04/18/2008
Announcement made at NFIB member business
CONTACT: Mike Diegel, 202-314-2004
WASHINGTON, D.C.--The National Federation of Independent Business, the nation's leading small business association, today announced that it has endorsed Sen. Norm Coleman for reelection.
The endorsement comes from NFIB's Save America's Free Enterprise (SAFE) Trust, the organization's political action committee, and is based on prior voting records to evaluate the candidates' views on legislative issues affecting small business. The endorsement was announced during an event held at McLaughlin Gormley King Company in Golden Valley, where longtime NFIB member Bill Gullickson is chairman of the board.
"It's a real honor to host Sen. Coleman today," Gullickson said. "He is the proven small business candidate in this race. Throughout his first term, he has continually fought for the interests of small business owners, earning our Guardian of Small Business award for his voting record on key small business issues. We deeply appreciate his work on our behalf."
"Sen. Coleman is a rare commodity these days in Washington and we need more senators like him," said Dan Danner, NFIB's executive vice president, public policy and political. "He's someone who can reach across the aisle and build consensus around real solutions to major problems like health care."
Danner also noted that since he was elected in 2002, Sen. Coleman has consistently supported small businesses on key issues including tax relief, legal liability reform and healthcare reform. In particular, he said, the senator voted against the misleadingly named "Employee Free Choice Act," which would make it easier for unions to organize small businesses by mandating "card-check" agreements instead of private-ballot elections.
Today's endorsement puts the considerable grassroots support of the state's small businesses behind the Coleman campaign. Small business owners and their employees vote in high numbers and are known for actively recruiting friends, family members and acquaintances to go to the polls. NFIB will encourage its members to help turn out the influential small business voting bloc on Election Day. According to NFIB polling data, small business owners and their employees make up 43 percent of registered voters in America.
