AFL-CIO Will Let 'Some' Dems Die On Their Own In 2010 - Sam Stein/HuffPo

[WillyT]

And THIS... is the way you do it!

AFL-CIO Will Let 'Some' Dems Die On Their Own In 2010
Sam Stein
First Posted: 08- 4-10 02:32 PM | Updated: 08- 4-10 02:32 PM

<snip>

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said on Wednesday that his union will let certain endangered Democrats fend for themselves and potentially lose their seats in the upcoming November elections due to their anti-labor voting records.

Speaking to a small gathering of reporters shortly after President Obama implored the union's Executive Council to gear up for the final months of campaigning, Trumka insisted that his organization will not serve as a blank check for the party.

There would be "some" lawmakers, he stressed, who won't get any help from the AFL-CIO, which has said it is prepared to spend more than $53 million on the election. Trumka wouldn't name names. But he insisted that the union won't be persuaded to invest in a contest even if the election is a toss-up.

"I don't think viability has as much to do with it," Trumka said. "We look at people who are friends and if they are friends we will stay with them," he said. "But if they haven't been friends, than we are not going to dilute the resources that we have helping them when there are other candidates who have been real friends to the working people needing help."

The AFL-CIO chief already caused a stir in the 2010 election season when he put the union's resources behind a primary challenge to Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.). Lincoln ultimately won the nomination in a runoff election sparking a heated bit of anonymous sniping from White House officials. Trumka stressed that President Obama never talked him out of backing Lt. Gov. Bill Halter in that race. As for the nameless administration aides, he said: "The anonymous sources have ."

Far from discouraging the AFL-CIO from targeting Democratic members, Trumka said that the Arkansas experience was a boost. The union, he stressed, will not only let certain Democrats fend for themselves in 2010, it will primary others during the subsequent cycle.

"People now are more consultative. I think they are saying, 'Look, these guys are serious,'" he said. "In the future you will see get more active, probably in primaries than you have before because if they get amnesia after we go all out to help them get elected... we will help them remember."

<snip>

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/04/afl-cio-will-let-some-dem_n_670689.html

:kick:

[MannyGoldstein]

1. "Who the fuck else you assholes gonna vote for?"

isn't a stellar campaign strategy this time?

Who knew that people don't like being abused? Something new for a lot of elected Democrats to learn, I suppose.

[Forkboy]

2. "We look at people who are friends and if they are friends we will stay with them"

K&R

[ThomWV]

3. Dam good!

[Marr]

4. Excellent idea. I intend to do the same.

Let them sink, and eventually the party leadership won't be full of corporate shills. And even if it is, they'll think twice before trying to promote their pals.

[Goldstein1984]

5. And that is how it should be

Behaviors are driven by consequences, and a voting strategy that reduces to "I'll vote incumbent/Democrat because they suck less" is getting old.

Fuck with industry and you pay the price. Why shouldn't a candidate pay the price when they fuck with labor?

[Jim Sagle]

6. Labor RRRRRRRAWWWWWXXXXXXX!!!!!

[TheKentuckian]

7. Go labor go! Stand up and be counted.

[bvar22]

8. Now THATS Change I can believe in.

Solidarity!

[WillyT]

9. LOL !!!

Tell it, brother!!!

:rofl:

:evilgrin:

:hi:

[Touchdown]

10. I'm glad this is the new strategy.

It's hard to get my union bros and sis' involved if we just support anybody because "they suck less". It's so much easier to get involved with candidates you believe in.

[Brickbat]

11. I support this 100 percent.

HELL to the YES.

[Omaha Steve]

12. I'm AFSCME, AFL-CIO AFFILIATED

K&R!

[WillyT]

13. Morning Kick !!!

:kick:

[Flubadubya]

14. Here in Arkansas, Lincoln and Ross...

I hope that means the Unions intend to leave them twisting in the wind!!! Sounds good to me. :thumbsup:

[Stinky The Clown]

15. Excellent. K&R

[4_TN_TITANS]

16. Not taking this stance is why unions are in the shape they are

today. Too little, too late?

[gratuitous]

17. I'm sure there will be sharp words about this from a White House aide

And then Labor will be put on notice that they're acting in a manner best characterized as "fucking retarded," and if they expect anything else out of Congress or the White House, they'd better reconsider the decision not to help Democratic officials who've given them little more than the back of their hand.

But even that won't be the most fun part.

No, the most fun part will be the folks who defend the words and contemplated actions of the White House aide, and excoriate those who are glad that Labor is breaking the cycle of abuse.