By Ray Cardello for September 19, 2024, Season 28 / Post 40

Today’s article may appear to have a typo in the title, but it’s not a mistake. It’s a fact. Sean O’Brien, the CEO of Teamsters National, made a historic decision by choosing not to endorse a candidate for 2024. This is the first time the Teamsters have not aligned with a candidate since 1996. The Teamsters, known for usually endorsing the Democrat candidate for President, couldn’t give that nod to Kamala Harris. Instead, they released the results of an internal poll of members, which showed Trump as the clear winner with 58% of the votes.

I need to step back and explain my position on the Teamsters. I have never been a union supporter. Being in management or ownership for my professional career, I was on the other side of the fence. I feel unions were needed decades ago when working conditions were unsafe, but now they are more of a political action arm than arbiter for employee rights. As a school bus driver in my retirement, I reluctantly had to join the Teamsters and have not been happy with some of their actions. I do not believe they should influence their members politically, and I was very concerned when they took a stand when the Supreme Court repealed Roe v. Wade. The fact that their internal polling of members showed a clear preference, yet the union officers could not endorse Trump, shows disdain for the members’ wishes.

Voters should do their research on political candidates at every level. There are so many groups or individuals that want to express their opinions on candidates. I see this practice as self-serving or attention-seeking. Unions typically look at candidates solely on their policies on labor. This is far too narrow a look at a candidate’s worthiness for office. Celebrities are a different ballgame.

We should not care which candidate Taylor Swift or George Clooney favors. These people are performers and have tremendous influence over their fans, but they are paid to sing or act and not pontificate on who they are voting for. These celebs have an enormous presence on social media and support the lemming mentality that tells people who to support rather than encouraging a more active role in the voting process. Sport is another avenue of opinion. As if the Taylor Swift/Kansas City Chiefs was not an old act, we now have the conflict between Swift, who is openly supporting Harris, and Brittany Mahomes, wife of QB Patrick Mahomes, who is backing Donald Trump. The two women used to share a suite for Chief’s games, but not since they announced conflicting endorsements. To his credit, Patrick Mahomes has refused to say who he backs and stated publicly that he does not think athletes should use their platform for politics.

Kamala Harris will sit with Oprah Winfrey today for a two-hour discussion. I cannot call this a press conference because Winfrey supported Harris at the DNC showing this will not be an unbiased dip into Harris’ campaign. This will be a free political advertisement. The Presidential campaigns have been made-for-TV reality shows, and we do not need to expand the cast with celebrities or athletes.