Pushing back: unions support progressive challengers to "Roadkill Caucus"

[suffragette]

Mods: Although this is about local elections rather than national ones, I am posting in GD since I am curious if this is an action occurring in any other states and since I think this has national interest and implications potential.

Coalition of labor groups looks to unseat middle-of-the-road candidates
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012565500_38amp44legdistricts08m.html

Now two members of the group known as the "Roadkill Caucus" have been targeted by a traditional ally of Democratic candidates — organized labor — which says the members have supported business interests more than working families.

A coalition of labor groups including the Washington State Labor Council, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the Washington Federation of State Employees and the Public School Employees of Washington have formed independent political committees and donated about $20,000 to defeat Sen. Steve Hobbs in the 44th District and $122,000 to oust Sen. Jean Berkey in the 38th.

Labor is critical of the two lawmakers' refusal to eliminate a tax exemption for out-of-state banks or to extend unemployment insurance for workers in some hard-hit industries, including construction.
~~~
Rick Bender, president of the state Labor Council, told members in an end-of-session report: "We used to have a name for legislators who held conservative views about restricting access to unemployment insurance and workers' compensation, privatizing government and cutting state employee compensation. ... They were called Republicans."

This article goes on to detail the positions and funding of these "Roadkill" candidates whom the unions are opposing and the progressive Democrats they are endorsing. They also have some info on the Republicans running. Interesting that the Republican challenger in one race "estimates that about $60,000 in contributions from business interests that he previously received as the Republican incumbent are going this election to Hobbs." Given that Hobbs has "amassed more than $194,000 for his re-election campaign, almost 10 times the amount of any of his opponents, with most of the contributions coming from business" that's likely a valid claim. And sadly unsurprising that given that funding, Hobbs and the Roadkill crew have voted more like traditional Republicans than traditional Democrats on many vital issues. For more on that see http://www.wslc.org/legis/10legrep/bender.htm

The Stranger ran an interesting piece on the Facebook support page for the "Roadkill Caucus" back in March.

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2010/03/19/moderate-democrats-have-facebook-fanswhod-like-to-see-their-colleagues-out-of-office

Moderate Democrats have Facebook Fans—Who’d Like To See Their Colleagues Out of Office
posted by JAKE BLUMGART on FRI, MAR 19, 2010 at 1:37 PM

Who knew moderate Democrats were so hip? A group of corporate Dems in the state legislature, the self-styled "Roadkill Caucus" (because they are in the middle-of-the-road, hahaha, get it?), has a Facebook page and everything. Next thing you know they’ll be on The Twitter. And for a hokey state legislative caucus, they’ve amassed quite a fan following of 157. It’s too bad so many of their cheerleaders are devoted to unseating other Democrats.

A sizeable portion of Roadkill’s fanbase are comprised of people who have devoted their lives to undermining Washington State’s Democratic Party. They include prominent employees of such reactionary stalwarts as Enterprise Washington, Evergreen Freedom Foundation, the Washington State Farm Bureau, and the Washington Business Association (WBA)—Washington State’s Chamber of Commerce, an organization that favors suing the federal government if healthcare reform passes. Ah, centrism.

Most of these groups are actively working to unseat vulnerable Dems this year. A quick perusal of Roadkill’s fans include numerous operatives dedicated to purging the legislature of Democrats.

Looks like the unions here have had enough of being cast aside by conservative Democrats who are being funded and endorsed by the same organizations who have traditionally funded Republican candidates and are then voting in that direction on many issues.

Rick Bender, President of the Washington State Labor Council, astutely addresses this issue when he writes:

http://www.wslc.org/legis/10legrep/bender.htm

I was a state legislator for 18 years until 1991. We used to have a name for legislators who held conservative views about restricting access to unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation, privatizing government and cutting state employee compensation, all while occasionally supporting revenue increases in budget emergencies. They were called Republicans. (That was before the neo-conservatives took over, moving the GOP further right and turning it into a wholly owned subsidiary of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.)

All of this serves to reinforce my commitment to the Washington State Labor Council’s new political strategy to identify and support the real champions of working families. (See pages 4-5 for more information.)

As I wrote in this column after last year’s debacle of a session, the political pendulum swings back and forth. More often than not, it’s because the party in control begins to focus more on preserving its majority and appeasing its critics than it does on actively pursuing its own agenda. The folks who put them in the majority are left disillusioned as their support is taken for granted.

Majorities don’t disappear because voters wake up one morning and decide they are more liberal or conservative (though some legislators apparently do). Voters decide they aren’t being represented or that the party in charge is self-serving and out of touch.

The Roadkill Caucus is doing their dead-level best to make Democrats’ election fears a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I think this is a step in the right direction and I wonder if it's happening in other states as well.

Any DU'ers see anything similar in your own states?

[w4rma]

1. Awesome. (nt)

[Mnpaul]

2. Is it just me

or is Roadkill caucus a stupid name? It is like you are asking to be run over by everyone else.

On second thought it may be a good name for some of the Dems. They get run over by the Republicans on a regular basis.

[suffragette]

3. It's not just you - Roadkill Caucus is an odd name choice, though also oddly apt

Here's Hobb's reasoning for the name choice:

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20100209/NEWS01/702099891

“We really didn’t know what to call ourselves. As moderates, we constantly get run over by the far right and the far left and we end up being roadkill,” said Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, one of the founders.


Looks to me that they're claiming the victim card while raking in the conservative funds. And then they vote with the conservatives on some critical issues. Looks to me like the real roadkill are the citizens who are being ignored and run over by these Democrats allying themselves with conservative funding, interests and policies.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/government/
The fight echoes a similar but more divisive fight within the national Democratic Party between "pragmatic" centrists (including President Obama and Blue Dog Democrats) and progressives.
The centrist Democratic faction in Washington State is eager to hold onto Democratic electoral majorities and so is willing to work with business interests such as the BIAW to delay progressive legislation. The centrists are also more sympathetic to anti-tax preferences of many suburban and rural voters.
They work under the assumption that to get re-elected they need to appeal to the broad middle and to avoid alienating campaign contributors. They fear a populist revolt, which would benefit a less "pragmatic" strategy.



The BIAW has been a major funder of Republican and conservative issues here in Washington. Looks like Hobbs and his Roadkill crew are now accting on their behalf, too.



http://www.iam751.org/artwork/10-WSLC-LegRep.pdf

For the fourth straight year, the
Washington State Labor Council supported
the Howeowners Bill of Rights,
Sen. Adam Kline’s (D-Seattle) SB 6701,
allowing consumers to recover repair
costs in court if their homes are damaged
by negligent construction.
And for the fourth straight year, the
Building Industry
Association
of Washington
prevented a vote
on the bill. It
previously passed the Senate only to be
quashed by House Democratic leaders.
This year, Sen. Steve Hobbs (D-Lake
Stevens), who previously voted for the
bill, flip-flopped and decided to oppose
it in this election year. Unfortunately,
with no Republicans willing to buck
their BIAW benefactors, Hobbs was the
key to the 25 votes needed for passage,
so it was never brought to the floor.

[sandnsea]

4. Hopefully in MO, AR, TN, ND, SD...

All I see Democrats in those states doing is joining Republicans in attacking any progress made in DC at all.

[suffragette]

6. You mean like the centrist "Roadkill Caucus" Blue Dog Democrats?

Those are the Democrats I see joining with the Republicans to attack progress and progressive values.

That's why this push back from the unions is important here and of value as an example nationwide.

Here's another great example from the Roadkill crew:

Rep. Chris Hurst to run as 'Independent Democrat'
http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/south_king/cmv/news/92062204.html


Adding the word “independent” to his traditional “Democrat,” means a couple of things, Hurst said.

First, it signifies a desire to get away from hard-core partisan politics and include everyone on the decision-making process. “Every major thing that’s happened in America has been a bipartisan effort,” he said, bemoaning the current party-line structure.

Second, he said, “moderate Democrats and conservatives have to exert a significantly stronger voice” to fight the “small number of established, liberal Democrats.”
~~~
“It really was a process where Republicans were excluded from Day 1,” Hurst said. “We could have done far better.”

