On November 4th, many of America’s hardest workers and most loyal Democrats are going to punch out, head to the polls and vote.

…for John McCain.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — You just knew that when Joe O’Connell, former head of the local AFL-CIO, got on stage here with John McCain and Sarah Palin things were not going smoothly for the Obama campaign among union voters.

“I am a lifelong Democrat, an intelligent Democrat, who is supporting John McCain,” O’Connell said last week as a crowd of 7,000 waved “Another Democrat for John McCain” signs and roared its approval.

Ladies and Gentlemen, that’s a seven with three zeros behind it. And why exactly are they leaving the DNC at the bottom of their lockers?

Race?

Oh oh.

(Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Bill George) narrows the problem down to race. “There is no question, earlier in the primary campaign the racial issue was there, just like the gender issue was with Hillary for some unions,” he says.

“We in America like to think we don’t have any hang-ups or stereotypes. But because of our history and because of a lot of industrial psychology controlling the masses, people have innate prejudices.”

Did he just call his membership a bunch of racists? A history of racism?

George says that the mind-set of some people in the labor movement regarding race is no different than it is in church groups, or in the Republican Party.

Oh, scratch that. Union members, Republicans and the Spiritually Inclined are all racists. Gotcha.

Joe Rugola is George’s counterpart in Ohio and he, too, is seeing a problem with race and his members. Yet he also sees another dynamic going on — a respect among union members for McCain.

Might this be a little closer to the truth? Respect for McCain? And…huh? Because of their conservative values? Bam!

Stricker says that other than people not voting for a black candidate, a couple of factors — such as Obama’s cultural style and pro-choice stand — do not sit well with culturally conservative union members.

I’m not sure what the euphemism “cultural style” [Kevin Nealon]reverendwrightarrogantelitist[end Kevin Nealon] represents. But sadly Obama’s race is apparently an issue with some Americans, to an extent probably not reflected in the polls.

Side note: I think we can all agree that if Obama loses his bid solely due to his race it will be a sad day in America.

Whether the issue is abortion, race or “cultural style”, the Democrats are running scared in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

“It’s a problem,” George admits, “but we are in an all-out effort to educate our members that the Democratic Party is the only one for working families.”

Democrats count on unions for get-out-the-vote efforts and for the support of members and their families. Without them, states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio — which each have about 740,000 workers who belong to unions, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — would move into the Republican column.

Obama’s handlers have been heard to say that they can win without Ohio. But Ohio and Pennsylvania? Not so much…not to mention the East Coast Effect that could have on voters on election night.

…and Joe Biden, thought to be the key to securing these very voters, the “Energizer Bunny Mouth” isn’t helping much either.

Is this the beginning of the end for Obama?