AFL-CIO pledges votes for Specter (R-Pa)

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Washington Times

'Check card' bill on the line
S.A. Miller

Angling for a critical Senate swing vote to pass the "card check" bill that would make it easier to form unions, Pennsylvania labor leaders promised Sen. Arlen Specter that they will switch union members from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party to help him win a tough 2010 primary election, The Washington Times has learned.

Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President William M. George said he pledged Mr. Specter "all kinds of help from the union" in a series of meetings to woo the Republican senator's support for the bill, which would ease rules favoring secret-ballot elections to unionize workplaces.

"We are pushing to give him help in the primary, including changing Democrats to Republicans for the primary," Mr. George told The Times. "It's hard to do because of other races in the state ... but we'll do it for 'card check.' "

The legislation is a top priority for labor leaders now that they have a Democratic ally in the White House ready to sign it into law, and the bargaining with voter registration in Pennsylvania shows how far the unions will go to secure victory.


Read more: http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/16/afl-cio-pledges-votes-for-specter/

[bluestateguy]

1. If he votes for EFCA, we should back off Specter for the 2010 cycle

IF the bill passes and is enacted into law, then the Democrats should back off Specter for 2010, and look elsewhere for #60.

[LakeSamish706]

3. I guess great minds think alike.. lol... n/t

[L. Coyote]

6. BS. Specter has to be defeated, just like all the Bush co-conspirators.

This kind of capitulation for expediency gave us our present situation!!

[Gman]

7. That's foolish.

Absolutely foolish. If Spector votes for the EFCA, Hell, I'll go travel to PA to campaign for him in the GOP primary. He would deserve our support in the GE.

The ignorance and apathy toward organized labor issues here at DU never ceases to amaze me.

[L. Coyote]

9. The ignorance and apathy toward organized crime here at DU never ceases to amaze me.

[WheelWalker]

11. I'm amazed that there are so many amazed by so little, so often. Simply amazing.

[L. Coyote]

13. When did American politics elevate expediency over principle.

I just HAD to add a really stupid question :rofl:

[WheelWalker]

17. At the risk of begging the question,

I do believe expediency IS a principle, and one well developed by thinkers in many cultures, western and eastern. It might not be a principle to which you readily adhere; nor I. However, to offhandedly reject, in (or on) principle, the situational value and importance of expediency in politics channels biological creationism. Have you never applied rational self interest in moral decisions?

[LakeSamish706]

2. If AFL-CIO can get a commitment from Arlen Specter to getting this bill passed...

Don't think that I have a problem with this.... He is a Republican, but he's certainly not one of the worst in the barrel.

[tomm2thumbs]

4. I don't think they'll need to switch parties

Plus it is so unbecoming

[phillysuse]

5. Specter will be primaried from the right - only members of

the Republican party are able to vote - it is a closed primary state. The concern is that Pat Tuomy - a Club For Growth Santorum think alike will be able to beat Specter in the closed Republican primary.
I think Specter is likely to do better as an Independent a la Joe Lieberman.
Unions would have to change a lot of member's registrations from Repuke to Dem just for the primary.

[Gman]

8. Labor crossed over and voted for Specter in the primary in 04

The Dem primary was pretty much a non-issue. So labor got behind Specter. If he votes for and makes the difference for the EFCA he'll need all the help he can get in the primary.

[davidinalameda]

10. he can't

if he loses the primary, he can't run as an independent

[burning rain]

12. Especially if he supports EFCA,..

I think Specter probably merits the AFL-CIO's support; he has a pretty solid record on labor issues and the AFL-CIO is after all what kind of organization? But and however, those of us who are not strictly labor activists should look at other issues, too, and Specter's been a big supporter of the Iraq War, and helped confirm the appalling Alito and Roberts.

[Earth Bound Misfit]

14. Specter is TOAST in the Repub party

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/3/10/23814/0947/165/706652

PA-Sen: It's just about time for Arlen to switch
by kos
Tue Mar 10, 2009 at 10:10:04 AM PDT
I've now heard from multiple sources that the AFL-CIO and other labor unions have promised to stand firmly with Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter if he becomes a rare crossover Republican vote on EFCA when that issue hits the floor of the Senate. This is a life-and-death issue to unions, many of which are dwindling in membership, and they're willing to give cover to one of the most endangered Republicans if it helps passage.

