L-29 retiree Jimmy McHugh (l.) with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)
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Retiree, daughter get involved for Obama
MEXICO, MAINE, JUNE 24 — CALLING THE 2008 presidential election “the most important in my adult life,” Local 29 (Boston) retiree Jimmy McHugh is doing his part to get Sen. Barack Obama elected.
McHugh, 59, of Mexico, Maine, retired last year as a construction Boilermaker. On Feb. 10, he and his wife, Brenda, and daughter, Lydia, represented their town at a regional Democratic caucus. McHugh and his daughter went on to serve as delegates to the state Democratic convention in Augusta May 31 through June 2, where the pair cast their votes for Obama.
“I was originally for Senator John Edwards,” McHugh said, “but now I’m for Obama. I’m reading his books. He seems like he’s the real thing. He’s legit.”
Before attending the convention, McHugh requested some “Boilermakers for Obama” T-shirts from the Government Affairs Department. The bright yellow shirts drew a lot of attention, he said. “When the convention’s keynote speaker, Senator Dick Durbin, saw me wearing the T-shirt at a labor brunch, he made a bee-line straight for me. He was very gracious, and we had a good discussion.”
McHugh is continuing to campaign for Obama, making phone calls and canvassing neighborhoods. “We’re trying to unite the Hillary [Clinton} supporters behind Obama,” he said.
Obama campaign refuses money from lobbyists and PACs
Obama is raising record amounts despite this self-imposed limitation
WASHINGTON, D.C., APRIL 23 — Senator Barack Obama will make history in more than one way if he wins the Democratic nomination. Not only will he become the first person of African descent to be nominated for president by a major political party in the United States, he will do so without accepting contributions from registered lobbyists and political action committees (PACs).
His campaign Web site states, “This campaign is about building a different kind of politics. We don't take money from lobbyists or political action committees, and we're going to build a broad base of individual donors to ensure that this campaign answers to no one but the people.”
Boilermaker Director of Government Affairs Bridget Martin says she was even unable to purchase a bumpersticker from the Obama Web site. “If you are a registered lobbyist, you can’t buy anything from his Web site.”
Obama’s refusal to accept money from PACs means that the Boilermakers Campaign Assistance Fund (CAF) will not be contributing to his campaign. CAF is the Boilermakers’ PAC, a fund made entirely of donations from individuals in the Boilermaker family — members, officers, staff, retirees, and their families. No CAF money will go to the Obama campaign.
Despite refusing money from PACs and lobbyists, Sen. Obama has managed to raise more money than Sen. Clinton. In fact, he is breaking records in collecting donations to his campaign.
As of April 19, the Web site opensecrets.org was reporting that Obama had collected $194 million in campaign contributions, Clinton $169 million, and Sen. John McCain $64 million.
Opensecrets.org also breaks down the contributions candidates have accepted using a number of criteria, including geography, industry, sector, time, etc. You can see who is giving money to each of the major candidates just by visiting their Web site.
35,000 hear Obama ‘Independence’ speech
PHILADELPHIA, APRIL 18 — Just four days before the key Pennsylvania primary elections, Senator Barack Obama addressed a crowd of 35,000 supporters — the largest rally in his campaign’s history — at Independence Mall. The gathering overlooked Independence Hall, where America’s founding fathers met to sign the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.
The site’s significance was not lost on Sen. Obama. He declared that Americans again need to declare their independence — this time from a political system that has lost touch with them and does not represent their interests.
“In four days, you get the chance to help bring about the change that we need right now,” he said. “Here in the city and the state that gave birth to our democracy, we can declare our independence from the politics that has shut us out, and let us down, and told us to settle.
“We can declare our independence from the politics that’s put the oil companies and the drug companies and the insurance companies in charge of the decisions that impact our lives and our children’s lives.”
Among the 35,000 supporters were Boilermakers who came to hear the senator speak. Two of those members, both from Local 19 (Philadelphia), who work at the Aker shipyards, were Damon West, a plumber, and Fred Dockens, an outfitter. West and Dockens stood in line for an hour just to get to the security gate and then stood shoulder-to-shoulder with a packed and excited crowd for several more hours before Obama took the stage amidst an explosion of cheering, chanting, and applause.
Boilermakers have been active across Pennsylvania but have concentrated in recent days in Philadelphia. On April 17, a Boilermaker contingent rallied just outside the National Independence Center, where Sens. Obama and Clinton squared off in what may have been their final debate. The Boilermaker blimp has advertised the union’s endorsement of Obama on busy street corners along Independence Mall. Local 19 Vice President Fred Chamberlain has coordinated much of that activity and has been assisted by the Boilermakers Government Affairs Department.
