Big Union Vows To Back Arlen Specter In 2010 If He Supports Employee Free Choice
This is big: Senior officials with the powerful AFL-CIO have privately assured GOP Senator Arlen Specter that they’ll throw their full support behind him in the 2010 Senate race if he votes for the Employee Free Choice Act, a senior labor strategist working closely with the AFL on the issue tells me.
This is significant, because it represents a big incentive for Specter to switch parties — and to support Employee Free Choice. Specter may be facing a serious GOP primary challenge from Club for Growth head Pat Toomey. If he loses that — or pulls out of the GOP first and becomes an Indy or a Dem — supporting Employee Free Choice could give him the organizational muscle from labor and Democratic support he needs to prevail in a general election and hold his seat.
The labor strategist tells me that top AFL-CIO officials have told Specter they’ll back him to the hilt if he supports their top priority.
“If Senator Specter supports working people — particularly voting with us on Employee Free Choice — the AFL-CIO will support him 100 percent of the way, whether in a primary or a general election,” the strategist says.
AFL-CIO spokesperson Eddie Vale declined comment.
Interestingly, because labor support would actually hurt him in a GOP primary, AFL-CIO’s promise also is an incentive to switch parties earlier, rather than later. Some analysts think his only hope of holding on to his seat is to switch parties and prevail in a general election, something which labor backing would make easier.
To be sure, there’s no telling what Specter will do, and another wild card is whether Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell would back a Specter switch.
Markos Moulitsas, who first heard these conversations, has an interesting rundown gaming out all the possibilities for Specter. This is getting mighty interesting.
Update: The AFL-CIO goes on the record about supporting Specter.
Update II: The story is sparking controversy among EFCA’s opponents. Associated Builders and Contractors national chair Jerry Gorski issued a statement blasting the AFL-CIO as “union bosses in Washington” who are trying to “buy a vote in support of the misnamed Employee Free Choice Act” and “shove this legislation onto the American public.”
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Spector casting his lot with the Dems and with labor?
As Gen Patton said about war, “God help me, but I do love it!”
We’ll get to watch Limbaugh have a stroke on national TV. Pat Buchanan will commit hara kiri on the Washington mall.
Can’t wait.
If Arlen agrees to switch parties, Eddie will grease the skids for him in the Democratic party, and he coasts to victory.
I know spector isn’t stupid. He already made clear that he doesn’t want to retire, so he will probably go at least independant. It’s important to remember though, that the republicans aren’t as forgiving or as intelligent as the dems, Spector will probably have to caucus with the dems, making him a de facto dem.
so…. win!
The AFL-CIO is a “big union”? That seems like a bizarre way to describe them. They’re the national umbrella organization of nearly all the unions in the country (with the exception of the Change to Win unions and a few others)
I have thought for a while that Arlen is just waiting for Franken to be brought into the Senate before making the switch to Dems. At least, that is my hope!
Dreaming of 60 baby!
O man, they better get it in writing. I can’t recall the number of times Spectre said he was going to vote with Democrats on something and then when the rollcall was taken, he never did it. He never followed through.
The Clinton impeachmenet:
Democrats: Not Guilty
Republicans: Guity
Specter: Not Proven by Scottish Law
He’ll become an Independent if he goes, I don’t know that he totally switches. (Though it would be harder for Rendell to help in the general if there’s an actual Democrat running)
Tena
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I actually don’t recall that about Specter. In fact my memory is the opposite. He usually rails against a Democratic proposal then votes for it if its reasonable. Kinda like how he did with Eric Holder. I proposed trying to get him to switch awhile back before others were talking about it. I suppose I was a little ahead of the curve. To me it should be a no brainer for him. It would effectively ensure another term in office instead of having to have some big fight in the primary and then if he survives try to defeat a Dem in a state turning deep blue.
BTW
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Specter can’t pull a Lieberman and go independent if he loses the primary. He would have to declare as an independent before hand and PA doesn’t have any kind of history of electing independents.
I actually don’t recall that about Specter.
Not since Obama came into office. But I recall many times Spectre making angry noises from his chairmanship about Bush and Bush administration employees and he’d talk like there was a chance he’d vote against some nomination that was just egregious. And he never did.
“It’s important to remember though, that the republicans aren’t as forgiving or as intelligent as the dems…”
As long as the Democrats have Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, that will be a difficult statement to make with a straight face.
