The weather was gray and wet — not ideal for knocking on doors and passing out literature.
For Democrats, the news on the day after Labor Day was equally dismal — full of predictions of a Republican “wave” in November and a Democratic “enthusiasm gap.”
Nevertheless, several dozen blue-collar union members gathered Tuesday at the Firefighters Local 452 hall in Vancouver to hear encouraging words from a line-up of Democratic candidates, chow down on hot dogs, then head out to canvass labor-friendly homes for future get-out-the-vote calls.
Job creation was the topic on everyone’s mind.
“I’m going to put my shoulder to the wheel to get job creation going,” vowed Denny Heck, business entrepreneur and Democratic candidate for the 3rd Congressional District. “Jobs are the civil rights issue of our time.”
Heck called for extending unemployment benefits, eliminating tax breaks for companies that export jobs, and restoring the nation’s manufacturing sector.
Stakes are high in Washington’s 3rd, which has been ranked the No. 1 House race in the country by MSNBC, Heck said. “You all were incredibly helpful in the primary,” he said. “We have 56 days to go from today.” Without mobilization of Democratic voters, he said, “you could wake up on Wednesday (after Election Day) and have someone who sounds a lot like Linda Smith.”
The comment was a reference to his Republican opponent, Rep. Jaime Herrera, who volunteered in Smith’s successful 1994 campaign for the 3rd District seat.
Dennis Kampe, the Democratic candidate for the open 18th Legislative District seat and the director of the Clark County Skills Center, recited his labor credentials and called for “a family wage job for everyone. “
Rep. Tim Probst, a workforce development professional who is running for a second term in the 17th District, told his audience that they hold the long-term answer to the nation’s economic doldrums. “We do need a short-term stimulus,” he said, but even more importantly, “We need to bring our middle class back.”
Monica Stonier, a candidate in the open 17th District race and a middle school teacher active in the Washington Education Association, urged workers to reach out. “Call 10 people when you get home,” she said. “They’ll listen to you before they listen to us.”
Rep. Jim Moeller, an incumbent in the 49th District, said he’s a proud member of a health care professionals’ union. “We would not have the country we’re living in today” without organized labor, he said. “When Democrats vote, Democrats win. When labor works for it, Democrats win.”
Tony Golik, a candidate for Clark County prosecuting attorney and a 15-year veteran prosecutor, said he’s proud of his own union background. “Something I’ve noticed over and over is that the candidates backed by labor are the candidates that have the experience and know-how to do the job,” he said. “We come from inside the offices we seek to lead.”
Workers also heard from a national labor leader who said it’s up to them to get out the message that Democratic candidates are the champions of working people.
Tom Buffenbarger, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, has been traveling the nation meeting candidates and addressing union crowds. Earlier Tuesday, at a Seattle rally, he offered a strong endorsement of Democratic U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, who faces a tough challenge from Republican Dino Rossi, calling her “a proven champion for aerospace jobs.”
When you give someone a job, Buffenbarger said, “you give them the most precious possession they’ll ever have. “ It’s the key to a good standard of living, decent housing, education and health care, and a dignified retirement, he said — all things that organized labor has worked to achieve.
In contrast, Buffenbarger said, many of those who are working to defeat Democrats “are people who have already taken from society and see no purpose in giving back.”
In an interview, he said organized labor “is not happy with the slow pace of recovery. When they did the stimulus, they forgot about the most important factor in our economy, and that is the American worker.”
Democratic candidates are quick to ask for labor’s help at election time but “sometimes forget about us when they’re in office,” he said.
Buffenbarger has been promoting a new movement which is running a two-minute Internet ad called “Bite Back,” that urges millions of unemployed and under-employed Americans to vote in the upcoming midterms. That economically stressed bloc of voters will make up the true swing vote this year, he said.
Kathie Durbin: 360-735-4523 or kathie.durbin@columbian.com.