Rather than criticize a marker which seems short-sighted to me, I'll accept it as a political reality. It's no secret in Pennsylvania that Gov. Ed Rendell is also rather fond of Specter, the two sharing a warm relationship. With Rendell and the Keystone State's strong labor community firmly behind him, it really makes little sense for him to engage Club for Growth honcho Pat Toomey in a Republican primary he is more than likely to lose. The pieces are really falling in place for Specter to make the leap and switch parties.

Let's game this out.

Specter votes against EFCA, stays in the GOP

At this point, Toomey is in. A primary is in the cards, so he still has to survive a tough closed primary in a state in which thousands of moderate Republicans switched last year and became Democrats.

The 79-year-old, 30-year incumbent narrowly survived a 2004 Toomey challenge to win renomination with a scant 1.6 percent of the vote, a margin of just 17,146 votes out of more than 1.04 million cast <...>

There are, for example, 239,000 Pennsylvania voters (mostly Republicans) who switched last year to the Democratic Party. There's little question the vast majority are moderate Specter voters.
So with those moderate Republicans gone, whose left to vote in a GOP primary (which remember, is closed)? Yup, ultra-conservative Toomey voters. The numbers just simply aren't there. But if Specter survives by some miracle, he'd still face a rejuvenated Keystone Democratic Party, and with the scorned unions out for vengeance. Specter has been good with the unions during his career, and they see him as a friend and ally. If he stabs them in the back, the reaction would be fierce.

Specter votes for EFCA, and stays in the GOP

Pretty much the above scenario, except that Specter would lose even worse after handing Toomey a juicy vote to crush him with. Sure, the unions are happy, but union support would be of little use in a GOP primary, and Specter would never get to the general where they would be useful.

Specter votes for EFCA, and becomes a Democrat

Following his vote for EFCA, still as a Republican (giving Obama his desperately needed "bipartisanship"), the reaction from the Limbaugh crowd would be fierce. Heck, we know that they'd be screaming for his head. So Specter could look sad and forlorn, bemoan the lack of tolerance in the GOP, say that "I didn't leave the GOP, the GOP left me", and ride that wave of hate and invective straight to the other side of the aisle. Presto! 60 seats.

With the unions behind him and Rendel putting the machine to work in his favor, it's hard to see an opening for a real Democrat in a primary. Then again, like every other party switcher before him, Specter would quickly move left to establish his bona fides in his new party. We saw that with Sen. Jim Jeffords earlier this decade, and he was supposedly just an independent, and we certainly saw it with the likes of Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell and Dixiecrats like Sen. Richard Shelby who switched the other direction. Running for reelection as a Democrat, Specter would easily dispatch Toomey in the general election. But as a possible bonus, conservatives could drop some serious coin into this hopeless race in their effort to exact revenge.

Specter votes for EFCA, becomes an independent

Democrats could conceivably pull a Bernie Sanders and support Specter as an independent, but it would be much messier. If he leaves the Republican Party, there would be little reason to play semantic games like this one. His state has become heavily Democratic in short order, might as well embrace the change and give Keystone Staters what they want.

Specter votes for EFCA, then retires

The best of all worlds, but Specter appears hellbent on reelection. If so, the clearest path to reelection is through the Democratic Party.

[IndianaGreen]

15. Let this scum die!

Specter's "single bullet theory" in the Kennedy assassination coverup was the first of many outrages from this POS.

Let Specter defect to the Democratic Party NOW, and then we will talk if we want to keep him around.

[jxnmsdemguy65]

16. Specter is a tool of the ruling class and the MIC

(military industrial complex)...his promotion of the single bullet theory is unforgivable!

[No Elephants]

18. If promising to game the primary gets Spec's vote now, fine. I have no problem gaming a Pub

primary to make sure that the least evil Pub gets the nomination. However, the general election is another matter; and the union better get members to switch the registration of the employees back after the primary, too. The last thing either Democrats or labor need is labor thinking their untion wants them to be Republicans.

(Single bullet, my ass.)

[apnu]

19. They should ask him, at that point, to join the Democratic party...

... and remind him that we have better cookies.

[MilesColtrane]

20. Arlen Specter....Phil Spector...whatever it takes.

[Omaha Steve]

21. IF Sen. Specter votes for cloture

I'll be kicking in $ for his 2010 campaign. I won't care what party he is in. I wouldn't mind him being a Dem. With his state so hard hit by unemployment, the quick positive results of EFCA being passed should give him a boost too.