Several Philadelphia television stations interviewed Chamberlain and questioned him about Obama’s recent surge in Pennsylvania polls. Obama has continued to shave off points from Clinton’s lead, which just three weeks ago stood at 14 percent.
“I told them [the television correspondents] that Obama speaks from the heart,” Chamberlain said. “When people hear him, they believe him. He’s not going to let his administration be run by big business.”
Obama addresses “bitter” comment
MUNCIE, IND., APRIL 12 — Speaking before cheering supporters in Muncie, Ind., April 12, Senator Barack Obama elaborated on a statement he made April 6 in San Francisco about voters being bitter and angry because their government is not listening to them. The senator’s political opponents have tried to portray him as an elitist because of those comments.
Sen. Obama spoke about how people “take comfort from their faith and their family and their community,” how they vote about guns and get angry about illegal immigrants.
"And now I didn't say it as well as I should have, because you know the truth is that these traditions that are passed on from generation to generation… are important. That's what sustains us. But what is absolutely true is that people don't feel like they are being listened to. And so they pray and they count on each other and they count on their families. You know this in your own lives.
“And what we need is a government that is actually paying attention — [a] government that is fighting for working people day in and day out, making sure that we are trying to allow them to live out the American dream.
"And that's what this campaign is about. We've got to get past the divisions. We've got to get past the distractions of our politics and fight for each other. That is why I am running for president of the United States. And I think we've got an opportunity to bring about that change right here and right now.”
NPR interviews Local 19 VP Fred Chamberlain
LEVITTOWN, PENN., APRIL 11 — When Mara Liasson went to Levittown, Penn., to cover the Pennsylvania primary contest for NPR’s Morning Edition, she interviewed Boilermaker Local 19’s Fred Chamberlain. Chamberlain is the vice president of Local 19, which represents shipyard and industrial workers in the Philadelphia area.
Chamberlain told Liasson that “middle class [workers] have been taking it on the chin for quite some time.” He explained that there are “not too many [good] jobs out here.”
Senator Obama has been talking about the economic squeeze that workers are experiencing as he makes his way through Pennsylvania. “Eggs have gone up about 30 percent. Baked goods have gone up 30 percent. Everything is going up, while wages have not gone up 30 percent.”
Chamberlain’s comments aired April 11 on a seven-minute radio broadcast called “Obama Courts Blue Collar Voters in Pennsylvania.” (Click on the link to hear the program.)
Intl. Rep Heine tours with Obama
AS SENATOR BARACK OBAMA’S bus headed for a campaign stop at a Pennsylvania steel mill March 28, International Rep Bob Heine was on board to discuss Boilermaker issues with the Democratic presidential candidate.
“It was a great opportunity for me personally and as a representative of our union,” Heine said. “Senator Obama was sincerely interested in the issues that are important to Boilermakers. I spoke with him about preserving the Davis-Bacon Act, and I stressed the need to enforce the Jones Act to protect the American shipbuilding industry. We also discussed the Employee Free Choice Act and H-2B visas.” (The union is urging Congress to make more H-2B visas available to our Canadian members so they can supplement U.S. Boilermakers when needed.)
The Boilermakers Government Affairs Department assisted with Heine’s participation on the bus tour. He rode from Pittsburgh to Braddock, where the Edgar Thomson Steel Works is located. Several other unions also arranged to have representatives accompany the senator on what was the first leg of a six-day bus tour of the state.
PA Boilermakers get active for Obama
IN THE RUN-UP to the Pennsylvania Democratic primary on April 22, Boilermaker members throughout the state are volunteering their support for Senator Barack Obama (IL). And their efforts have been noticed.
In a speech given in Philadelphia recently, Sen. Obama thanked the Boilermakers for supporting his candidacy. Later, he signed a hardhat for Boilermaker Local 19 Vice President Fred Chamberlain.
In Johnstown, Penn., the senator told an excited crowd, “I want a president who isn’t allergic to the word ‘union.’”
On hearing that Pennsylvania Boilermaker locals are getting active, International President Newton B. Jones said, “I am pleased that so many of our local leaders and members are coming out in support of Senator Obama. I believe we have chosen the right candidate to get our country back on the right track.”
The Pennsylvania primary is considered crucial to the campaigns of both Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama. While Obama continues to hold a slight edge over Clinton in delegates elected to the Democratic convention, a decisive victory in Pennsylvania by either candidate would significantly change the race.
Paid for by the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Campaign Assistance Fund, [phone: (703) 560-1493] and is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
