Specter’s Defection On EFCA Fails To Win Over Right Wing
If Senator Arlen Specter had hoped that bailing on the Employee Free Choice Act yesterday would make him the toast of the town among his right wing critics, he probably woke up this morning feeling like he has a pretty crushing hangover — after doing a lot of drinking alone.
Conservative groups and politicians, far from won over by Specter’s announcement, continue to hammer away at the embattled Senator, suggesting that his abrupt move on EFCA will do little or nothing to reduce his vulnerability to a primary challenge from the right.
For instance, Specter’s announcement drew only mockery and scorn from former GOP Rep. Ernest Istook, the chair of the anti-EFCA group Save Our Secret Ballot.
“Specter enjoys being the center of attention,” Istook said. “There has probably been more money spent to influence his vote on this issue than on any other vote, from any other senator, at any other time. He wants to continue enjoying the attention and the fundraising opportunity.”
Doug Stafford of the anti-EFCA National Right to Work Committee added in a statement that Specter’s move should be “viewed with some skepticism,” adding that other labor-oriented proposals championed by Specter remain “totally unacceptable” and will enable “Big Labor to corral more workers into forced unionism.”
Specter’s potential primary challenger, Club for Growth president Pat Toomey, has kept up the attacks, blasting Specter’s vote for the “big government stimulus bill” and dismissing Specter’s opposition to EFCA as merely the result of “a threat in the Republican primary.”
It now seems clear that Specter abruptly bailed on EFCA because he knew that a new Quinnipiac poll was due out today showing that he’s getting crushed in the GOP primary. The poll found that GOP voters overwhelmingly disapprove of Specter’s stimulus vote, and it’s unclear at best if Specter’s EFCA position will do anything to rescue him on the right.
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Greg
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It would seem to me that the unions should be pushing the fact that if people aren’t happy with their unions decertifying is a lot easier than actually unionizing. Therefore these attacks about forced unionization is just a farce. How can it be forced if at any given time the majority of workers can decertify the union? Seriously I don’t understand why they aren’t pointing this out.
sg — agreed — I think it’s just a component of the larger anti-EFCA strategy of painting the measure as undemocratic and a Big Bad Labor power grab — they want the conversation to be about union bosses, not workers…
Funny. I thought that said “defecation” (sorry) when I first read the headline. Same difference.
More substantively, as suspected, this move (sorry) by Specter did little to help him with conservatives already torqued over the stimulus vote. Like Toomey’s going to drop out now? Specter should spare himself the indignity of getting stomped in the primary.
They don’t mention how union members enjoy a large wage premium, and that’s before talking about health care! I understand being a union member has a greater impact on a woman’s chances to get health care through work than a college degree.
Specter is a friend of workers only when his vote doesn’t matter. He’ll flirt with other girls, but he goes home to the right-wing crazies at the end of the night.
Who do the Dems have to run in Pennsylvania? Will Rendell win? Does he have a chance if he did? He’s never run against Specter, so he can’t run unless Specter retires right? Because he wouldn’t know who got the GOP nod until too late in the process.
The Dems should get somebody out there right now, start building up name value and staking out the moderate middle. Toomey will have epic fundraising and will have all the volunteers he needs.
Arlen Specter: Profile in Courage (Not). This is what happens when one votes their fears, and not their conscience. You chose to lay down with dogs, Senator Specter, so getting up fleas — and worms — shouldn’t surprise you. The late Rick Nelson said it best: “But it’s all right now / I’ve learned my lesson well / You see you can’t please everyone / So you’ve got to please yourself.”
Gotta love the ideological purity tests of the Republicans… usually at the hands of the “Club for Growth”… Keep on shoving those hyper-conservatives at voters and keep watching your numbers decline.
When they finally dwindle to 5-6 Senators, do you think they will change tactics?
Whether unionization is positive for business, the workforce, or the economy is a conversation best left to someone in a field other than mine.As an I/O Psychologist my interest lies in organizational success through the well-being of employees.
If no other good comes from EFCA, at least it is forcing companies to have an important conversation. In searching for ways to combat unionization, employers are realizing they need engaged employees – who feel communicated to, safe, valued, and a strong commitment to the company. I’ve been hearing a lot of chatter from the legal community about the need for ‘union vulnerability audits’ to ensure a satisfied workplace where unions are viewed unnecessary. Whether or not the EFCA passes I think employees (and organization) will benefit from the discussion.
The “Club for Growth” is sinister and dangerous. They want to expand on the same policies that got us into such a terrible economic situation. They hate middle class Americans with an uncompromising passion.