>I am not sure if this is true - blue collar rank and file tends to be
>socially conservative and patriotic and thus vote Republican. In other
>words, unions membership does not necessarily mean votes for Democrats -
>identity politics is IMHO a much bigger factor.
I think you're wrong about this. Union members are more likely to vote Dem than non-union people. I've never seen a formal study, but I bet if you did a statistical analysis controlling for all other demographic factors, a union membership variable would still significantly predict a Dem vote. Lemme ask Ruy Teixeira.
Doug