Campaign in Full Swing in NC

APWU members in North Carolina found the presidential campaign on their doorstep over the weekend as Barack Obama visited the western part of the state.

Obama spoke to an overflowing crowd of 28,000 at Asheville High School's Memorial Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 5, and made a surprise appearance at a Democratic Party fund-raising dinner the night before that was attended by many union activists.

At both events, Obama's message to Tar Heel State voters emphasized the need to solve the nation's economic and healthcare crises. At the dinner, he challenged the activists to do everything possible to elect him and legislators — such as U.S. Senate candidate Kay Hagan and incumbent Rep. Heath Shuler — who will stand up for working people.

Cathy Jackson, a PTF window clerk at the Flat Rock, NC, Post Office who showed up at the rally early enough to get a front-row seat, got a chance to express her support personally to the

presidential candidate. As Obama was leaving the stage, he spied Jackson's Postal Workers Back Obama T-shirt. As he stopped to shake her hand he pointed to her shirt and said, "I appreciate you!”

“It was really awesome that he made a special effort to say thanks for the endorsement,” Jackson said. "I've watched him so much, I felt like I knew him already." 

"I think he's the real deal,” she added. “You can see it in his actions and when he looks at people. You can't fake that kind of thing." 

Jackson is one of dozens of members of her local who have been working to elect Obama and other union-backed candidates. For months, she's been involved with voter-registration and education efforts.

Many members of Jackson's local have also helped with mailings and making phone calls, as part of the AFL-CIO's Labor 2008 effort to try to maximize the working-families’ vote on Election Day, Nov. 4.

Mark Case, who leads APWU's Labor 2008 efforts in western North Carolina, said the message appears to be working, as Obama, Hagen, and Shuler appear to be rising in the polls. 

"The APWU members who've been participating know how important it is to win the White House and create pro-working-family majorities in the House and Senate, and I'm thrilled to see so many members want to get involved," he said. "The Asheville Area Local and Hickory Local have come through big time.” 

“Members like Cathy Jackson and retirees like Glen Meadows sense that we are on the verge of a historic win here, and they are working to make a big difference.” 

This page paid for by the APWU Committee on Political Action (COPA), and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.