At a late-night rally held in Kissimmee, Florida, on Wednesday, former President Bill Clinton offered strong words of support for the Democratic presidential nominee: “Barack Obama represents America’s future, and you’ve got to be there for him next Tuesday.”

Clinton spelled out his reasons for supporting Barack Obama, and urged the crowd of over 35,000 not just to vote but to help convince anyone still on the fence why they should support the Democratic ticket.

“If you make the decision based on who can best get us out of the ditch, who’s got the best philosophy, the best positions, the best ability and the best judgment, I think it’s clear. The next President of the United States should be – and with your help, will be – Senator Barack Obama.”

The rally was the first joint appearance of the campaign for Pres. Clinton and Sen. Obama, and offered another stark reminder of the need for leadership in Washington. “In case all of you forgot,” said Obama as he took the microphone, “this is what it’s like to have such a great president.”

Watch video of the entire event:

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The Employee Free Choice Act will help restore workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life. And John McCain says he would veto it “in a New York minute.”

In a CNBC interview on Tuesday, McCain said it would be “very, very, very unfortunate” if this legislation were passed.

“The way that Senator Obama envisions — and the unions, and this is their big push, they’ve gotten commitments from Senator Obama and Senator Biden — union organizer goes to your house and says, Hey, Joe, can I sign you up for the union?

“That is — we all know what that opens the door to. It’s dangerous for America, it’s dangerous to small business. And I think it’s a threat to one of the fundamentals of democracy.”

Yes, Senator McCain, we all know what would happen next: better wages, benefits and working conditions. Quality, affordable health care for all. Retirement security. Improved public education and affordable higher education. The list goes on.

Barack Obama is a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act and will work with the Congress to pass this important legislation. Take this opportunity to sign AFSCME’s petition, and be sure to vote for the candidate who will support working families.

Read more on the AFL-CIO Now blog and at Think Progress.

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This entry by AFSCME President Gerald McEntee was originally posted on The Huffington Post.

When news outlets report job losses and unemployment, it’s easy for us to focus on abstractions. Especially when we are talking about the impact of George W. Bush’s failed economic and trade policies, because the numbers are huge. But it’s not about numbers – it’s about how the poor economy plays out for actual workers and their families. Consider what’s happening at Cooper Tires, a 90-year-old company based in Findlay, Ohio.

Cooper Tires recently announced that it’s likely to close one of four manufacturing plants in Findlay; Texarkana, Arkansas; Tupelo, Mississippi; or Albany, Georgia, due to “surplus capacity.” Bottom line: Per corporate execs, the company’s profits aren’t high enough, so they’ll shut down one plant and get more work out of the ones that remain. And here’s the kicker: Cooper will decide by December 1 which plant to close based on which cities offer it the best deal of tax breaks and other incentives to stay.

The economy has no doubt affected Cooper Tires’ sales. But tough times call for creative solutions, not this. No company should force communities to compete over who’s going to keep good jobs that working people need. We should be working together to make America more competitive so that we all win, not forcing communities to vie for a piece of the dwindling pie.

What Cooper is doing to its employees is insulting – and heartless. Imagine working for Cooper and waiting to find out whether your plant will close in a few weeks. The holidays are right around the corner and you don’t know whether you’ll be standing on the production line or the unemployment line in the new year. The worry is hard enough and the reality is so much worse. That’s just not fair to the men and women who have stood with the company in good times and bad during its 90 years in business.

I wish I could say that Cooper Tires is an anomaly, but they’re not. During the Bush years, too many companies have gotten the green light to disrespect workers and ship jobs overseas, or force communities to dig deep to give tax breaks. Often the tax breaks entice the company for a year or two, and then they close their doors anyway.

In Ohio, 240,000 jobs have disappeared since 2001. Joe Rugola, an AFSCME International vice president and president of the Ohio AFL-CIO, has been on a 300-mile “Road to Economic Recovery” walk across his state to spotlight how hard hit Ohio’s families have been during the Bush years. Our union called attention to Joe’s walk in an ad we placed last week in USA Today, and I was proud to join Joe on his journey yesterday in Findlay, where we also talked with reporters about the impact of Cooper’s possible closing.

Joe is reminding us that when a plant closes down, it hurts real people and the victims are our family members, friends and neighbors. And he’s also reminding us that this election is not about politics – it’s about priorities. We’ve had a President with the wrong priorities for eight years. We need a President who will stand with the workers who build this country at home and fight for it abroad.

It’s time for a President who’s committed to America’s working families, who will fight to rebuild the middle class, and who won’t stand for communities being devastated by plant closings and workers being treated this way.

It’s time for workers and their families to come first.

After two terms of George W. Bush’s failed leadership, nobody is wondering whether America is better off now than we were four – or eight – years ago. In his closing argument speech yesterday in Canton, Ohio, Barack Obama asked the real question: “Will this country be better off four years from now?”

In addition to laying out his plan to undo the damage done by Bush’s disastrous policies, Obama called for an end to the divisive politics which pit us against each other.

“In one week, we can choose an economy that rewards work and creates new jobs and fuels prosperity from the bottom-up.

“In one week, we can choose to invest in health care for our families, and education for our kids, and renewable energy for our future.

“In one week, we can choose hope over fear, unity over division, the promise of change over the power of the status quo.

“In one week, we can come together as one nation, and one people, and once more choose our better history.”

Watch a portion of the speech below:

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Union members are having a big impact in this election, and it’s being noticed. A CNN report on the “Virginia ground war” looks at the efforts of the Labor 2008 mobilization program which involves more union members and is reaching more voters than ever before.

