This morning, Barack Obama spoke to the Building Trades Legislative Conference in Washington. In his remarks, he offered an unmitigated defense of unions, attacked his opponents for their hesitancy to support unions, and went so far to accuse the Bush administration of making it harder for working people to get ahead. Money quote:
It’s not just that this administration hasn’t been fighting for you; they’ve actually tried to stop you from fighting for yourselves. This is the most anti-labor administration in our memory. They don’t believe in unions. They don’t believe in organizing. They’ve packed the labor relations board with their corporate buddies. Well, we’ve got news for them – it’s not the Department of Management, it’s the Department of Labor, and we’re here to take it back. That’s why I’m running for President of the United States of America.
More from the prepared remarks below, via The Page:
Obama's description of the past 7 years in a nutshell:
But we know that for the past seven and a half years, we’ve had a whole different philosophy in the White House. They call it the ownership society – but what it means is you’re on your own. You’re a worker who’s been laid off from a job? Tough luck, you’re on your own. You’re a single mom trying to find health care for your kids? Tough luck, you’re on your own. You’re a senior whose pension got dumped after a lifetime of hard work? Tough luck, you’re on your own.
Of course, John McCain wants to continue this trend, and that's exactly the point Obama makes:
Now, John McCain seems to think the Bush years have been pretty good because he’s offering more of the same. And today’s a good reminder of that because it’s Tax Day. This is supposed to be a day when we pay what we owe to the government. But it’s become a day when George Bush’s Washington rewards its friends on Wall Street.
and
So I respect Senator McCain. And I honor his service to this nation. But I don’t think America can afford four more years of the failed Bush policies, and that’s what he’s offering. We need to roll back the Bush-McCain tax cuts and invest in things like health care that are really important.
Did you catch that? They're now the Bush-McCain tax cuts. Branding matters, and repeating that over and over is a good idea.
And he makes the point that the Democrats need to be more outspoken in support of unions (are you listening Hillary?):
It’s time we had a President who didn’t choke saying the word "union." It’s time we had a Democratic nominee who didn’t choke saying the word "union." We need to strengthen our unions by letting them do what they do best – organize our workers. If a majority of workers want a union, they should get a union. And that is why I’ll fight for and why I intend to sign the Employee Free Choice Act when it lands on my desk in the White House.
There is much more and I encourage you all to read it for yourselves. If there were any doubt that Obama is the progressive candidate for working people, this should wipe that away.
Barack Obama is loudly, proudly, and boldly declaring himself the candidate for unions and for working people. Let's hope Americans hear that call.