On Wednesday, Kamala Harris faced a significant setback as the Teamsters Union, a major Democratic ally, declined to endorse her, marking the first time in nearly 30 years that the union withheld its support from a Democratic candidate. The non-endorsement came after internal polling showed overwhelming support for Donald Trump among the union’s rank-and-file members, leading to the union’s decision to remain neutral rather than endorse either candidate.
The non-endorsement was a major win for Trump. The Teamsters have backed Democrats for six straight elections, last supporting a Republican in 1988 with George H.W. Bush. Even liberal outlets recognized the blow, unable to ignore the significance of the snub for Harris and the Democratic Party, particularly since it came just days after Harris met privately with union leaders to secure their support.
And Democrats are worried about it, too.
"Eight years after Donald Trump shattered the Blue Wall, some Democrats worry he could do it again," Politico warned on Friday.
Most polls show Kamala Harris tied or leading Trump in the critical battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin after a commanding performance at the debate. Party leaders are projecting confidence publicly. But on the ground, jittery elected officials, strategists and allies are quietly pointing to warning signs for the vice president.
The Teamsters withholding an endorsement from Harris this week — after internal polling showed most respondents backing Trump — is sparking fresh concerns that the GOP nominee could have higher-than-expected support among union members, especially men. Labor leaders in other sectors attest that, like in 2016 and 2020, the former president has maintained a grip on key parts of their rank-and-file despite his anti-union record. Privately, Democrats say Harris still has work to do to win over older, white, working-class voters who make up a large portion of the electorate in the Rust Belt and have been hit by high prices.
“Candidly, Trump has a solid, solid base of working-class people that have bought into his message,” Jimmy Williams, president of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, which endorsed Kamala, told Politico. “It’s movable and it’s been moving. But it’s not like some tide that’s turned.”
Politico noted that Democratic pollsters are raising alarms as new public surveys show Republicans closing the gap with Democrats regarding Social Security and Medicare. A poll from the labor-aligned Alliance for Retired Americans found Democrats holding only a mere one-to-two-point lead on these traditionally strong issues for the party. The pollster described this as “concerningly tight, given the party’s historic advantages on these issues."
In Pennsylvania, Republicans are aggressively targeting voters with mailers claiming that Trump will protect these programs while accusing Harris of threatening to "bankrupt" them through an "amnesty plan for illegals." And that message appears to be resonating.
Trump's huge lead among the rank-and-file Teamsters members is a symptom of a much larger problem Harris and the Democratic Party have with the constituencies they claim to be the strongest advocates for. That's why Democrats are panicking.
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