One of the things you hear is that Donald Trump is supposed to win over union members by pretending he cares about trade and American jobs. But unions aren’t having it. Last month, the AFL-CIO announced that Trump’s support was dropping and that in Ohio, he was behind Mitt Romney where union members are concerned. Now, SEIU is releasing polling showing Trump at rock bottom among its members:
According to a member poll conducted by the nearly 2 million-member Service Employees International Union last month and provided to POLITICO, Trump’s support among the group was 17 percent — 51 points behind Hillary Clinton, far lower than even Jeb Bush’s 24 percent in the spring, and behind both Mitt Romney and John McCain during their presidential bids.
Significantly, SEIU is majority women and majority people of color. The union isn’t letting it rest with Trump just polling badly, though. It’s planning a major election effort:
On the volunteer side alone, it had 8,400 canvassers on the ground over the weekend of Sept. 10, nearly 3,500 last weekend, and roughly 1,000 rolling through Pennsylvania, Florida, and New Hampshire every weekend. Now, on Saturday, it will be ramping up by expanding that volunteer program to Colorado, Nevada, Michigan, and Ohio, while the group works to mobilize Hispanics through canvases and phone banking in Los Angeles, Fresno, Denver, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Houston, Orlando, Chicago, Phoenix, and Tucson.
Part of the SEIU's offensive has involved investing in Latino-focused digital ads and partnering with iAmerica to air 30-second Spanish language anti-Trump TV ads in Nevada and Florida pegged to his immigration policy. Much of its focus, however, is on the independent expenditure canvassing program: it is aiming to make three stops at over one million doors in Pennsylvania, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, and Virginia, according to data provided to POLITICO.
That should help put a few more nails in Trump’s coffin, as well as mobilizing voters who can help Democrats retake the Senate—and maybe even the House.
Do you live in a state that will determine the presidential race and/or who controls the Senate? Click here to sign up with Working America to get involved in crucial door-to-door canvasses and phone banks.