Interview with Karen Ackerman

I just did a quick interview with Karen Ackerman, the AFL-CIO's political director, who says she's feeling good as the returns come in. Grain of salt warning: unions rely on their ability to pull voters on election day to ensure their clout in Congress, and not a lot of labor legislation moved in the last session of Congress, so the folks here at AFL-CIO HQ are hungry for a show of clout. But while this is spin, it's still interesting spin. A couple of quick facts: undecided union voters were contacted 25-35 times over the past three months, and the federation targeted 2.1 million veterans who are either union members or union retirees.

She acknowledges that a lot of conversations about Obama and race were difficult.

"We had discussions throughout the labor movement that we've never had before," she told me. "From the top to the bottom, presidents to shop stewards, what were the obstacles that kept some union members from being able to support Barack Obama?...One of the presidents pointed out, overwhelmingly, people have never voted for an African-American for any office. It was a big obstacle."

Closer to home for readers here, Ackerman said she thought Obama and a Democratic Congress would be able to pass legislation on issues like collective bargaining rights for Transportation Security Administration workers, and labor legislation more broadly.

Her takeaway of the night, which is reflected broadly in exit polls: "economic issues prevailed" among union members over race or other concerns about Obama's experience.