today, championing the right to work issue. an irritant to unions because it allows businesses in right to work states to be open or nonunion shops. right to work states, over the last decade, added 3 million new jobs. forced union states lost a million jobs. i don t want to discriminate against right to work states. i like right to work states. i want those jobs. reporter: labor unions have been dependable part of obama s base. spending $400 million in 2008 to help get him elected. part of the president s message to voters is that unions even with declining membership in recent years are still an important part of the nation s economic structure. i speak particularly to young people because you have grown up in a time in a lot of circles, union somehow is a dirty word. to understand all this is, is people joining together so they have got a little more leverage. reporter: one political analyst said the right to work versus union battling ties in to what will likely be the top