AFL-CIO targets McCain in voter outreach campaign

By Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The largest labor federation in the United States on Wednesday announced a wide-ranging voter-outreach effort to criticize the economic policies of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

The AFL-CIO federation said its campaign will tell more than 13 million union households in 23 U.S. states that the presumptive Republican nominee would pursue policies that would hurt them if he is elected in November.

"John McCain has repeatedly demonstrated that he offers more of the same failed economic polices George Bush has pushed for seven years," AFL-CIO Political Director Karen Ackerman said in a conference call.

Surveys show that voters are now more concerned with the worsening economy than the Iraq war. Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton speak frequently about pocketbook issues on the campaign trail and have criticized free trade agreements, but McCain has defended free trade even in states like Ohio where it is blamed for economic woes.

Ackerman criticized McCain for backing free trade, voting to limit overtime pay and doing little to avert looming crises in health care and housing.

The labor federation, which represents more than 10.5 million unionized workers, plans to devote a record $53.4 million for grass-roots political efforts this year. Other labor groups are also stepping up their political activities.

The AFL-CIO campaign will rely on in-person visits at work and at home, phone calls and flyers, Ackerman said.

Union activists also will confront McCain at campaign stops, she said.

The federation will focus its efforts in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, swing states with a high concentration of union workers, she said.

The Republican Party called on Obama and Clinton to denounce the campaign as an effort by "special interests."

"The AFL-CIO's campaign against John McCain clearly demonstrates their priorities lie in attack politics as opposed to focusing on American families," Republican National Committee spokesman Alex Conant said.

(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)