You'll understand if I don't take this threat very seriously.:
Tom Buffenbarger, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said his members are “not rushing to vote for a Republican.” But, he said, “it is going to be hard to get them to show up at the polls” for Obama. “Our villain is apathy. They are disgruntled. They are discouraged. They have no enthusiasm for what either party is saying right now.’’
The problem, he said, is that union members see Obama bringing on corporate leaders as his top advisers and soliciting the views of the Chamber of Commerce and other business leaders more than he does labor leaders.
“This isn't a truce with business,” said Buffenbarger, who was a fervent supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton in the 2008 Democratic primaries. “I think he's capitulated.”
A few things. First, interest groups always make these threats, and they rarely come to fruition. In all likelihood, labor turnout will be similar to its 2008 levels, as the presidential contest puts the stakes into stark relief. Second, Buffenbarger is notorious for his attacks on Obama. As a surrogate for Hillary Clinton during the primaries, he had this to say about the then-candidate:
Hope? Change? Yes We Can? Give me a break! I've got news for all the latte-drinking, Prius- driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust fund babies crowding in to hear him speak! This guy won't last a round against the Republican attack machine. He's a poet, not a fighter.
Similarly, he was critical after last year's State of the Union:
The clarion calls of hope and change have faded like the last notes of Taps. The enveloping darkness, a darkness of deepening disillusionment and even deeper cynicism, is settling across the land.
Buffenbarger has made a name for himself as the guy who attacks Obama's willingness to fight, and so it's no surprise that he's critical of the president's meeting with the Chamber of Commerce. All of that said, he's not completely wrong; business interests are far more powerful than labor, and the administration is firmly committed to securing their support. But this has less to do with any ideological failings on the part of the administration and more to do with the decline of labor as a political force.
In the absence of large, politically influential unions, the administration needs buy-in from business interests to get anything done. As such, it's no surprise that it actively courts CEOs and the Chamber of Commerce; if Hillary Clinton were president, it would be about the same.
