Ford's fairly effective theme, during the campaign's closing ten days, of warning that Democrats mean higher taxes and, therefore, lower paychecks is part of the answer. But beyond that, Republicans must attempt what Ford did not, to convince workingmen that the GOP is not their economic enemy at the rudimentary level of collective bargaining. Or, put another way: while Republicans are death on heavy government spending, high taxes, and "particularly" profligate welfare outlays, they are even-handed neutrals in the war between management and labor.

This involves a renewed pursuit of an alliance with some elements of organized labor begun by that tainted master politician, Richard M. Nixon, and abandoned after his fall. Yet, the backbone of the party, the small-town merchants and manufacturers, who even now are not ashamed to be called Republicans, oppose any such courtship.

The fact that the labor movement is split irreconcilably on key questions of national defense and international affairs is lost on the country-club Republican. In his heart he feels that the real threat to his nation comes not from Leonid Brezhnev but from George Meany. In particular, that surviving fraction in the House of Representatives is emotionally more anti-labor than anti-Communist.

Source: Novak, Robert D. Fiasco '76. National Review. p. 1398. December 24, 1976.

There is much more than a battle between the parties going on here in Washington. It is a struggle between Conservatives and Big Labor bosses. Big Labor has already "bought" the Liberals in Congress - and the result is more and more pro-Big Labor legislation - at any price.

Source: McIntyre, Sen. Thomas J. The Fear Brokers. p. 90 (1979)

In the Houston Chronicle:

Tim Thompson, who was an MSHA district manager at the time and now works as a safety specialist for several coal companies, would not talk about Murray, but took notes of the meeting. According to those notes, Murray warned inspectors to back off or face retribution.

"I will have your jobs. They are gone," Murray allegedly said. "The clock is ticking."

And: "Mitch McConnell calls me one of the five finest men in America, and the last I checked, he was sleeping with your boss." McConnell, a Republican senator from Kentucky, is married to U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.