AFL-CIO Fracture
Scrappleface is on a tear today, being both relevant and fun. However, the topic of their parody is a rather serious one.
The Democrats have relied on the AFL-CIO to be a rock for their party for decades. The party often relied on the AFL-CIO to be their grassroots campaign while the Republicans had to do it on their own. In the heyday of the AFL-CIO, 3 in 10 people were in unions. That was a powerful block of voters that was very difficult to overcome. The Democrats ruled pretty much all of government, occasionally giving up the White House and that was it. Here’s the political landscape of Congress from 1955 to the present:
| 1955-1957 | D | 232 | R | 203 | Eisenhower (R) | 53% |
| 1957-1959 | D | 234 | R | 201 | Eisenhower (R) | 54% |
| 1959-1961 | D | 283 | R | 153 | Eisenhower (R) | 65% |
| 1961-1963 | D | 263 | R | 174 | Kennedy (D) | 60% |
| 1963-1965 | D | 259 | R | 176 | Kennedy (D) | 60% |
| 1965-1967 | D | 295 | R | 140 | L.Johnson (D) | 68% |
| 1967-1969 | D | 247 | R | 187 | L.Johnson (D) | 57% |
| 1969-1971 | D | 243 | R | 192 | Nixon (R) | 56% |
| 1971-1973 | D | 255 | R | 180 | Nixon (R) | 59% |
| 1973-1975 | D | 242 | R | 192 | Nixon(R) | 56% |
| 1975-1977 | D | 291 | R | 144 | Ford (R) | 67% |
| 1977-1979 | D | 292 | R | 143 | Carter (D) | 67% |
| 1979-1981 | D | 277 | R | 158 | Carter (D) | 64% |
| 1981-1983 | D | 242 | R | 192 | Reagan (R) | 56% |
| 1983-1985 | D | 269 | R | 166 | Reagan (R) | 62% |
| 1985-1987 | D | 253 | R | 182 | Reagan (R) | 58% |
| 1987-1989 | D | 258 | R | 177 | Reagan (R) | 59% |
| 1989-1991 | D | 260 | R | 175 | GHW Bush (R) | 60% |
| 1991-1993 | D | 267 | R | 167 | GHW Bush (R) | 61% |
| 1993-1995 | D | 258 | R | 176 | Clinton (D) | 59% |
| 1995-1997 | R | 230 | D | 204 | Clinton (D) | 47% |
| 1997-1999 | R | 228 | D | 206 | Clinton (D) | 47% |
| 1999-2001 | R | 223 | D | 211 | Clinton (D) | 49% |
| 2001-2003 | R | 221 | D | 212 | G.W. Bush (R) | 49% |
| 2003-2005 | R | 229 | D | 204 | G.W. Bush (R) | 47% |
| 2005-2007 | R | 232 | D | 202 | G.W. Bush (R | 46% |
The Democrats controlled the House the first 20 consecutive elections following the merger of the AFL-CIO.
The Senate was about the same:
| 1955-1957 | D | 48 | R | 47 | Eisenhower (R) | 48% |
| 1957-1959 | D | 49 | R | 47 | Eisenhower (R) | 49% |
| 1959-1961 | D | 65 | R | 35 | Eisenhower (R) | 65% |
| 1961-1963 | D | 65 | R | 35 | Kennedy (D) | 65% |
| 1963-1965 | D | 67 | R | 33 | Kennedy (D) | 67% |
| 1965-1967 | D | 68 | R | 32 | L.Johnson (D) | 68% |
| 1967-1969 | D | 64 | R | 36 | L.Johnson (D) | 64% |
| 1969-1971 | D | 57 | R | 43 | Nixon (R) | 57% |
| 1971-1973 | D | 54 | R | 44 | Nixon (R) | 54% |
| 1973-1975 | D | 56 | R | 42 | Nixon(R) | 56% |
| 1975-1977 | D | 60 | R | 37 | Ford (R) | 60% |
| 1977-1979 | D | 61 | R | 38 | Carter (D) | 61% |
| 1979-1981 | D | 58 | R | 41 | Carter (D) | 58% |
| 1981-1983 | R | 53 | D | 46 | Reagan (R) | 46% |
| 1983-1985 | R | 55 | D | 45 | Reagan (R) | 45% |
| 1985-1987 | R | 53 | D | 47 | Reagan (R) | 47% |
| 1987-1989 | D | 55 | R | 45 | Reagan (R) | 55% |
| 1989-1991 | D | 54 | R | 46 | G.H.W. Bush (R) | 54% |
| 1991-1993 | D | 56 | R | 44 | G.H.W. Bush (R) | 56% |
| 1993-1995 | D | 57 | R | 43 | Clinton (D) | 57% |
| 1995-1997 | R | 52 | D | 48 | Clinton (D) | 48% |
| 1997-1999 | R | 55 | D | 45 | Clinton (D) | 45% |
| 1999-2001 | R | 55 | D | 45 | Clinton (D) | 45% |
| 2001-2003 | D | 50 | R | 49 | G.W. Bush (R) | 50% |
| 2003-2005 | R | 51 | D | 48 | G.W. Bush (R) | 48% |
| 2003-2005 | R | 55 | D | 44 | G.W. Bush (R) | 44% |
The AFL-CIO enjoyed unquestioned power from 1955-1980 or so. But, during the 80’s through today, the business environment changed in that smaller companies became much more prevalent than huge companies dominating an entire local economy. The membership of the AFL-CIO started declining, rather drastically. From the 3 in 10 numbers of the heyday of the 60’s to the approximately 1 in 12 today, and declining still. And, not so coincedentally, the fortunes of the national Democrat party have declined as well, from enjoying a super-majority in the late 70’s to being a fractured minority in the 21st century. That rock the Democrats could rely on for their grassroots organization has fractured along with the Democrats at this point as the Teamsters and SEIU have chosen to form their own coalition. I don’t think this will help the Republicans per se, but it sure won’t help the Democrats on a national level.