AFL-CIO Announces Major New Push to Expose John McCain's Economic Record

"McCain Revealed" Grassroots Campaign Kicks Into High Gear with Nationwide Door-to-Door Canvass to 200,000 Union Members and Families Health Care Top Issue

May 08, 2008 -- The AFL-CIO today announced plans for a major new push to expose Sen. John McCain's economic record and disastrous health care proposals, which includes a massive door-to-door canvass to 200,000 union swing voters in 22 battleground states over the next two weekends.

John McCain: Photo by VictoryNH (CC)

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka and Executive VP Arlene Holt Baker will join 6,200 union volunteers going door-door in 125 locations nationwide on May 10 and May 17 to discuss McCain's record on key issues including health care, job creation, trade policy and retirement security. The effort is part of the AFL-CIO “McCain Revealed” campaign, the nation’s largest mobilization to educate voters on McCain’s economic positions and urge McCain to shift course.

“Sen. McCain’s economic path would lead to disaster for America's working families,” AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said. “He wants to tax health care benefits and supports unfair trade policies that send family-supporting jobs overseas. It's time for McCain to tune out the corporate and insurance industry lobbyists who hold sway in his campaign and start listening to the real concerns of working people.”

Volunteers will focus on McCain’s health care proposals when visiting union voters at the door, highlighting his intent to tax employer-based health care, which would elevate costs and drastically reduce coverage. McCain’s plan also would push workers into the private market to fight big insurance companies on their own.

“McCain’s plan will create a new tax on working families by making employer-provided health benefits part of taxable income,” the AFL-CIO canvass literature states. “Don’t let McCain undermine your health care.”

Door-to-door canvass locations open to media include:
* Activity begins at 9 a.m. local time unless otherwise noted

May 10
Denver, Colo.
Detroit, Mich.

May 17
Philadelphia, Pa. (AFL-CIO Sec. Treas. Richard Trumka attending) Seattle, Wash. (AFL-CIO Exec. VP Arlene Holt Baker attending)
Miami, Fla. (9:30 a.m.)
Indianapolis, Ind.
Louisville, Ky.
Lewiston, Maine (8:30 a.m.)
Minneapolis, Minn.
St. Louis, Mo.
Manchester, N.H.
Albuquerque, N.M.
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Youngstown, Ohio

In addition to the 22-state canvass, the AFL-CIO will ramp up outreach to union swing voters through direct mail, phone calls and e-mails. Since the McCain Revealed campaign was launched in early March, union volunteers have delivered more than 1 million worksite flyers on McCain’s economic record. More than 400,000 mailers featuring union a veteran have been sent to swing union voters in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota, and thousands of phone calls have been made to union voters in battleground states.

“If Sen. McCain thinks he can hoodwink working families into believing he’s supportive of an economy that works for them, he’s sorely mistaken,” Sweeney said. “Everywhere McCain goes, the voices of working families call on him to reverse course and reject the failed Bush economic policies.”

AFL-CIO working families continue to have a strong presence at every McCain campaign stop, calling on him to offer real solutions to the economic crisis facing working people. This week workers were visible at his stops in North Carolina and Michigan, and will be out in front of his fundraiser in Lakewood, NJ today.

Later this month, the AFL-CIO will re-launch its “McCain Revealed” Website (www.mccainrevealed.org), featuring a wealth of new information on McCain’s record and plans on economic issues.

Source: AFL-CIO

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