As for the Thuggery At-Your-Door Act, the union bosses will -never- stop until they get it passed. Never. Killing the secret ballot is their only hope of restoring unionization beyond the government and public skules.
[Note to spelling Aspies: bugger off, it's a j-o-k-e]
I like the idea of Franken getting seated and Specter flipping the Republicans off to get to 60 for the Dems.
For the heck of it, I just went onto Wikipedia and looked at the Senate Senority list. Three of the five most senior members of the Republican party in the Senate (Specter and Grassley are tied for #4 and Lugar is the most senior memeber of the Republican Party in the Senate). I think this is a telling problem for the Republican’s. The ones who we hear about all the time (Cornyn, Vitter, DeMint, Graham) are newer Senators. Hence the problem with the Republican Party. They totally disregard their elders to cater to the extreme right. Whereas the most senior senators on the Democratic Party (Kennedy, Baccus) are front and center and helping lead such major initiatives as healthcare reform. No wonder Specter wants to jump ship – I am honestly surprised that Grassley hasn’t announce he is going to retire and wants to stay with this nonsense.
Ok – news flash to those who don’t do their homework. PA law is prohibitive of an independent senator being elected.
Oh boy!! The big AFL EI EI O What an endorsement!
Union thuggery is out to save all of us and Specter.
What a pathetic joke. Let’s put it in the funny papers.
Remember, the union card check will take away your freedom in voting and more jobs will leave the country.
Canada has card check and 1.5 million jobs are now gone.
I worked in a union sleaze environment and won’t work for another one ever again! Wake up Americans!!!
why couldnt it have been malignant
That’s not exactly true. PA law prohibits you from running in a partisan primary, and then switching and running as an independent if you lose the primary. It doesn’t prevent you from declaring as an independent beforehand and skipping the primary process altogether.
To the dope who said Canada has lost 1.5 million jobs, the US doesn’t have card check and how many jobs have we lost? There is no correlation to card check and job loss. Go look at the countries that support card check vs those that don’t. Lets see the US is in the same list as China, Russia, North Korea. Almost all of our NATO allies and other democratic nations have card check. Don’t believe the BS that the big money companies are shoving down our throats. Card check does not, I repeat does not take away the employee’s right to ask for a private vote. It gives that right to the employees, currenty the company owners have the right and with the exception of ATT they all force a private vote and it is the big money that coerces and threatens the workers who are trying to organize. Stop getting all of your knowledge from a commercial and go do some real research.
I see Greg still needs to learn that the AFL-CIO is an umbrella organization comprised of many different unions, and not a single “big union.” He continues to make this mistake when writing about labor and labor/political issues, just as he did throughout his tenure at Talking Points Memo, despite being informed of his mistake on several occasions. Greg—take the time to learn, absorb and get it right please. Such a simple and continuing mistake detracts from your reporting—especially a story like this one, which if it is accurate, is a good get.
The Republican Party has become very strange indeed. Perhaps they have always been this way, but now the word “creepy” comes to mind. I’m a Dem, married a Repub, and we have always had reasonable discussions on politics…when it got to a tough point where neither would bend, we let the discussion go. My spouse for the first time (71 years old) voted Dem (Obama) and is disgusted with GOP. Mr. Specter is, in my opinion, a once respected moderate Repub. That seems to have gone away. I consider Specter a good man, but don’t agree with many things he does. However, Specter puts nation first above party. I respect nothing less. Personally, I hope Mr. Specter goes independent or Dem…I embrace him, because he’s good for the country…an continue in public service. If it takes support from the AFL-CIO for this to happen, then so be it.
Specter is a classic Democratic politician. He talks of concern for others and acts out of concern for himself. He will do whatever plays to his advantage. If his re-election bid is in danger nad the unions offer a beter deal he’ll jump in a heartbeat. Whether public versus private voting, the potential for bullying, misleading sign-up forms, and creating an atmosphere of employee against employee and employee againse employer are good ideas are not even on his radar. Personally, I think it’s time for him to become a Democrat.
THIS IS FUNNY….THIS EXCLUSIVE WAS BROKE A WEEK AGO! NICE TRY DICK SARGENT, OR SHALL I SAY…SARGENT DICK?! WE DO LOVE THE LAUGH FROM A GOOD SPIN THO…………DICK SARGENT/SARGENT DICK.
DEATH TO THE GOP
Tena: You were right!
Very nice online text