America Votes - New Mexico

Not just jobs but good jobs and safe jobs
Richard Trumka for Oregon Statesman-Journal

Americans are worried about finding and keeping jobs

Many are desperate for any job at all in the worst recession since the Great Depression. Fifteen million people who want to work are stuck in unemployment lines. Just about as many are working part-time when they want to be working full time or have given up looking. It can be tempting to overlook dangerous workplaces and say now is not the time to prioritize workers' safety.

But disasters at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, the Tesoro refinery in Washington, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf and other workplaces tell us otherwise. There is never a right time for substandard and unsafe workplaces. Now, when economic conditions and our corporate culture give rise to corner-cutting, is exactly the time to safeguard working people on the job.

Every day, 14 workers die on the job, never to return home. Another 2700 workers are seriously injured every day. Additionally, in 2008, an estimated 137 workers died each day from occupational diseases like asbestosis, cancer and black lung.

These chilling statistics are a stark reminder that job creation alone is not enough. We cannot allow lowest-common-denominator jobs-unsafe, low-pay, no-benefit jobs-to be the norm.

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AFSCME hits GOP over state aid
Ben Smith for Politico

At a moment when Republicans across the country are casting public workers and their unions as an increasingly dire threat to fiscal health, public labor giant AFSCME is set to announce a $1.5 million television, radio and Web campaign boosting Democrats and attacking Republicans in four battleground states: Michigan, Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

"We are going to do everything we can to make sure voters understand who worked to save our struggling economy and who chose to play politics with our lives and jobs," AFSCME President Gerald McEntee said in release announcing the ads. "We will support those who stood with us. The choice in this election is too important for anyone to sit on the sidelines."

The television spot aims most pointedly to reward Democrats - and punish Republicans - for their votes on an August jobs bill that included cash to help states avoid budget cuts that would have put teachers' jobs and Medicaid funding on the chopping block.

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'They talk about me like a dog'
Jonathan Martin for Politico

Two years after appearing here on Labor Day to kick off the final stretch of his historic campaign, President Obama returned Monday to speak to union members, in a starkly different political environment.

The Democrats, on the ascent at Obama's 2008 "Laborfest" visit, are now unmistakably a party on defense.

The president touched on his historic accomplishments - healthcare reform and new financial regulations - but spent more time discussing a new infrastructure plan and warning what Republican victory would mean.

By rolling out a $50 billion transportation proposal two months before the mid-term elections and twice mentioning statements from "the Republican who thinks he's going to take over as Speaker," Obama testified to the straits Democrats now find themselves in: They urgently need to convince voters that they're working to bolster the still-wobbly economy - and find a reason to give the electorate pause about voting for the GOP to register their anger about the status quo.

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Governor's race: Rivals sharply divided on social issues
Steve Terrell for Santa Fe New Mexican

Although the issues in the gubernatorial race mainly have centered on the economy, corruption, education, the environment and crime, there are a number of social issues that set Diane Denish and Susana Martinez apart.

These are issues such as abortion, gay rights and medical marijuana. Few would argue that these are anywhere near as important as problems like unemployment or failing schools. And yet, these are the issues that generate heat and inflame the passions.

In general, like the parties they represent, Republican Martinez, who is the district attorney of Doña Ana County, tends to fall on the socially conservative side, while Denish, the Democratic candidate, is more on the progressive side. In the three areas looked at here, the two find little, if any agreement.

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In an effort to get into the House, Ohio politicians are knocking on doors
Aaron Marshall for The Cleveland Plain-Dealer

Forget the TV ads made by high-priced consultants. Skip the town hall meetings and the endless parades. Toss the mail pieces and stick the yard signs in the trash. And, please, log off of Facebook and Twitter.

For those who want to serve as one of the 99 members of the Ohio House of Representatives, the old ritual by which actual candidates meet actual voters at their doorsteps is still the best route to a November win.

Call it the last bastion of retail politics on the Statehouse level, but the door-to-door campaign is alive and knocking, particularly in pocket-sized House districts where 20,000 votes could put you in office. Both parties hope their candidates hit upwards of 1 million doors total across the state before Election Day.

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