Where's the new Union's?

So I have been reading my thru Aric Alterman's 'Why We're Liberals' and it is a fascinating read. While I have to question some of his statistics as being slightly colored by the slant of the book, it really is a convincing read, and a terrible indictment of the Conservative movement and Republican administration.

But one of the biggest points I have come across which is really a crucial point, is where can the Liberals (and by extension although not exclusively Democrats) find a replacement for the role that Labor Unions once played in our country's politics? He argues, and it makes sense, that the Mega Churches have taken the role of social networking and political gathering place for the Conservatives that Unions used to play for the Democrats. And while the Mega churches have risen to become huge factors in our society, Unions and union membership have declined to the point that a large void has appeared for the Liberals.

For the first half of the century, and especially the 40 or so years from the Great Depression to the election of Richard Nixon, Unions played a huge role in our society. Most low income and lower middle class people belonged to unions. The union halls were social gathering points, and the Unions could put together large numbers of people to support their candidates. Well that has changed, my wife is really the only person my age that I know who is a member of a union.

Which means the Liberals have lost that starting point and base. Well here is where I bring the discussion to the current election. Obama and his supporters are using the best tool available to approximate the gathering point of mega churches and union halls: the Internet and social networking sites. And I think this is the sign that Obama really is the 'change candidate' that he claims to be. His campaign really is bringing out new voters and voting blocs, and using new tools that did not exist previously (or at least were not so prevalent). I think that as Hillary continues to court the old voting blocs of the Democratic party Obama is bringing new members to the party. Which I think could mean that his campaign will really change the politics of our country like we have not seen in a really long time.