Hurst eventually voted against the revenue package pushed by the Democratic majority. If the Legislature’s work is challenged and comes to a public vote in the fall, he’ll vote to overturn the decisions made during the long and contentious session.


Really shows how right-of-center some self-styled Democratic centrists are - supporting the Republican input into important bills more than his fellow Democrats' position.

Looks like he's gone even farther now - by reducing Independent Democrat to "Christopher Hurst (Prefers Independent Dem. Party)"
Guess he's distancing himself as far as possible from the principles and even name of the Democratic Party, while still using Democrat (cynically and nominally) to get Democratic support.

[loudsue]

5. It's happening here in N.C. quite a bit. Candidates that support unions

are not getting funding from the corporations....even the corporations the candidate previously WORKED FOR AS A UNION MEMBER.

If I knew how to set up a PAC for the general public of progressives, I would do it in a minute. Hell. I'd do fundraising wherever someone would listen to me. In fact, a bunch of us need to figure out how to do this, because the folks with money and power are NOT going to help progressives. Ever.

[suffragette]

7. Agree with you completely

I'm heartened to see our unions here address this issue directly.
And yes, we need to figure out how to do this together.

[LWolf]

8. "Roadkill caucus"

How apt.

:rofl:

I hope it's happening in other states.

I'd love to see a listing of the Roadkill caucus in each state.

[suffragette]

9. I'd love to see this happening in more states

and hope it will be successful here.


The central issue here is that the unions have previously supported some of these candidates and were utterly betrayed by them on policy issues. Time to fight for candidates who will stand up for principles and honor their promises.


Time to run over the Roadkill Caucus.


:hi:

[w8liftinglady]

10. i am dropping to my knees and begging for Texas

we are in need of union representation so badly....there are several unions here and there,but that is the exception rather than the rule.

[suffragette]

12. Union-busting has gone on so long now

They have always been central to people having power which is a major reason why they've been squashed.

I've been hoping for a turnaround in Texas for a long time. So many amazing people hailed from there: Barbara Jordan, Molly Ivins, Ann Richards, etc.

Now you have people like Annise Parker hopefully following their example.

It looks like there is some movement there, though from other quarters than the unions:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/112607dntexpolblogs.28fab07.html
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/05/20/texas-education-election/


Keep pushing down there.

[LWolf]

11. Please keep us updated on progress.

Meanwhile, I will point this out to my state union leaders.

:hi:

[suffragette]

13. I'll do that and glad you're spreading the word.

:hug:

[glitch]

14. Most excellent! Too late to R but here's a K :) nt

[Touchdown]

15. My union is also looking into expanding fusion voting to more states

Oregon just got it.