Teamsters Union declines to endorse either candidate in a major blow to Kamala Harris.

 

Teamster President Sean O'Brian. BBC/Getty. 

The Teamsters Union has declined to endorse either candidate in a major blow to the campaign of Kamala Harris. BBC. The Teamsters are the 4th largest union in the country and have 1.3 million members. The union said that neither candidate was committed to Teamsters issues and said there wasn't broad support for either candidate. However, polling indicates that Donald Trump has the support of a majority of Teamster Union members. The Harris campaign will be denied the resources and mobilization of the union. Trump came close to getting the endorsement, as union president Sean O'Brian spoke at the RNC convention, but did not secure it after Trump made comments with Elon Musk saying that striking workers should be fired. However, the Democrats did not even invite Sean O'Brian to speak. 

My Comment:

This is a pretty huge blow to the Kamala Harris campaign. The Teamsters Union is huge and they have been a reliable force in turnout for Democrats for years. This year it's not happening. There are a few smaller chapters that are trying to turn out Teamsters for Democrats but they do not have the support of the main union. 

It's disappointing that Trump didn't get the endorsement. It's clear that most teamsters support Trump. The polling said that Trump was getting around 60% support from the members and that's pretty huge. But the union itself declined after he made his comments about firing striking workers, a statement that wasn't going to be popular with unions. 

Regardless though, this is not good news for Harris. The Teamsters have a big presence in swing states like Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania and there is a chance that an endorsement could have gotten her over the finish line in one or more of those states. Instead she isn't going to get any major help from the union itself, with only local chapters offering an endorsement. 

Of course with 60% of Teamsters supporting Trump, perhaps the endorsement wouldn't have helped that much either. Indeed, I think a lot of this non-endorsement is self defense by the leadership of the Teamsters. Had they endorsed Harris there would have been a revolt in the ranks and perhaps even a change in leadership. 

I do think this is another example of the country going through a political realignment. It's clear that the Democrats are no longer the party of blue collar workers. The Democrats really have nothing to offer the working class at this point other than competition from immigrants, legal and otherwise, higher rents and home prices and a huge helping of disrespect. Though the Teamsters didn't endorse the Republicans this time around, they might do so in the next election cycle...