At At The Plank, John Judis reports that when the AFL-CIO endorsed Obama this week, one union president resisted: Thomas Buffenbarger of the Machinists. Among Buffenbarger's complains is that Obama initially supported the Pentagon's decision to buy a new tanker from Northrop-Grumman. The company would've done construction partially in France, while Boeing had submitted a competing proposal to build a tanker in Illinois with Machinist labor.
But while it's true that Obama didn't say much about the contract when it was initially awarded, he's been a strong supporter of the GAO's audit of the process, which suggested the Pentagon buckled to lobbying by John McCain and other politicians in awarding the contract to Northrop-Grumman.
Buffenbarger's larger claim, though, is that Obama simply doesn't understand the economic crunch facing "blue collar Democrats." I'm skeptical. To be sure, Obama's economic policies are moderate and Clintonian in many ways, but that's not what we hear Buffenbarger objecting to. Rather, he makes an almost cultural critique of Obama's "change" and "unity" inspired campaign, saying it doesn't appeal to Machinist members.
I can understand why the leader of a relatively small union would want to make a headline-grabbing statement by refusing to endorse the Democratic nominee, thus preserving, to some extent, his ability to pressure the campaign. But reviving arguments that Obama -- a former community organizer -- is elitist just borrows conservative talking points. And that's not helpful to Buffenbarger's constituents, especially if they already hold misconceptions about Obama.
--Dana Goldstein
