The Hill: Organized labor aids Obama in Ohio

[Omaha Steve]

http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/organized-labor-aids-obama-in-ohio-2008-11-04.html

By Michael O'Brien
Posted: 11/04/08 04:25 PM

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has relied on union support to get out the vote in the crucial swing state of Ohio during the final hours of the election.

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is claiming credit for running Sen. Obama’s (Ill.) ground game in major footholds throughout the state that proved decisive in President Bush’s victory over Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in 2004.

“We’re taking turf from the campaign and running it for ourselves,” said spokesman Marcus Mrowka. “We’re pretty much driving turnout and handling all the volunteers in all the precincts in these cities.”

Between the cities of Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo, Dayton, Lorain, Akron and Youngstown, the union has employed more than 200 full-time employees, who, with volunteers, have knocked on over 560,000 doors and made over 71,000 phone calls, Mrowka said.

SEIU is one of the nation’s largest unions and includes more than a million healthcare workers, but it is hardly the only union investing resources on behalf of Obama and other Democratic candidates.

“We’re in more states than we’ve ever been in before,” said Steve Smith, a spokesman for the AFL-CIO. “We’ve got the largest get-out-the-vote operation we’ve ever had this year.”

FULL story at link.