WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush's intensive political efforts to woo organized labor have resulted in a few victories, but unions aren't pinning GOP elephants on their lapels just yet.þþIn Tuesday's election, unions are supporting a few dozen Republican candidates in races across the country -- but not in hotly contested districts that will determine which party controls Congress.þþThe United Brotherhood of Carpenters has more than doubled the percentage of its campaign money going to Republicans this election -- but donations to Democrats still account for more than 80 percent of the total.þþThe Teamsters are backing Republican governors in three states -- but not the president's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.þþOrganized labor, despite the White House's outreach, remains solidly aligned with Democrats.þþ``We are reaching out to Republicans and we're building relationships, but the Democrats are still closer to us on core issues important to our members,'' said Teamsters spokesman Bret Caldwell.þþThe Teamsters and the Carpenters are among a handful of conservative-leaning unions that Bush and his advisers have reached out to since taking office almost two years ago. Six in 10 union households supported Democrat Al Gore over Bush in 2000.þþTeamsters President James P. Hoffa was a guest of honor at Bush's State of the Union speech and worked with the White House on efforts in Congress to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.þþCarpenters President Doug McCarron appears regularly at Bush administration events, and his union hosted the last two Labor Day picnics that Bush attended.þþThose two unions have doled out more money than ever to Republicans this election cycle. The Teamsters boosted their GOP donations from 7 percent last election to 17 percent as of mid-September. The Carpenters have given 15 percent of their money to Republicans so far, up from 6 percent in 2000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.þþIt's a strategy that's required in a political environment where neither party dominates, Caldwell said.þþ``Whoever is in charge, it's going to be by a very narrow margin. It does us no good to alienate either party,'' he said.þþStill, the Carpenters' political loyalties are perhaps best illustrated by the two separate soft-money donations to Democrats last month for $500,000 each. Republicans reported no last-minute soft-money contributions from unions.þþOrganized labor is still clearly the cornerstone of the Democratic Party's political base. Overall, labor unions so far have given just 8 percent of their money to Republicans, a number comparable to previous elections. Total labor contributions topped $83 million in 2000, with the bulk going to Democrats.þþBush's union outreach efforts are frustrating to some conservatives in his party who say they see no payoff.þþ``The Bush administration seemed to have forgotten the difference between its friends and its enemies,'' said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. ``Perhaps big labor's actions during this election season have reminded them.''þþBush's reward may not come until 2004, when some unions might endorse him for president.þþ``He may get three or four union endorsements, but that's the max,'' said Larry Sabato, University of Virginia political scientist. ``But that's the game they're playing -- a marginal increase in the Republican vote means a marginal decrease in the Democratic vote.''þþBut this election, few Republicans are netting the real rewards of a labor-backed campaign -- ground troops in key races mobilizing voters to the polls.þþ``Most of our resources and attention is on behalf of Democratic candidates in close races,'' said Gary Hubbard, a spokesman for the United Steelworkers of America.þþBush, with an eye on steel-producing states that were battlegrounds in the 2000 presidential race, in March imposed broad protective tariffs on imported steel. The union and steel companies sought the tariffs to help the struggling industry. Bush has since exempted nearly a quarter of the steel imports that he initially tried to protect against.þþThe Laborers union is backing about 35 Republicans, more than in previous years. But in the tight races that will decide control, union support falls to the Democrats.þþ``We support candidates that support us on the issues,'' said Laborers President Terry O'Sullivan. ``In general, the Democrats have supported a working family agenda certainly more than Republicans.''þþþ
Source: NY Times
