AFL-CIO Cuts TV Election Ad Budget
Politico reports that the AFL-CIO is scaling back their TV ad purchases for an emphasis on door-to-door outreach in the runup to November's midterm elections.
Facing an angry and skeptical electorate, the AFL-CIO plans to scale back its political advertising budget for the midterm elections, convinced that its members can more effectively reach voters than the usual raft of TV spots in support of Democratic candidates.
“We think this election requires more face-to-face contact,” Richard Trumka, the union’s president, told POLITICO Wednesday, acknowledging a tough environment in which Republicans are seeking to take advantage of voter frustrations about the economy.
The best response to the overheated rhetoric is to remind voters, in individual conversations, about all that President Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress achieved, including creating 3.5 million jobs and passing Wall Street and health care reforms, he said.
The renewed focus on ground-level organizing efforts makes sense to at least one Democratic state chairman. “There’s nobody that does grass-roots politics like the AFL-CIO, so anytime they’re focusing on talking to their members one on one, face to face, it’s a good thing for Democrats,” said John Walsh, chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party.
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