For IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 19, 2008
AFSCME Endorses Senator Barack Obama for President
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Executive Board of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO, today unanimously endorsed Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States.
“Barack Obama has mobilized a historic movement to reclaim the greatness of America. With his leadership, our nation will rise up to rebuild the middle class at home and restore America’s reputation in the world,” said AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee. “AFSCME will mobilize more members and invest more resources than ever before to help Senator Obama win the White House. We will turn out an army of 40,000 AFSCME activists to knock on doors, make phone calls and talk with their co-workers and neighbors to produce an unprecedented turnout in the 2008 election.”
“Barack Obama is a proven fighter on the issues our members care about most, such as ending privatization, providing state and local fiscal relief, fully funding and supporting public services and the workers who provide them, and guaranteeing that everyone in our country has access to quality, affordable health care they can count on,” McEntee said.
“We can elect a champion for working families or we can elect John McCain and have four more years of George W. Bush’s disastrous policies,” McEntee said. “When you look at McCain’s record on the issues instead of his rhetoric on the stump, it’s obvious that he’s just another Bush. McCain and the high-priced lobbyists who run his campaign promise us four more years of destructive economic policies at home and 100 more years of occupation in Iraq. We need a change now.”
“Barack Obama will change the direction of our country, and end the Bush era of corruption and incompetence that has led to increased unemployment and home foreclosures, higher gas prices and grocery bills, in addition to putting health care and college out of reach for millions of America’s working families,” said McEntee.
“During the primary season, AFSCME showed that when we make an endorsement, we back it up with everything we’ve got. That is exactly what we’re going to do until November to elect Barack Obama and take back the White House for America’s working families.”
“We are proud of our members’ efforts over the past months in support of Senator Hillary Clinton. They worked their hearts out,” McEntee said. “We completely agree with Senator Clinton that: ‘The way to continue our fight now – to accomplish the goals for which we stand – is to take our energy, our passion, our strength and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama the next President of the United States.’”
As a U.S. senator, Barack Obama has been a strong advocate for critically important legislation to help working families. Those include bills opposed by Senator McCain, such as the Employee Free Choice Act, which would enable more Americans to improve their lives by joining a union to negotiate for better wages and benefits, and expanding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to provide health coverage for an additional 10 million children from low-income families. Senator Obama also opposes McCain’s plans to privatize Social Security and vital public services.
“This election is about rebuilding America’s middle class, providing affordable, quality health care for all and ending the war in Iraq,” McEntee said. “It’s about prosperity and opportunity, and giving us a government that responds to the needs of the American people. It’s about combating the greed of corporations and their hired hands who run the Republican Party and set its bankrupt agenda. It’s about rising up and reclaiming the great promise of America, a nation conceived in liberty where men and women who work hard and play by the rules can get ahead and give their children a better life.”
“Barack Obama has the experience, judgment and strength to reinvigorate our economy and resurrect the American Dream,” McEntee said.
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American Federation of State, County
and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO
1625 L Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036-5687
Telephone (202) 429-1145
Fax (202) 429-1120
http://www.afscme.org/press/19547.cfm
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