AFL-CIO's Old School Attacks by the Republican National Committee!

[Omaha Steve]

The best 53 million the AFL-CIO will ever spend?

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-14-2008/0004813856&EDATE=

Will Barack Obama And Hillary Clinton Denounce Partisan, Old Style
Politics Of The Past?

Today, The AFL-CIO Plans To Hold A Press Conference Announcing Plans To
Spend $53 Million On Campaign To Oppose Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ)
Presidential Campaign

WASHINGTON, May 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being
issued by the Republican National Committee:

The AFL-CIO Will Announce Plans For A $53 Million Effort "To Paint
McCain As Anti-Worker." "The AFL-CIO, the nation's largest labor union
organization, will announce plans Wednesday for a $53 million effort to
elect a Democrat to the White House. The AFL-CIO will rely on one of the
oldest strategies in the political playbook: Define your opponent before
your opponent defines himself. The labor organization will launch its
'McCain Revealed' campaign to paint McCain as anti-worker and to tie him to
the economic policies of President Bush." (Brody Mullins, "AFL-CIO Targets
McCain With $53 Million Campaign," The Wall Street Journal's "Washington
Wire" Blog, blogs.wsj.com, 3/11/08)

Both Obama And Sen. Clinton Have Criticized Special Interest Spending
In The Past:

Obama's Campaign Attempted To Turn Independent Expenditures Into A
Campaign Issue, Claiming "This Kind Of Politics Needs To End." "No outside
groups have distributed mailers or run advertisements on Obama's behalf in
New Hampshire, and Obama has attempted to turn that distance into a
campaign issue. 'The case has never been clearer - this kind of politics
needs to end,' Obama campaign manager David Plouffe wrote in a recent
fundraising e-mail." (Sarah Liebowitz, "Edwards, Clinton Bankrolled From
Afar," Concord Monitor, 1/4/08)

Obama: "ou can't say yesterday, you don't believe in 'em, and today,
you're having three-quarters of a million dollars being spent for you. You
can't just talk the talk." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At A Campaign Event,
Oskaloosa, IA, 12/22/07)

When Asked About Eliminating 527 Organizations, Sen. Clinton Claimed
She Would "Have No Problem With Eliminating Any Group That Is Misusing
Their Financial Position To Spread Inaccurate Falsehoods." CNN's Wolf
Blitzer: "Do you agree with the president? He'd like to see all of these
so-called 527 advocacy groups that are putting out all these attack ads,
attack ads against John Kerry, the Swift Boat ads, attack ads against the
president, would you like to see those 527 organizations removed?" Sen.
Clinton: "You know, I have no problem with eliminating any group that is
misusing their financial position to spread inaccurate falsehoods." (CNN's
"Late Edition," 8/29/04)

But Both Candidates Have Benefited From Millions Of Dollars Unions Have
Spent On Their Behalf:

Unions Have Spent More Than $3.7 Million On Independent Expenditures
Supporting Obama's Campaign. "There's another dimension to union support
for the candidates both in Ohio and nationally: money. Independent
expenditures on behalf of candidates are legal but can't be
coordinated with the candidates' campaigns. Unions backing Clinton have
made more than $3.6 million in such expenditures, while unions backing
Obama have spent more than $3.7 million, according to the Federal Election
Commission." (William Hershey, "Ohio Unions Split Between Obama, Clinton,"
Cox News Service, 3/1/08)

"SEIU Alone Has Spent More Than $3 Million On Obama's Behalf, Including
Money For A TV Ad For Obama In Ohio That Has Sparked Controversy." (William
Hershey, "Ohio Unions Split Between Obama, Clinton," Cox News Service,
3/1/08)

"Unions Backing Clinton Have Spent At Least $3.6 Million." (Brett
Lieberman, "Primary Epicenter Shifts To Pennsylvania," Newhouse News
Service, 3/5/08)

In Previous Elections, AFL-CIO Spent Millions On Partisan Attacks
Against Republicans:

Claiming To Be "Non-Partisan," The AFL-CIO's Message Comes "Straight
From The Democratic Party Playbook." "The AFL-CIO hosted a press conference
today to announce its most expensive mid-term election effort ever, $40
million, aimed at electing what it called pro-worker candidates to Congress
as well as statehouses across the country. John Sweeney, president of the
organization, called it a 'non-partisan' effort more than once. But some of
the language the union officials used came straight from the Democratic
party playbook." (Frank James, "Big Labor's 'Non-Partisan' Campaign,"
Chicago Tribune's "Swamp Politics" Blog, http://www.swamppolitics.com, 2 /28/06)

During The 2006 Election Cycle, The AFL-CIO COPE PAC Contributed 97
Percent Of Its Total Contributions To Democrat Candidates And Committees.
(CQ Money Line Website, moneyline.cq.com, Accessed 3/12/08)

During The 2004 Election Cycle, The AFL-CIO COPE PAC Contributed Over
95 Percent Of Its Total Contributions To Democrat Candidates And
Committees. (CQ Money Line Website, moneyline.cq.com, Accessed 3/12/08)

FLASHBACK: AFL-CIO's Own Affiliates Left Federation After It Had
"Wasted Too Much Time And Money On Politics":

In 2005, Leading AFL-CIO Affiliates Broke Away To Form Their Own
Coalition Because "The AFL-CIO Has Wasted Too Much Time And Money On
Politics And Has Not Done Enough To Combat The Steady Decline In Union
Membership." "The main national carpenter's union is joining a coalition of
some of the nation's largest unions challenging the AFL-CIO's approach to
leading the labor movement. ... The unions in the rebel coalition blame
Sweeney's 10-year tenure for declining union membership and fewer worker
protections. They say the AFL-CIO has wasted too much time and money on
politics and has not done enough to combat the steady decline in union
membership." (Will Lester, "Carpenters Join Unions Challenging AFL-CIO,"
The Associated Press, 6/27/05)

"Their Hope Is To Reverse The Steady Decline In The Percentage Of
Unionized Workers, Which In The United States Had Slid From A High Of 35
Percent In The 1950s To 12.5 Percent Last Year." (Patricia Kitchen,
"Service Employees Union Tries To 'Drop The Old And Get With The New,'"
Newsday, 8/17/05)



SOURCE Republican National Committee