Posted on 09/28/2023 1:35:31 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Donald Trump is in Michigan to woo striking car-workers, a day after President Joe Biden turned up on the picket line in the Midwestern state - an early skirmish in the battle for the blue-collar vote ahead of next year's White House election.
The former president skipped the televised Republican debate over in California to deliver primetime remarks on Wednesday at a non-unionised car parts supplier just outside Detroit.
On Tuesday, Mr Biden's glad-handing of United Auto Workers (UAW) members, also near Motor City, was a first for a sitting US president during a strike in modern times.
The clusters of red-shirted car workers on the picket line in the Detroit suburb of Wayne this week had few illusions about what's driving these back-to-back visits by the two men most likely to face-off in the 2024 polls - efforts to lay claim to votes in what is expected to be a key state in that contest.
One of the striking car workers at Ford, 38-year-old Tony Branner, said he had voted for neither candidate in 2020.
He told the BBC he had not been paying much attention to the election campaign so far.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
I bet not.
Awesome!!i.love this.
Thanks!
Those messages are resonating with some on the picket line, where Mr Biden was already seen as suspect for decision such as cancelling the Keystone XL oil pipeline. That move drew criticism from unions worried about lost jobs.
“He’s [Biden is] threatening the auto industry with EVs,” said car worker Kevin Puckett, who voted for Mr Trump in 2016 and 2020, and expects to do so again.
Its a good rwad!!!
I am hopeful.
I plan to message a few of them on fb.
“But the conflicting political views on the picket line suggest this Rust Belt state, which could hold the keys to the White House next year, is still very much contested territory.”
Sorry. I fell a few days ago and baclofen is not helping me type, or even catch my own mistakes.
Big mistake on Biden’s part. The UAW is meaningless in terms of the election. The big automakers are making much of their cars and parts in other countries. Little is made here by the UAW, and it’s dwindling. Supporting UAW demands will bankrupt what is left of the big automakers.
If the UAW members do not understand that 30% are going to lose their jobs because of EVs, I feel sorry for them. The Germans final figured this out and said hold off on that 2030 mandate!
The union bosses hate Trump, but at least some (maybe most) of the workers already voted for him both times.
Who knows how he’ll wind up voting, but one thing, FOR SURE, is that he’ll not vote Republican if anyone OTHER than Trump is the nominee.
He told the BBC he had not been paying much attention to the election campaign so far.
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Therein lies a big problem.
The union bosses hate Trump, but at least some (maybe most) of the workers already voted for him both times.
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I’m 78 years old. Retired U.A.W. member for 30+ years, never voted for a democrat in my life for any office, local, state or national.
I was not in the automobile industry. Served as a shop steward for 16 of those years, an elective position and every member I served was well aware of my political stance, many agreed but keep their mouths shut about it. No way of knowing for certain what they did in the voting booth but it gives me a warm feeling to think that I possibly swayed some. Rank and file union members are not our enemies, they are not dummies either.
Update...
https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/uaw-strike-update-gm-stellantis-ford-all-lay-off-more-workers
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