That's why they want us to lean forward. It's easier for them to give us the shaft when we are bent over. 
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Three dozen union workers gathered outside city hall here on Thursday to rally against the global free-trade deals they believe have harmed Americans like them. Their candidate was Katie McGinty, the Democrats’ nominee for Senate in Pennsylvania. But their spiritual leader was Republican Donald Trump.
“He recognized there’s some problems we need to solve,” said McGinty, who is challenging Sen. Patrick J. Toomey (R), a free-trade advocate. “One, we have to stop bad trade agreements. . . . And two, we have to take the Chinese on when they manipulate their currency and dump goods in our markets.”
Just two days earlier, Trump had delivered a blistering speech at an aluminum recycling plant near Pittsburgh in which he called U.S. trade policies a *“politician-made disaster” that has betrayed the working class. McGinty, surrounded by electricians, pipe fitters and steelworkers, declared that while Trump usually spouts “nonsense,” he had, in this case, “recognized a couple of truths.”
Of the many ways Trump, the GOP’s presumptive presidential nominee, has scrambled the 2016 campaign, it is his position on trade that has presented one of the most unexpected challenges for his rival, Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee. In an election season animated by economic anxiety, Trump, a New York business mogul, bucked Republican orthodoxy and powerful business interests such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in an appeal to blue-collar that helped propel him to victory in the GOP primaries.
Clinton, who scrambled to move left on trade during her tough primary fight against Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, now finds herself again facing attacks on the issue — this time from Trump. He used his Pittsburgh-area speech to disparage her association with a pair of major trade agreements — one negotiated by President Bill Clinton’s administration and the other by President Obama’s while she served as secretary of state.
For Hillary Clinton, the risk is not necessarily losing support directly to Trump but rather not inspiring enough enthusiasm among rank-and-file union workers, whose turnout and ground-level organizing have traditionally been crucial for Democrats.
Clinton already has the endorsements of several of the nation’s largest labor organizations, including the AFL-CIO and the United Auto Workers, but faces the question of whether that organized support will be enough to hold the labor voting bloc together at a time when Trump has co-opted the traditional labor message about the perils of free trade and globalization.
“Some of our members if not support [him] agree with some of Trump’s statements,” said Joe Jacoby, 54, of Pennsauken, N.J., who serves as a union representative with Boilermakers Local 13. “Because they feel like they’re being hit hardest. Because their jobs are going away. Because it’s hard to find a good-paying job,”
Jacoby, who was at the McGinty rally, said he and the other union leaders support Clinton. McGinty also made clear she supports Clinton and emphasized that Trump does not have the right solutions to trade and jobs. But Jacoby acknowledged that Trump’s message is “going to have an impact.
“Trade agreements are a big part of what we’re arguing against, and he rings that bell,” he said. “You’ve got to give the man credit. When he talks about trade, it resonates with a lot of workers.”
Clinton’s potential weakness on trade is evident in her inability, so far, to consolidate some of the support that went to Sanders during the Democratic primary season. While Clinton dominated with endorsements from labor unions, plenty of locals went for Sanders.
Sanders supporters also appreciated that the senator strongly opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation Pacific Rim accord led by the Obama administration. Hillary Clinton touted the TPP as the “gold standard” of trade deals in 2012 while leading the State Department, but she renounced her support after launching her campaign last year.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli..._clintonunions-0746pm:homepage/story#comments
more at link
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Three dozen union workers gathered outside city hall here on Thursday to rally against the global free-trade deals they believe have harmed Americans like them. Their candidate was Katie McGinty, the Democrats’ nominee for Senate in Pennsylvania. But their spiritual leader was Republican Donald Trump.
“He recognized there’s some problems we need to solve,” said McGinty, who is challenging Sen. Patrick J. Toomey (R), a free-trade advocate. “One, we have to stop bad trade agreements. . . . And two, we have to take the Chinese on when they manipulate their currency and dump goods in our markets.”
Just two days earlier, Trump had delivered a blistering speech at an aluminum recycling plant near Pittsburgh in which he called U.S. trade policies a *“politician-made disaster” that has betrayed the working class. McGinty, surrounded by electricians, pipe fitters and steelworkers, declared that while Trump usually spouts “nonsense,” he had, in this case, “recognized a couple of truths.”
Of the many ways Trump, the GOP’s presumptive presidential nominee, has scrambled the 2016 campaign, it is his position on trade that has presented one of the most unexpected challenges for his rival, Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic nominee. In an election season animated by economic anxiety, Trump, a New York business mogul, bucked Republican orthodoxy and powerful business interests such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in an appeal to blue-collar that helped propel him to victory in the GOP primaries.
Clinton, who scrambled to move left on trade during her tough primary fight against Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, now finds herself again facing attacks on the issue — this time from Trump. He used his Pittsburgh-area speech to disparage her association with a pair of major trade agreements — one negotiated by President Bill Clinton’s administration and the other by President Obama’s while she served as secretary of state.
For Hillary Clinton, the risk is not necessarily losing support directly to Trump but rather not inspiring enough enthusiasm among rank-and-file union workers, whose turnout and ground-level organizing have traditionally been crucial for Democrats.
Clinton already has the endorsements of several of the nation’s largest labor organizations, including the AFL-CIO and the United Auto Workers, but faces the question of whether that organized support will be enough to hold the labor voting bloc together at a time when Trump has co-opted the traditional labor message about the perils of free trade and globalization.
“Some of our members if not support [him] agree with some of Trump’s statements,” said Joe Jacoby, 54, of Pennsauken, N.J., who serves as a union representative with Boilermakers Local 13. “Because they feel like they’re being hit hardest. Because their jobs are going away. Because it’s hard to find a good-paying job,”
Jacoby, who was at the McGinty rally, said he and the other union leaders support Clinton. McGinty also made clear she supports Clinton and emphasized that Trump does not have the right solutions to trade and jobs. But Jacoby acknowledged that Trump’s message is “going to have an impact.
“Trade agreements are a big part of what we’re arguing against, and he rings that bell,” he said. “You’ve got to give the man credit. When he talks about trade, it resonates with a lot of workers.”
Clinton’s potential weakness on trade is evident in her inability, so far, to consolidate some of the support that went to Sanders during the Democratic primary season. While Clinton dominated with endorsements from labor unions, plenty of locals went for Sanders.
Sanders supporters also appreciated that the senator strongly opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation Pacific Rim accord led by the Obama administration. Hillary Clinton touted the TPP as the “gold standard” of trade deals in 2012 while leading the State Department, but she renounced her support after launching her campaign last year.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli..._clintonunions-0746pm:homepage/story#comments
more at link