Most Democrats in southern West Virginia know where they will be on Labor Day. It’s a 70 year old tradition, especially in election years. West Virginia Democrats gather in Racine, WV for the United Mine Workers of American (UMWA) Labor Rally.
This annual tradition has played host to Democrats running for President, Governor, West Virginia Supreme Court, and many other offices. In 2004, the labor gathering produced “The Scream at Racine,” which helped play a role in the defeat of radical Supreme Court Justice Warren McGraw.
There is a new party on the block this year. A coalition of local employers, associations, and elected officials, who call themselves Friends of America are hosting a day long event to honor American working families with a free Labor Day “Friends of America” concert and rally near Holden, West Virginia.
“The Friends of America rally is about standing up for our freedoms, our families and the American way of life,” said Democrat Art Kirkendoll, president of the Logan County Commission. However, not all Democrats see this event as a positive for southern West Virginia and coal mining families.
The liberal anti-coal website W.Va. Blue has this to say about the event:
“In an attempt to combat what he wrongly cites as out-of-state activists fighting MTR, AP reports Don Blankenship is bringing in out-of-state GOP hacks and washed-up musicians, along with an out-of-country global warming denier of questionable credibility. And then the anti-union folks wrap the whole thing, held on an MTR site, up in a fake “Labor Day’ message about workers.”
One has to assume that organizers of the Labor Rally in Racine are concerned that the Friends of America Rally will cause low attendance at their event. In recent years the biggest name on the agenda was Joe Manchin, who is probably too closely aligned with big business interests for most liberal pro-union Democrats.
The lack of attendance from big name Democrats could spell doom for the Racine rally this year. Pictures from last year’s event (Here and Here) show sparse attendance. Names like Hank Williams, Jr. and Ted Nugent are likely to draw large crowds from the southern West Virginia mountains and coal fields.
There are no estimates for attendance from the Friends of America group. It could range from several thousand to the fifty thousand range, which is a number the Massey Energy annual picnic has hit previously.
Either way, the people of West Virginia will be given an opportunity on Labor Day to hear two very different and distinct views on America. I am betting a majority of people in southern West Virginia still love America and will show up at the Friends of America rally.
UMWA President Cecil Roberts and Governor Joe Manchin have been one-uped by Sean Hannity, Hank Williams, Jr. and Ted Nugent this year. See you in Holden, WV!
The Racine event is pumped up by the Democrats but is really nothing more than a few 2o union members listening to politicians and hacks.
20 union members? The UMW has that many left?
For people who claim to care for their families, many sure are confused about the groups that have always stood up for them. Do you think for one minute, your family would have the income it has now, if there had been no UMWA Union?” It was only five years ago, you listened to, “For the Sake of the Kids”, and you voted in Don’s Judge, while an firm labor supporter was defeated. Don’s man has become the scource of national ridicule.
There will be a day in your future that you will wish you were one of those 20 UMWA members.
Wilma Lee Steele
Wilma- We’re looking for ugly… and its hiding in the UMWA.
That anyone in WV is still anti-union after the Coal Wars is beyond comprehension.