Newbie: Obama won HUGE with UNIONS today but can someone explain it to me...

[quantass]

I am new to politics and so i apologize for this silly question. Today, i heard that Obama won the support of a very large union whom umbrellas a large # of people across America, but i am curious, how does this translate to votes in the end? Are these union workers obligated to go out and select Obama during voting day? How does this Union inform their workers that they must all support Obama, do they just put up fliers and send out emails and if the workers want to go out and suport then so be it otherwise do whatever you want?

I gather, by a large union supporting a candidate it gives those workers a decisive voice on who they "could" vote for since they, as workers, may not know, or care for, the nitty-gritty specifics of how it benefits them in the end and so with the Union entity putting their weight behind a candidate these workers can feel more assured when going out to vote that this candidate is the best choice for them (because the company says so)...but they, as workers, don't necessarily have to vote that way... Is this a correct assumption?

Wow, this Obama fellow is becoming quite the beacon of popularity. He seems genuinely obsessed to need to make a mark as an amazing president! He's unique, i give him that! My vote would be for him if i was American too.

Thanks everyone.

[Stephanie]

1. The union members can vote any way they'd like.

The union can assist the campaign with resources - donations, volunteers, office space, phone center operations - in short, they will lend their organization to the campaign. The members will know who their union endorsed and why, and of course it will influence their opinions, but, this being America, they are free to vote however they wish.

[billyoc]

2. I'm a union delegate in NYC, we don't even bother asking our members who they're voting for.

The advantage of union endorsements for any candidate is the massive ground game that unions provide. Our members will stand out in the poring rain all day canvassing, leafleting, polling, whatever, for free. And we are *STAMPEDED* with volunteers as soon as we make an endorsement, it's really quite something to see. :)

[elixir]

3. Obama contributes the most to superdelegates campaigns, courting their vote

Obama: $695,000
Clinton:$200,000

[democrattotheend]

5. He helped Democrats get re-elected in 2006, while Clinton burned $30 million

on her own re-election campaign, where she had token opposition. Those figures above represent money his PAC gave or raised for candidates while they were running for Congress, not money he is giving them now to buy votes.

[democrattotheend]

4. Mail, phones, canvassing, other grassroots efforts

What makes the labor program really effective is that members take advice from their union more seriously than other types of political communication. I went door-to-door with the labor movement in Northern Virginia in 2007, and was amazed at how much more receptive people were to talking to me once I said I was a fellow union member.

I don't know if SEIU and the other unions that have recently endorsed Obama will have time to put together a full-scale program before March 4, but if they do mail or phones or walks it could be effective. The union endorsement in itself may not mean that much - it's what they do for their endorsed candidates that matters.

Disclaimer: I work in labor, and my union is officially neutral in the presidential race. Nothing I say here should be construed as an endorsement of Obama or anything other than my own two-sense.

[goodhue]

6. SEIU has many organizers that work hard to turn out the vote

You will know them by their purple shirts