Union Power -- More Than Meets The Eye

Organized labor is in the mail, on the airwaves and on the streets for Obama and other Democratic candidates. And there's even more union activity underneath the surface. Besides their own ads and massive get-out-the-vote campaigns, which we detail below, unions are bankrolling the attack ads of several other advocacy organizations.

Here are some new disclosures:

Latest Campaign Boogeyman: China

Maybe "McChina" would have sounded better. Reaching back to the 1970s for its rhetoric, a Kentucky-based labor group is sounding the alarm that John McCain and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are selling us out to "Communist China."

A radio ad from a 527 group called Truth From American Workers features the voice of Chris Sanders, general counsel of United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 227. "Wall Street's in trouble because George Bush and Mitch McConnell pulled the regulators off Wall Street so the tycoons there could speculate, with our money," he says. "And we're deep in debt, again, to Communist China no less."

Three other radio spots imitate the quick-fire babble of an auctioneer who is auctioning off U.S. manufacturing jobs and government debt. China is the top bidder. In Ohio and Indiana, the ads blame McCain: "Tell John McCain to stop sending our jobs and our dollars to China. We need them around here." In Kentucky, a different version of the ad blames McConnell. Listen to all four ads here.

Truth From American Workers' treasurer is Larry Fox, another official from Local 227. The group's leadership also includes representatives from the United Mine Workers and a Teamsters Union local, but UFCW seems to be the overriding connection. UFCW and its locals gave the group $170,000, more than any other entity so far.

The group used to be called Working Families for Kentucky, but changed its name in September. Funny thing about that: Working Families for Kentucky was formed -- just last year -- to oppose Bruce Lunsford in the Democratic primary for governor. Lunsford did end up losing that primary, and you might recognize his name. He's the Democratic challenger to McConnell, the guy the unions now want to unseat.

For old times' sake, here's the anti-Lunsford ad the group produced in 2007. You won't see it on TV in Kentucky.

-- Will Evans

3:36 PM ET | 10-28-2008 | permalink

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Pitting Women Against McCain

The battle for women voters continues.

Seeking to drive a wedge between women and the McCain-Palin ticket, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union launched an ad today portraying McCain as a foe of equal pay for female workers.

The ad shows women from various occupations, telling viewers that they make less money than men. It cites pay discrimination at Wal-Mart, since the ad is run under the banner of the union's "Wake Up Wal-Mart" campaign. What's McCain have to do with this? "He sided with corporate lobbyists against equal pay," the voiceover says. "Tell John McCain we can't afford it any longer."

(The fact-checkers at Politifact.org note that McCain says he supports equal pay for women.)

The ad is running in Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington D.C. It goes nicely with radio ads by People for the American Way, which also cast McCain as unfriendly to equal pay. Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood is using a different issue -- violence against women -- to deter female support for McCain-Palin.

It's not an accident that the union's ad came out on the day of a debate featuring the GOP's first female vice presidential nominee.

-- Will Evans

8:15 PM ET | 10- 2-2008 | permalink

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Union Casts McCain As Guardian Of Wal-Mart Profits

Just as John McCain tries to make his case to the working-class families of swing states like Michigan, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union has unleashed a new ad casting him as the champion of corporate giveaways.

The ad targets McCain's plan for corporate tax breaks, saying Wal-Mart will net $1.5 billion. It concludes "More Bush-style corporate tax breaks. That's John McCain's solution for America's economy. But isn't that part of the problem?"

The ad will air in Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. It's part of the union's WakeUpWalMart.com campaign.

UFCW, which claims 1.3 million members, also helps fund Patriot Majority, which is going after Republicans in congressional races. In 2007, the union gave $70,000 to American Rights At Work, which is currently running ads against vulnerable Republican senators.

Also in 2007, the union gave $275,000 to America's Agenda: Health Care for All, which has a spin-off praising Democrats and Republicans in ads around the country.

-- Will Evans

1:20 PM ET | 09-18-2008 | permalink

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Union-Pharmaceutical Coalition Praises Democrats

Update 9/16/08: Here's a new twist on this campaign. America's Agenda also has cookie-cutter ads up supporting the Republican incumbent senators in Oregon and Maine. Union-funded groups have run ads to help Democrats beat those incumbents, but here you have unions joining in a coalition to help the Republicans. We're perplexed.

A new advocacy group, run by union leaders and the pharmaceutical industry, is running ads praising Democrats in hot Senate races for supporting a children's health insurance program.

The group, America's Agenda: Health Care for Kids, gives a boost to Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), the only endangered Democrat incumbent in the Senate, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Rep. Mark Udall (D-CO), who is running for Senate. The ads praise all three for voting to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which passed Congress but was vetoed by President Bush.

America's Agenda: Health Care for Kids is a nonprofit organization incorporated in August, dedicated to reauthorizing SCHIP. (It's a spin-off of America's Agenda: Health Care for All.) Its president is Doug Dority, who used to lead the United Food and Commercial Workers union. John Flynn, president of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, is on the board.

A bit more odd is that an executive from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America is also on the board -- and that the group so far is entirely funded by a multi-million dollar contribution from PhRMA. The prescription drug industry certainly supports SCHIP, but it isn't really known for helping elect Democrats.

The strange-bedfellows coalition is reminiscent of Divided We Fail, an advocacy campaign run by business associations, a union and AARP. But this ad campaign looks a lot more oriented toward helping specific candidates.

It's one thing to support incumbents like Landrieu and Lautenberg. But why drop into a hotly contested Senate race like Colorado's? Let us know if you figure it out.

-- Will Evans

6:19 PM ET | 09-15-2008 | permalink

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Big Union Money Behind New Hampshire Ad

UPDATE: It keeps coming. Patriot Majority Midwest just reported receiving $2.18 million from AFSCME. Also disclosed: $650,000 worth of ads against Republican candidates for Congress.

The beauty of 527 organizations is that they can raise unlimited amounts of cash in huge chunks. Let longtime Democratic operative Craig Varoga demonstrate how....

Varoga's group, Patriot Majority, just filed new disclosures showing that its recent ad attacking Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) was funded by some big names with big money.

In July and August, the 527 received $1.2 million from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; $500,000 from the Change to Win labor federation (which is spearheaded by the Service Employees International Union); and $125,000 from the United Food and Commercial Workers union, according to the filings.

That's more than enough for the $700,000 anti-Sununu ad buy. Who's next on the target list?

-- Will Evans

6:17 PM ET | 09- 9-2008 | permalink

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