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<DIV><FONT face=Arial><SPAN class=bckt_bld_sm>BLOG</SPAN> | <SPAN
class=bckt_ital>Posted 08/08/2007 @ 09:51am</SPAN></FONT></DIV></TD></TR>
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<H1 class=blg_hdln_rd><FONT face=Arial>Kucinich Helps the AFL-CIO Prove a
Point</FONT></H1></TD></TR>
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<TD class=bckt_bld_sm align=left><FONT face=Arial>John Nichols<SPAN
class=109414320-19082007> (see
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<P><FONT face=Arial>When the AFL-CIO organized a presidential debate at
Chicago's Soldier Field, leaders of the labor federation quietly went out
of their way to make sure that Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich would be
on the stage. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>While some debate organizers have talked about
excluding so-called "lesser" candidates -- those like Kucinich with low
poll numbers and small bank accounts -- from the debates, the AFL-CIO
wanted progressive populist from Cleveland front and center Tuesday night.
Why? Because leaders of the labor organization recognize the importance of
candidates who stand on principle rather than merely engage in political
calculations. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>They also recognize that Kucinich's determination to
express his principles -- which happen to parallel those of labor
activists on worker rights, health and safety concerns and, above all,
trade policy -- would put frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and
John Edwards on the spot. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>The senators from New York and Illinois and the former
senator from North Carolina have shaky records on a host of issues that of
high priorities for union members. Clinton close ties to Wall Street and
have led her to support much of the free-trade agenda favored by
multinational corporations -- a fact highlighted by Edwards when he
referenced a recent feature in a financial magazine on Clinton's appeal to
big business by saying, "You will never see a picture of me on the front
of Fortune magazine saying I am the candidate that big corporate America
is betting on." </FONT>
<P><FONT face=Arial>Edwards may be "the angry populist" now. But he has
not always been on labor side. Edwards -- who supported North Carolina's
anti-union "Right-to-Work" law when he ran for the Senate in 1998 -- broke
with the AFL-CIO to cast several key votes in favor of the Bill Clinton
administration's free-trade agenda when he served in the Senate.
</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>Kucinich, a longtime union member who has maintained a
100 percent AFL-CIO ranking during his years in Congress, broke with
Clinton to side with labor on those critical votes. In fact, he's often
been more aggressive than union leaders when it comes to challenging trade
pacts that are stacked against workers, communities and the environment in
the U.S. and abroad. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>On Tuesday night, Kucinich wowed the crowd of 15,000
union activists in Chicago when he promised to use a little-known
provision in the North American Free Trade Agreement to pull the U.S. out
of the deal. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>"In my first week in office, I will notify Mexico and
Canada that the United States is withdrawing from NAFTA," declared
Kucinich. "I will notify the WTO, that the United States is withdrawing
from the WTO." </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>As the applause rose from a rumble to a thunderous
roar, Kucinich shouted, "How about it America? Do you want out of NAFTA?
Do you want out of the WTO? Listen to the workers of America, let them
hear from you!" </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>It was the most rousing moment of the night, perhaps
of all the Democratic debates up to this point. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>Kucinich did exactly what the AFL-CIO's leadership had
hoped he would. He showed the most cautious frontrunners -- all of whom
continue to back NAFTA, albeit with apologies and calls for reform -- just
how much enthusiasm there is for a radical shift from the misguided trade
policies of Bill Clinton and George Bush. That's a lesson that 2004
Democratic nominee John Kerry never really got, to the detriment of his
bid for blue-collar votes that year. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>None of this is meant to suggest that Kucinich will
win any official endorsements from the individual unions of the American
Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations, which as of this
week are formally freed by the federation to start picking their favorite
contenders. Labor organizations tends to go with perceived winners rather
than allies who are trailing. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>But on Tuesday night, Kucinich won the hearty applause
of one of the largest crowds ever to listen to a presidential debate. And
he earned high marks from analysts like Hotline's Chuck Todd, who says the
AFL-CIO forum was: "Easily (Kucinich's) best debate." </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>He also proved the vital importance of including
non-frontrunners in presidential debates that, without candidates like
Democrat Kucinich and Republican Ron Paul, would be a lot shorter on ideas
and a lot longer on empty political positioning. </FONT></P>
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