I've always loved parades. But one really stands out. I was just a kid, but I'll never forget the big parade in my hometown to celebrate jobs. Sponsored by organized labor, the parade marched down Broadway in Camden to herald the construction of the NS Savannah at the New York Shipbuilding Corp.
Part of the government's "Atoms for Peace" program in the 1950s, the Savannah was the first nuclear-powered cargo and passenger ship. The Savannah meant jobs and prosperity for Camden, then a thriving industrial city that relied on business, labor and government to keep things humming.
Above all, Camden was a blue-collar town, solidly Democrat and pro-labor.
Employment was always the defining "bread and butter" issue for Democrats.
To read the rest of my column in today's Philadelphia Daily News click here.
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