associated Press writer Will Lester in Washington contributed to this report. Prediction: Granholm:53% Amway Dick:47% Stabenow: 60% Bouchard:40% Prop 2: NO 51%( Send a thank you card to Detroit) Yes:49 Prop 3: N0: 70% Yes 30%