Marathon Pundit: White House official: 'Organized labor just flushed $10 million down the toilet'

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

White House official: 'Organized labor just flushed $10 million down the toilet'

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) won a runoff election against Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter this evening. She faces a tough battle in the fall against Republican Congressman John Boozman.

Halter was the candidate of the union bosses, including honchos with SEIU, the AFL-CIO, and AFSCME, but it got him a close second to Lincoln. In other words, bupkus. Ben Smith of Politico drives the point home by reporting a telephone conversation with a White House aide:

"Organized labor just flushed $10 million of their members' money down the toiled on a pointless exercise," the official said. "If even half that total had been well-targeted and applied in key House races across this country, that could have made a real difference in November."

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas is the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and he issued this statement just a few minutes ago:

After a very divisive primary battle with Lt. Governor Bill Halter, Blanche Lincoln won a slim victory in today’s Democrat runoff. Senator Lincoln survived this intra-party war by fully embracing her liberal Washington record, but she faces an uphill battle explaining to mainstream Arkansas voters why she has consistently voted for the Obama-Pelosi-Reid economic agenda in Washington.

With John Boozman as our nominee, I believe that this seat will be a prime pick-up opportunity for our party this November. Congressman Boozman is a proven leader who represents Arkansans' best interests, and he will continue to stand up to the Obama Administration and fight for much-needed checks-and-balances in the U.S. Senate.

On Election Day, I am confident that voters in Arkansas will elect John Boozman as their next U.S. Senator.

Also this evening, the Workforce Fairness Institute released this presser:

It's remarkable that after spending millions in the Democratic Senate primary and runoff elections in Arkansas, all Big Labor has to show for its effort is a nominee who opposes the Employee 'Forced' Choice Act (EFCA) and a failed candidate who refused to take a stand on the legislation.

In fact, over the course of the campaign in Arkansas, both Republican and Democratic candidates in contested primaries expressed opposition to the EFCA legislation. In the Senate primary, both incumbent Senator Blanche Lincoln and D.C. Morrison publicly rejected the job-killing EFCA bill, while Bill Halter failed to take a position despite being asked repeatedly where he stood.[1] Press coverage on Halter's responses in relation to EFCA used phrases, such as: "declined to answer," "unclear," "ducked," "finessing," "dodging” and "danced." [2]

In the race to succeed Democratic Congressman Marion Berry – who opposes EFCA – in the 1st Congressional District, both leading candidates, Tim Wooldridge and Chad Causey stood in opposition to the legislation.[3] In the 4th Congressional District, incumbent Democratic Congressman Mike Ross, previously a supporter and co-sponsor of EFCA, announced his unequivocal opposition to the legislation.[4]

Clearly, Halter understood EFCA was a loser even with a Democratic primary/runoff electorate. For all their spending in support of Halter, totaling at least ten million, not including tens of thousands in direct contributions, labor bosses were unable to do any better than, "[Halter] refuses to tell voting stance on bill to ease unionization."[5]

In conclusion, a massive investment on the part of union bosses, which they will not be able to duplicate in other races, resulted in a loss for Big Labor's poster-child candidate producing a general election where both nominees will oppose the Employee 'Forced" Choice Act.

Blanche Lincoln's victory coupled with Big Labor's failure to get its candidate to endorse their top legislative priority even after spending millions of dollars speaks volumes to how far the Employee "Forced" Choice Act has fallen in the last year and serves as an unambiguous victory for those who oppose forced unionization.

*Note to Richard Trumka (President of the AFL-CIO): It's an expensive proposition to take on incumbents who don't subscribe to your job-killing policies.