In a Labor Day coup which might keep his failing campaign going, former Senator John Edwards won the endorsements of two of the most important labor unions, reports Ramesh Santanam for the Associated Press:

John Edwards won the endorsement of the United Steelworkers and the United Mine Workers of America as more than 1,000 union members cheered the Democratic presidential candidate.

"America was not built on Wall Street. America was built by steelworkers and mine workers," Edwards told supporters at a downtown Labor Day rally and parade.

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The United Steelworkers is the largest industrial union in North America, with 850,000 members and retirees in the metals, mining, rubber, paper, oil refining, chemicals and service industries.

Read the rest at the link above. Whether his union backers can deliver votes in Iowa and New Hampshire remains to be seen - but if he needs someone's knees broken, he knows who to call now.

In related Labor Day news, this NRO editorial puts it in perspective:

According to the National Institute for Labor Relations Research, unions contributed $925 million to political campaigns and causes during the last presidential-election cycle. Nearly all of that money went to Democrats. On top of those nine digits, unions routinely run massive get-out-the-vote drives to help Democrats, and their officers often volunteer full time for Democratic campaigns while collecting salaries from their union jobs.

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In ages past, when the worker's lot was much worse than it is today, union leaders stuck to what they did best: collective bargaining and improvement of work conditions. They fought for the well-being of their workers, but frequently opposed government intervention in the workplace, understanding that a free market would create jobs and opportunities for all. Today's labor leaders simply fight to preserve their power, often at the expense of both the workers they represent and the country as a whole. Unfortunately, their closest political friends hold a majority in Congress.

Read the whole column at the above link.

Happy Labor Day!