By all accounts--even those of a sometimes befuddled MSM--Yearly Kos was a rousing success: Something's happening here, even if what it is ain't exactly clear.
But attendees who laughed about the Las Vegas ambience-cheap rooms, lots of gambing, absurd half-sized Eiffel Tower--missed the most significant thing about their host city: Las Vegas is the most powerful union city in country, and, not coincidentally, the fastest growing city in the country.
The Culinary workers local union, an affiliate of UNITE HERE, the hotel, gaming, and clothing workers national union, has organized 90% of the famous Las Vegas Strip. A Latino hotel maid can live a middle class life, own a home, have full health insurance benefits and a pension because she's union. The labor struggle and triumph in Las Vegas has transformed working people's lives and the city they live in, triggered a housing boom, put the worker's chosen institution on par with Fortune 500 mega-corporations. It's an inspiring story wrought from a seemingly tawdry town.
But the Yearly Kos crown would also be interested to know that the Culinary Union saved star guest "Give 'em Hell" Harry Reid's butt in 1998, when he was reelected by just a few hundred votes. It is, by far, the most powerful political force in the Nevada Democratic party and the reason, too, that John Kerry came within 2% of winning Nevada in 2004.
So now let's step back from Nevada and look at the entire country. Union households accounted for 24% of the vote nationwide. In key states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, the number is much higher--it's over 40% in Michigan, for example. Granholm can't hold onto the statehouse in Michigan without the labor movement. Sherrod Brown--who, despite all the controversy about his nomination, will be one of the most progressive Senators in the country if he's elected--can't win in Ohio without the labor movement.
There will be other entries along these lines soon, but my point to all of you is this: The superb Nathan Newman mentioned on this site the disappointing attendance at labor events last weekend. But you'll have many other chances, so maybe you ought to find out a little bit about the labor movement. When it was strong, this country elected FDR. If it doesn't grow again, we will continue to elect Bush and worse.
No strong labor movement, no strong Democratic party, no strong, progressive movement in this country--it's as axiomatic as the sun rising in the morning.
One factoid to leave you with: White, non-college educated men in unions vote Democratic at 20% higher rates than do non-unionized white men. Kerry and Gore both lost this group by about 30%. You do the math.