By Verna Porter

I was married to a Longshoreman for 33 years and have stayed active in the political process because I know how much politics can help or hurt working families. That’s why I attended the Pacific Coast Pensioners Association conference last month in San Pedro, and it’s why I led a delegation of Oregon senior activists who attended the Alliance for Retired Americans (ARA) over the Labor Day week in Washington, D.C.

The ARA brings together retirees from a wide-variety of groups including many retired union members. Joining us at the ARA event were more than 600 folks from practically every state, including my friends in Washington State who came with state chapter President Art Bolton. Our goal was to prepare for the 2008 election year, hear from lawmakers and Presidential candidates, and let them know our views during a “lobby day” on Capitol Hill.

Alliance President George Kourpias welcomed us to the Capitol with a call to action behind the theme “Building for America’s Future.” He urged us to work for changes that will help our generation and those who will follow us.

We heard from several political strategists who displayed a map showing many of the key races next year, including some in the Northwest. The effort to unseat Oregon incumbent Senator Gordon Smith (who scores below 20 on most union scorecards) is getting a great deal of attention, because his poll numbers keep going down as he flip-flops on important issues like the war in Iraq. Fortunately, two committed friends of working families have mounted challenges: Jeff Merkley, Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives who in 2007 ran the best pro-union legislative session in decades, and Steve Novick, a political strategist who comes from a family of union activists.

AFL-CIO President Sweeney, Executive Vice-President Chavez-Thompson, and Secretary-Treasurer Trumka all took the time to speak with us, emphasizing the importance of the senior vote. Senator Hillary Clinton expressed her support for Social Security and health care reform. Congressman Dennis Kucinich, and Elizabeth Edwards (appearing on behalf of former Senator John Edwards) detailed their progressive health care plans and called for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.

Workshops helped us learn more about the health care debate, suggested ways to build coalitions back home, and provided tips for getting our message out to the media. This training means that hundreds of ARA activists are now ready and able to help with grassroots political work across the nation.

The day we spent talking with members of Congress on Capitol Hill was very productive. Each of us had “talking points” on key issues including Social Security and Medicare that made it easier to nail-down our elected representatives and their staff. Congress was just back in session and very busy following the August recess, but we were still able to meet with Senator Wyden as well as Representatives McDermott, Dicks, and Wu.

The work we do as seniors and union members—at home and on Capitol Hill—is an important part of keeping politicians accountable to working people and the issues we care about. Early next year we’ll come together again in regional meetings to prepare for the most important election of our lifetimes, as we move to take back America for working families and retirees, and end the nightmare of Bush II.