ELECTIONS: Neck and (Orange) Neck

The Presidential race is tightening.

After more than a year of primaries, caucuses and conventions; after Bernie Sanders received over 13 million votes to end income inequality and crippling tuition debt; and after the sideshow of the Republican “debates,” where contestants were eliminated from the talent competition —before making it to the swimsuit round—it appears to be a dead heat between Hillary and Trump.

The threat posed by Trump is real, whether he wins on November 8 or not. He has mobilized a mass right-wing movement that makes the Tea Party look like Cub Scouts, has vowed to pay the legal expenses of anyone arrested for attacking protesters at his rallies, and has encouraged his followers to “do something” to Hillary if, as President, she acts to limit access to assault weapons.

And even if Hillary wins, we will have to keep fighting after Election Day to keep her on point for free in-state tuition at public colleges, to oppose the TPP trade deal, and to impose stiff regulations on the Wall St. bankers that crashed the economy, got bailed out with tax payer money, and are big donors to both the Republican and Democratic parties, alike.

On September 22 Elizabeth Warren said in the Huffington Post, “This is about people who understand the urgency of the need for rebuilding opportunity in America now, and who will fight for it with everything they’ve got… People who will fight for every single promise Hillary Clinton has put forward during this campaign―including her promise to end the revolving door between Wall Street and Washington.”

Between now and the election, we’ll be working with the rest of the UAW to derail the Trump Express, which like an oil-hauling train, carries a toxic mix of racism, sexism, and anti-immigrant rhetoric through America’s major population centers.

NWU’s chapter chairs and the national leadership pledge to reach out to our members, through phone banking and by urging our members to join in Labor Walks and member-to-member outreach with area UAW Community Action Program committees, various Central Labor Councils, and State Federations.

If you need contact info or want to schedule events for your area, let me know. UAW campaign literature comparing Hillary and Trump on the major issues is available and has already gone out to the chapters.