Faced with Teamster members who refuse to get with the program and support Kamala Harris, the union leadership has decided to refrain from endorsing anyone.
In the 1940s, the Teamsters were loyal Roosevelt Democrats. However, according to the WaPo, that changed in the 1950s when congressional Democrats investigated Dave Beck and Jimmy Hoffa, two Teamster presidents. Out of spite, therefore, the Teamsters endorsed Richard Nixon in 1960. By 1964 and, again,1968, though, the Teamsters had returned to their Democrat roots, endorsing LBJ and Humphrey.
Image by AI.
In 1972, the Teamsters supported Richard Nixon, who had been actively courting them. The WaPo doesn’t mention it, but I’m pretty sure that part of the support for Nixon was because the Teamsters were so fervently anti-communist. They didn’t like what they saw happening in the Democrat party, which had begun its long slide into open communism.
In 1976, the Teamsters couldn’t bring themselves to support Jimmy Carter, so they refrained from endorsing anyone.
In 1980, after four years of Jimmy Carter’s malaise and the humiliation of the Iran hostage crisis, the Teamsters endorsed a Republican: Ronald Reagan, the ultimate Cold Warrior.
In 1984, thanks to Ronald Reagan’s soaring economy and battle against the Soviet Union, Teamster members supported him by 53.6% compared to only 43.6% for Mondale. Accordingly, the union endorsed Reagan.
In 1988, George H. W. Bush, who promised to continue Reagan’s economic and anti-Soviet policies, got the Teamster’s endorsement. In the Teamsters’ poll underlying the endorsement, Bush scraped by with a margin of 50.2% compared to Dukakis’s 46.4%.
By 1992, America was still reaping the benefits of Reagan’s policies, but the culture was shifting, and the Cold War seemed to be over. (Actually, only the Soviet phase was over.) The Teamsters returned to the Democrat fold and endorsed Bill Clinton. That endorsement mostly reset the Teamsters. Once again, they were a Democrat party stalwart.
In 1996, the Teamsters abstained from endorsing Clinton because they were displeased with his trade policies, which they believed hurt them. (They were right, of course. Those policies marked the massive shift of the manufacturing sector from America to Mexico and China.)
In 2000, though, the Teamsters once again returned to the fold, endorsing Al Gore.
In 2004, the Teamsters endorsed John Kerry.
In 2008 and 2012, the Teamsters endorsed Barack Obama.
In 2016, the Teamsters endorsed Hillary Clinton.
In 2020, the Teamsters endorsed Joe Biden.
In sum, since the 1930s, the Teamsters have overwhelmingly endorsed Democrats. In 1960, they abandoned the Democrats out of pique; in 1996, they sat out the endorsement cycle; in 1972, 1980, 1984, and 1988, they endorsed Cold Warriors. It’s also likely that, in 1980, 1984, and 1988, burned by Carter’s economy and buoyed up by Reagan’s, they endorsed those candidates whom they believed would help them bring home the bacon to their families. In other words, kitchen-table issues ruled the day.
However, 2024 is a very different year from any that has ever come before. The Cold War with the Soviet Union is over, but the war against communism now rages on American soil. While the teachers’ unions may be hard-left, white-collar workers (that’s what a college degree does for you), the Teamsters still represent working-class men and women.
These are the people who believe in old-fashioned ideas such as the existence of men and women, a belief in sovereign borders, and an understanding that printing money and destroying borders will break the American economy. They also noticed that Trump’s economic policies brought to heel China’s trade aggression (which is premised on cheating and government subsidies), while the Democrats, especially Tim Walz, have a remarkably loving attitude toward China. That attitude allows Democrats to impose economy killing green regulations on Americans while giving China a pass.
In other words, people who are not crazy don’t like Democrat values, which hurt them and their children, and do like Republican values, which help them. This is a reminder that Trump is popular, not because of a cult of personality (that was Obama) but because he promises to govern for America and not for lunatics and non-American people and nations.
That being the case, you won’t be surprised to learn that, according to internal Teamster polls, Trump is soaring with the union’s members. In an electronic poll taken from late July through mid-September, 59.6% of Teamsters supported Trump, with only 34% supporting Kamala Harris, while a mid-September phone poll revealed that 58% of members supported Trump while only 31% supported Harris:
I don’t know if Trump’s promise to end taxes on overtime pay factored into his numbers, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Union members get a lot of overtime pay. That was a smart move on Trump’s part, and I expect Harris to echo it any day now.
With these numbers, one would think that the Teamsters leaders would officially endorse Trump. However, the leaders just couldn’t make themselves do that. Instead, they punted. Incidentally, the second paragraph is weird because the claims about union support being inclusive don’t jibe with their polling:
The General Executive Board of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on Wednesday elected not to endorse any candidate for U.S. President.
After reviewing six months of nationwide member polling and wrapping up nearly a year of rank-and-file roundtable interviews with all major candidates for the presidency, the union was left with few commitments on top Teamsters issues from either former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris—and found no definitive support among members for either party’s nominee.
Regardless of the official endorsement, it’s likely that almost 60% of the Teamsters’ members, who are spread across America, will be casting their votes for Donald Trump. That’s great.
But don’t get cocky. This election will be close, and Democrats will cheat, so every single vote counts. Make sure you vote and, if you vote in person, take all your conservative friends along.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/09/teamsters_overwhelmingly_support_trump_but_the_union_withholds_its_endorsement.html
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/09/teamsters-union-leaders-refuse-endorse-kamala-harris-as/
