Editing AFL-CIO (section)

== Political activities ==
The AFL-CIO was a major component of the [[New Deal Coalition]] that dominated politics into the mid-1960s.<ref>Nelson Lichtenstein, ''State of the Union: A Century of American Labor'' (2nd ed. 2013)</ref> Although it has lost membership, finances, and political clout since 1970, it remains a major player on [[Liberalism in the United States|the liberal side of national politics]], with a great deal of activity in lobbying, [[grassroots]] organizing, coordinating with other liberal organizations, fund-raising, and recruiting and supporting candidates around the country.<ref>{{cite book|last=Holley|first=William|title=The Labor Relations Process|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FRQKAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA153|date= 2011|publisher=Cengage Learning|page=153ff|display-authors=etal|isbn=978-1133713623}}</ref>

In recent years the AFL-CIO has concentrated its political efforts on lobbying in Washington and the state capitals, and on "GOTV" (get-out-the-vote) campaigns in major elections. For example, in the 2010 midterm elections, it sent 28.6 million pieces of mail. Members received a "slate card" with a list of union endorsements matched to the member's congressional district, along with a "personalized" letter from President Obama emphasizing the importance of voting. In addition, 100,000 volunteers went door-to-door to promote endorsed candidates to 13 million union voters in 32 states.<ref>AFL–CIO, [https://aflcio.org/mediacenter/prsptm/pr10302006a.cfm "AFL–CIO Announces Huge 'FINAL FOUR' GOTV Push" "Press release" Oct. 30 2010] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061201040050/http://www.aflcio.org/mediacenter/prsptm/pr10302006a.cfm |date=2006-12-01 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Walsh|first1=Deirdre|title=AFL–CIO steps up get-out-the-vote effort|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/10/25/union.vote.campaign/|access-date=4 February 2015|publisher=CNN|date=October 25, 2010|archive-date=February 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225231116/http://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/10/25/union.vote.campaign/|url-status=live}}</ref>