Labor & Employment Law

Chavez-Thompson: A Hug for the Prez

By Tula Connell

Linda Chavez-Thompson, candidate for lieutenant governor in Texas, had the honor of introducing President Barack Obama to the state Democratic National Committee yesterday. But she refused to shake his hand. Instead, she

walked up straight to him, stared him in the eye and greeted him with a warm abrazo [hug]. Because that?s the way you greet a fellow laborer.

And yes, I consider Barack Obama a laborer. 

Chavez-Thompson, AFL-CIO executive vice president emerita, went on to tell the audience that Obama has

taken on the economy. He?s taken on health care. He?s taken on Wall Street. And he doesn?t back down.

What he does do, and Texans respect this, is extend his hand across the aisle in a spirit of bi-partisanship. After all, the challenges Americans and Texas families face don’t come with a party label on them.

But when his offer is not reciprocated, he does what any Texan would do. He does the work himself, because at the end of the day, the work still has to get done.

Chavez-Thompson has a tough race in a tough state. But she’s putting the same dynamic energy into her campaign to help the working people of Texas as she did to help unions while EVP here. And as she told the Netroots Nation conference last month in a highly praised speech:

I may be only five feet tall, but I’ve been fighting back all my life. And on Nov. 2, I’m going to be the next lieutenant governor of Texas.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on August 10, 2010 (boomark / email).