By Chris Stirewalt - FoxNews.com
Obama Flying into Labor Unrest with Ohio Trip Today
If we balance our budget--$8 billion in the hole--without a tax increase and weve cut taxes on income taxes thats going to send a message to the rest of that country that if they can do it in Columbus they can do it in their state and they maybe guess what they might actually be able to do something like this in Washington.
-- Gov. John Kasich R-Ohio to FOX News on efforts to curb the power of government unions
President Obama is traveling to Ohio today to talk about his Winning the Future" stimulus package but is finding that local concerns are overshadowing his proposals.
As Obama arrives in Cleveland for his speech in support of his spending plan 143 miles south on Interstate 71 union protesters will be massing at the Ohio capitol in what labor leaders hope will be a show of force equal to the protests that have gripped Madison Wisc. for the past week.
Obama jumped out early in support for the Wisconsin protests condemning the bill to curb the bargaining power of government worker unions as an assault." Obamas grassroots campaign arm and the Democratic National Committee also swung in behind the government workers helping organize the protests which have drawn labor activists from around the nation and continued around the clock in the Wisconsin statehouse.
But the White House over the weekend sought to distance itself from the battle between labor groups and Wisconsin Republicans as public opinion moved against teachers who stopped showing up for work and Democrats in the state Senate who went into hiding to prevent a vote. An administration spokesman praised the government worker protests but said they were organic."
Now union leaders are going to put Obama to the test.
Labor organizers who compare their Midwestern movement to the popular revolts currently gripping the Middle East are hoping to have 20000 protesters descend on Capitol Square in Columbus this afternoon.
While the ostensible reason for the timing of the demonstration is a committee hearing in the state Senate on a bill similar to the Wisconsin measure the real audience for the protests is the president up the road at Cleveland State University.
Any hope Obama has of winning in Ohio in 2012 and by extension a second term in office will depend on the support of the government unions that helped secure his 2008 victory in the Buckeye State. If 20000 protesters are storming the state capitol it will be very hard for Obama to ignore.
What Obama says when he is in Cleveland will matter a great deal. If he does ignore the protests it will be a serious slap to the most important part of his political coalition. If he champions their cause it will further cement the presidents affiliation with a movement that has left many swing-state taxpayers angry over labor unrest in the name of lavish government pay and benefits.
Based on the way Obama typically responds to such situations he will likely equivocate. He may call for greater understanding" or encourage all involved to remain peaceful" as he has during the Arab unrest that inspires supporters of the government union protests.
But its a subject Obama must address in some way as the union curbs and labor protests expand across the nation.
In Indiana its private sector unions that are protesting. They are out in force against a right to work" law similar to those in 22 states that allow individuals to opt out of union membership even if a majority of employees vote to organize.
In other states workers have no choice but to join and pay dues if a union can win majority support among employees. Right to work" states which often have exemptions for skilled trades like electricians or pipe fitters that have apprenticeship programs have seen private union membership decline steadily over the years.
The proposal in Wisconsin would do to public unions what right to work" has done to private ones: make membership optional and make dues voluntary.
