Democrats and Labor: A Beautiful Friendship
DENVER—The cash-strapped convention here got an eleventh hour bailout from the American Federation of Teachers and AFSCME, the national public employees union.
The news reinforced Republican talking points (that the Democrats are tools of parasitic government workers, you know) but also served as a reminder of historic events from 100 years ago.
It was at a Democratic convention, in Denver in 1908, that the American Federation of Labor broke with precedent and endorsed a presidential candidate: William Jennings Bryan.
It was no easy decision for Sam Gompers' boys. For much of the late 19th century, organized labor in America was divided between "radicals" who believed that the rights of working folk could best be achieved via political action on a national or international scale, and those who believed that labor should change society through trade unionism, one jobsite and factory at a time. Gompers was on the conservative side.
The Democratic Party, meanwhile, had no great history with organized labor. It was a Democratic president, Grover Cleveland, who ordered federal troops into the streets of Chicago in 1894 to break up the historic Pullman strike by American railway workers, led by Eugene Debs.
And Republican president Teddy Roosevelt, as far as labor was concerned, was a vast improvement over his GOP predecessors. TR offered a more balanced approach to industrial issues. When interceding to settle the 1902 coal strike, he was the first president to recognize the role that organized labor played in the American economy.
But Roosevelt was leaving office in 1908, to be replaced by the more conservative William Howard Taft. And Bryan the great champion of "the common man," was back as the Democratic nominee, (for the third time).
The AFL endorsed Bryan. Bryan lost. But four years later, with Bryan's help, Woodrow Wilson captured the White House—the first Democrat since Cleveland—and pushed a progressive agenda through Congress.
And that, as Captain Renault would say, was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Tags: DNC | Democrats | elections | labor | William Jennings Bryan
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Reader Comments
"The Jungle" has been paved ...
Nothing like reading Upton Sinclair to make one overlook the shortcomings of unions. They are comprised of humans - still vulnerable to all seven of those deadly sins.I think the list could be updated .If history is any guide ,those interested will note how unions have been manipulated by both facists and marxists to achieve the desired objective.How about keeping the "goons" home for a change and let the working person truly cast ONE vote for the candidate of their liking.
The Bad Economy is Reviving Labor
As the American economy continues to dive and average Americans have been the victims, Labor is being revived as a force to balance against a stacked deck. The anti-labor flavor of the some capitalists and politicians has gone over the top with greed and its undercutting our nation. This isn't 'America First' when folks like McCain is pushing the US Air Force to buy French jets, and undercutting America's largest export industry.
Its become transparent to taxpayers that they are picking up the tab for entitlements of the wealthy, cronies and lobbyists - constituents and beneficiaries of the Bush administration. No surprise the American economy is broken with these financially irresponsible folks in charge.
No wonder labor and populism are revived. Folks also see all the bailouts of hedge funds and banks as an affront to capitalism, when we have this weird socialism to covers losses for the rich and then abandons the vast majority who suffer as a result of what they see as incestuous corruption.
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