The following piece is published on Iowa Independent as well as HuffPost's OffTheBus.
Iowa members of United Auto Workers stood on risers behind Barack Obama Sunday afternoon during a Marion press conference as a physical showing of the union's recommendation to international headquarters that they want a formal UAW endorsement of the Illinois senator.
On Thursday, UAW Region 4 made history when they became the first regional organization to vote for support of a presidential candidate. Although not a formal endorsement, 65 percent of UAW Region 4 delegates -- a region with members hailing from Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana -- voted to send a message to their international executive board that they support a formal endorsement of Obama. Region 4 represents 64,000 active and 122,000 retirees -- roughly 30,000 of which are Iowa residents.
Critics have said the show of support means little since it is not a true endorsement and that the results were not reflective of the entire region due to a high percentage of delegates being from Illinois, the Democratic candidate's home state. Additionally, pundits have pointed to the fact that the majority of Iowa UAW members who voted did not give the majority of their support to Obama, raising questions about whether locals will take action to support Obama for the caucuses.
UAW Local 1024 Community Action Program Chair Loren Sands said after the press conference that he hopes the Iowa membership will rally behind the Region 4 show of support, but admitted that the Iowa delegation did not provide majority support to any one presidential candidate.
"We are going to strive to get [unified support behind Obama] done in Iowa," Sands said.
During the public rally following the press conference, Obama further pushed his ability to be a champion for America's workers -- even while being a champion for the environment.
"If we increase fuel-efficiency standards on cars to 40 miles per gallon, we would save the equivalent of all the oil imported from the Persian Gulf," Obama said. "Imagine what that would do for our economy and what that would do for our environment and for our national security. And, by the way, when I made this proposal on fuel efficiency, I didn't just go to the Sierra Club. I went to Detriot in front of the automakers and I said, 'This is something we need to work on. Not only is it good for the environment, it is good for you. You've got the best workers in the world, but you're making bad decisions about the cars you are building.'"
Obama said that when he made that speech to the auto manufacturers in Detriot, it wasn't well-received.
"When I finished, no one clapped at first," he said. "And, that's okay. It is the job of the president not to tell people what they want to hear. We have to start telling people what they need to hear."
After attending the press conference and a public rally on Sunday, Sands and other local UAW members put their heads together in an adjacent hallway to brainstorm ways to shore up the Iowa support for Obama.
"We don't have a plan of action yet," Sands said. "To be honest, that's just what we were out here talking about -- what comes next. Our state [Community Action Program] chair will be getting with all of us."
The UAW's Community Action Program (CAP) is the group's social and political arm. The group forms positions on issues ranging from bankruptcy to human rights to veterans' affairs. It is composed of rank-and-file members who choose to become more active within their communities. It was this grassroots organization that mobilized on behalf of Gov. Chet Culver during the 2006 election and proved itself a force within the Iowa political spectrum.
"This vote of support and the CAP can be very helpful to Senator Obama," said Tim Henderson, who is a part of the Skill Trades Committee and a local trustee. "We all know how to get out there and work."
The Region 4 members had invited all the presidential candidates to come and speak at their convention where the vote of support was taken. All of the Democratic candidates except former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel accepted their invitation. None of the Republican candidates chose to attend and speak.
"It's not that the endorsement, if it comes, will be the final say," said Henderson. "The union doesn't tell us that we have to support this guy, but it does influence who members will support. Our members know from talking to all the candidates who is going to support our issues more."
Calls to UAW International, asking what weight, if any, the Region 4 action will have on the union's endorsement or on the other 10 organized regions, were not returned.
In an effort to convince Iowans that Obama is the guy who will stand up and fight for American workers and jobs, the campaign has released a new 30-second ad, dubbed "Need," that begins airing in the state today. In the ad, Obama describes American workers at the "bedrock" of the economy and proposes a plan to address the widening gap between the middle class and the wealthy.