Election '84: Despite an All-Out Effort, Labor Comes Up Short

But unions hope for a payoff next time ore than a year ago, the 13.7 million-member AFL-CIO took the unprecedented step of endorsing a Democratic presidential candidate, Walter Mondale, before a single caucus or primary had been held. The goal: to establish labor early on as the decisive element in the Democrats' bid for the White House. "If we do not do what we propose to do, we shall be reviled as toothless and irrelevant," said AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland at the time. "If we succeed, we shall be condemned for daring to...