In a video clip posted on the Pennsylvania Labor 2008 Blog, AFSCME President Gerald McEntee emphasized that this election is really all about working families – which is why getting involved is so crucial:

“So I couldn’t express it any more urgently that it is so important for members to get out and worksite leaflet, participate in labor walks, participate in phone banks, do the local union mailings. Only with that kind of effort, and it has to be a great effort, are we going to win this election and turn America around for working people.”

Read more about efforts in Pennsylvania, Colorado and Ohio on the AFL-CIO Now blog, and visit the AFL-CIO’s Working Families Vote 2008 website to find member-to-member walks and phone banking opportunities. Just type in your zip code to get a list of activities taking place near you between now and Election Day.

Watch the CNN report below:

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This ad appeared in Tuesday’s USA Today.

AFSCME International Vice President and Ohio AFL-CIO President Joe Rugola continues to call attention to the devastating effects of the Bush-McCain economic policies in his state – one step at a time. This week, Rugola set out on the second leg of his 300-mile “Road to Recovery” walk which is taking him to shuttered plants and factories where more than 180,000 jobs have been lost over the last eight years.

A full-page ad sponsored by AFSCME appeared in Tuesday’s USA Today, highlighting the walk and the need for new leadership in the White House to fix the economy and rebuild the middle class.

On Wednesday, the tour stopped at Meridian Automotive Systems in Jackson, Ohio, where union members were locked out in 2006 and many saw their jobs moved out of the country. Rugola talked about what he’s seen and why he’s determined to keep walking.

What we’ve seen is more small towns and more cities that have been devastated by these plant and mine closings, and it just makes us more determined to keep going. Hopefully we can influence a few votes for November 4th, get people thinking about the fact that we need to change direction in this country and that Barack Obama gives us the best chance to do that.

Watch a video clip from yesterday’s walk on YouTube, and read more on the AFL-CIO Now blog and the Buckeye State Blog. For continued updates on the journey, visit the Ohio AFL-CIO website.

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Colin Powell, who supported John McCain in the 2000 Republican primaries, announced this past weekend that he will break with his party and support Barack Obama for president. Despite their shared military service and a long personal friendship, the former secretary of state and retired four-star general said he was concerned by McCain’s unsteady response to the current economic crisis and disappointed by the negative turn the Republican’s campaign has taken.

Powell is joined by other veterans in his support for Obama, including the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) which has given McCain a “D” for his votes on veterans’ issues. Earlier this year, McCain even sided with George Bush and opposed the new G.I. Bill which expanded education benefits for veterans and their families.

In this latest ad, featured today on NationalJournal.com’s Ad Spotlight, veterans talk about McCain’s record – and why veterans shouldn’t vote for him this November.

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The Social Security Administration announced Thursday that Social Security benefits are set to jump by 5.8 percent next year, the largest increase in more than 25 years. But if George Bush and John McCain had implemented their plan to privatize Social Security and put our hard-earned money into risky private accounts on Wall Street, seniors would be seeing a massive reduction in their benefits instead.

As this ad explains, putting John McCain and Wall Street speculators in control of Social Security is a gamble Americans just can’t afford to take.

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AFSCME President Gerald McEntee appeared on CNN Tuesday afternoon to discuss a concerted effort by the labor movement to counteract reluctance by some voters to support Barack Obama because of the color of his skin.

“It’s kind of an anxiety that sits out there. It’s a brand new experience for [many voters] and it has to be overcome by education.”

Americans can’t afford to let smears, rumors and fear-mongering to distract them from the real issues which are at stake in this election – like John McCain’s plans to privatize Social Security, tax health care benefits for the first time ever and make permanent Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy. A vote for Barack Obama is a vote for working families, for revitalizing the middle class and restoring the American dream.

McEntee’s interview was a follow-up to an earlier report by CNN’s John King which can be viewed online here:

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While in Pennsylvania yesterday campaigning for the Obama-Biden ticket, Hillary Clinton rewrote the Republicans’ favorite “Drill, baby, drill!” chant to reflect what Americans need right now: “Jobs, baby, jobs!”

That was the message Barack Obama delivered as he outlined an economic plan that “begins with one word that’s on everyone’s mind, and it’s spelled J-O-B-S.” Building on his previous proposals, the plan will go a long way toward helping the middle class, creating jobs, keeping people in their homes and providing help to struggling communities.

Obama’s specific proposals include:

• A $3,000 tax credit to companies for each new job they create over the next two years.
• New legislation to allow families to withdraw 15% of their retirement savings without facing tax penalties.
• A 90-day moratorium on foreclosures for any homeowners making good-faith efforts to pay their mortgages.
• The creation of a Federal Reserve and Treasury program to lend to states and cities with fiscal problems.

Also included in Obama’s plan: eliminating income taxes on unemployment benefits, doubling loan guarantees to American automakers, and pushing the Treasury Dept. to unfreeze the markets for mortgages, car loans, student loans and credit card loans.

After several days of confusion and mixed messages from his campaign, John McCain unveiled his own economic proposals today. His plan focuses on cutting taxes for the wealthy, accelerating tax write-offs for bad investments and reducing the capital gains tax. McCain offers no tax cuts for middle class income or investments, doesn’t encourage the creation of new jobs and does nothing to help cash-strapped states and municipalities.

Maybe that’s why new Quinnipiac polls of four battleground states released today show voters have overwhelmingly rejected McCain’s approach to the economy. Less than one in four polled think McCain has “shown effective leadership” in dealing with the financial crisis.

Barack Obama, on the other hand, has continued to demonstrate the steady leadership we need, and his solutions will help restore America’s economic prosperity. Many of Obama’s proposals can be put into place right now under the existing bailout or through new emergency legislation – and they will all be implemented when Barack Obama is our next president.

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