Obama may be hindered by racism among even Democrats: union leader

DENVER -- Barack Obama's presidential run will be hindered by racism among even pro-union Democrats if party activists do not get out to change their minds, a national labor leader told a gather at the Democratic National Convention Thursday.

AFL-CIO Secretary/Treasurer Richard Trumka told a breakfast crowd that no Democratic presidential nominee has ever been more sensitive to labor needs than Obama, who has voted with labor interests 98 percent of the time. He went on to say, however, that the Illinois senator is up against "one of the biggest obstacles we've ever had."

To illustrate his point, Trumka told the story of a conversation he had with a longtime Democratic union worker in Nemacolin, Penn., who said that she supported Hillary Clinton but would not support Obama. When asked why, she said that she thought he was Muslim (he's not), didn't like his not wearing an American flag lapel pin and didn't trust him because he is black.

"There are a lot of white voters out there, some of them union members, who think that he's the wrong race," Trumka told roughly 70 Colorado delegates and their guests.

"As Democrats, we can't tap-dance around the fact that there are some faces out there just like that woman," Trumka said. "They're scared to death. They want change. They need change. But they just can't get past the notion that voting for a black man named Barack Obama is the only way to do that."