UUP member Fred Miller of Oneonta proudly took a seat in a crowd of 17,000 at Chicago’s Soldier Field for the AFL-CIO’s Aug. 7 presidential candidates’ forum.

Miller’s history of political activism, which includes being a delegate to two Democratic National Conventions, prompted the AFT to send him as one of its representatives.

The seven White House hopefuls — Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Barack Obama (D-Ill.), Joseph Biden (D-Dela.), Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson — focused much of their attention on working family issues in an effort to promote their pro-labor credentials.

Miller came away impressed with all seven candidates, praising them as bright, experienced and capable. In his opinion, all of the candidates on the platform would be able to lead the country if they were president.

Miller said unionists need to digest each candidate’s remarks to determine which one deserves their support.

“We union members now must try to judge how each of these candidates might translate their statements into actions,” he said.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said the debate underscores that political change is in the air.

“There’s a reason candidates committed to improving the well-being of working men and women took back Congress last year and will take back the White House next year,” he said. “Working men and women — the great majority in this country — want to fix what’s wrong with America.”

MSNBC aired the 90-minute debate live nationwide.

Following the forum, the AFL-CIO declined to make any endorsement.

— Donald Feldstein