Was it just me or did someone else notice that there was barely a mention of labor in the debate last night between Democratic candidates? I haven’t had a chance to find a transcript somewhere–I can’t bear to watch the video again…–but my memory remembers only two mentions, both of which were in passing: Clinton mentioned labor in a list of groups that should be at the table when health care is debated and Biden made some reference to making union rights protected…or something like that…or was that Richardson?

    My haziness about this just shows how low on the radar screen labor ranks. Sure, before a labor audience candidates know how to say the right things. But, it’s not part of their DNA. There were some passing remarks about anxiety–particularly from Mr. Generality/Audacity and Hope Obama–but nothing specific about how the decline of unions exactly mirrors the decline in generally shared prosperity in the country. I was particularly surprised that John Edwards didn’t say one thing about unions (now, I should say I was switching a bit to the Yankees-Red Sox game but only for a few minutes…and wasn’t that a grand result, too!!!)

    Did I miss something or did someone else hear something different?