Labor wielding clout in U.S. presidential race

By Ellen Wulfhorst

NEW YORK (Reuters) - With a weakened Republican president and Democrats given a solid chance to win, U.S. labor unions see next year's presidential election as a chance to revive their clout, experts and activists say.

Unions have been energized by the 2006 election, which produced a Democratic-controlled Congress, and by the approaching end of the administration of Republican President George W. Bush, who fought their key initiatives as the Iraq war hurt his popularity, experts say.

"The labor movement is in a powerful position now," said Gordon Lafer, labor expert at the University of Oregon.

"There's a large number of people who are very angry and very highly motivated," he said.

The Democratic presidential contenders, who court unions far more than do business-oriented Republicans, are vying to win labor's backing in the November 2008 election.

Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama, Joseph Biden and Chris Dodd, former Sen. John Edwards, Rep. Dennis Kucinich and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson have been talking recently to unions, including the AFL-CIO federation, fire fighters and the International Association of Machinists.

"Labor is on the offense now, so you hear some of the presidential candidates really talking up labor issues more so than in 2004," said Peter Francia, author of "The Future of Organized Labor in American Politics."

Activists say labor lost ground under Bush in efforts to organize workers, improve workplace safety and curb outsourcing of jobs overseas.