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August 05, 2005
The CAFTA 15--Feeling Heat
The CAFTA 15 are already feeling the heat--and more to come. As I mentioned a few days ago, Working Life will devote on-going space to holding the CAFTA 15 accountable--including a special section under development.
So, here's some more info:
Melissa Bean (Illinois, 8th District): is already losing support in her district. The Northeastern Illinois Federation of Labor was holding a fundraiser for its political action committee and dear Melissa was supposed to be given the "Person of the Year" award. Sorry, Melissa, get your plaque somewhere else--the Fed has revoked the honor because of her CAFTA vote. In addition, I know that at least two major unions are actively out recruiting a primary candidate to take this gutless first-termer on.
Ed Towns (New York, 10th district): as previously mentioned, a big press conference is being held Sunday by a cross-section of unions to trash Towns and his spineless colleague Gregory Meeks for their pro-CAFTA votes (I'll be there and report either Sunday or Monday...depends if I go lounge in the park after). Two potential primary opponents are being talked about for Towns: Eric Adams, the head of 100 Blacks for Law Enforcement, who probably has at least the same name recognition as Towns; and Sidique Wai, a community activist. As one key national union political operative tells me, "Towns is a do-nothing. His whole political program has been saving his seat for his son, who is a state senator."
Henry Cuellar (Texas, 28th District): he may be the easiest to take out because he already has two primary opponents. This upstanding so-called Democrat was widely known to be considering switching to the Republicans when his election last year went into a recount, during which he narrowly defeated Ciro Rodriguez--who is one of the two primary oppponents. I hear the Steelworkers have a full-time person working that race to defeat Cuellar. I could not find a website for Rodriguez but, when that information is known, I'll provide a link to it.
William Jefferson (Louisiana, 2nd District): he's got potential other troubles which may make a primary moot. According to an article in yesterday's Times Picayune, "In a series of coordinated raids Wednesday morning, federal agents swooped into the political domain of U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, executing search warrants on his homes in New Orleans and Washington, the office and home of his longtime campaign treasurer, and even the congressman's car." Hey, innocent until proven guilty but we'll keep an eye on this one.
August 5, 2005 in Labor | Permalink
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In a previous post, I talked about the San Antonio-Laredo split that defines the 28th congressional district in Texas. Just because Rodriguez is strong in San Antonio doesnt mean that he doesnt have support in Laredo, as the following re... [Read More]
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Comments
Seems like a good start. Now the questions is, can we keep the momentum for 15 months?
Posted by: Kevin F Droste | Aug 5, 2005 10:46:35 AM
Hey check out Unitetowinblog.org, they're taking it down along with all the proposals - someone should archive them or all this history will end up in an AFL filing cabinet or something.
Posted by: DC staffer | Aug 5, 2005 11:56:28 AM
Kevin: well, I'm hoping that the momentum does keep up for 15 months--or least through the primaries that some or all of the 15 could face. This site will do its part--and that will partly depend on readers being willing to spread the word and act as echos.
Posted by: Tasini | Aug 5, 2005 1:26:06 PM
Some info about the CAFTA 15: Bean is the lone member of the Women's Caucus, while Cuellar, Hinojosa and Ortiz are members of the Hispanic Caucus, in addition, Jefferson, Meeks and Towns are members of the Black Caucus. Five are members of the conservative Democratic Leadership Council: Bean, Meeks, Moore, Moran and Snyder. Twelve of the fifteen voted wrong on the bankruptcy bill (not Dicks, Snyder and Towns).
None of these are my rep - I'm from Massachusetts. There's probably more anti-worker votes by each of the 15. My concern is that given the history of racism in the labor movement I don't want to see special emphasis placed on ousting people of color from congress (as well as the only female member of CAFTA 15).
I'm not saying these seven reps should be ignored. I'd like to see the same vigor in attempting to oust the eight white men of the CAFTA 15. They tend to have 'served' for longer and most are from states with weaker labor movements like Tenn, Utah and Virginia. So it will probably be harder to remove them, but the labor movement with our allies should give it our best shot.
These entrenched white male conservative democrats must not be given a free pass>
Posted by: Pete Arsenault | Aug 5, 2005 1:56:23 PM
The CBC and CHC members would be primaried by other candidates of color, so we wouldn't be "ousting people of color from Congress". Jim Moran of Alexandria and Norm Dicks from Tacoma are also from CDs where the winner is determined in the Democratic primary and Moran is very vulnerable. Bean was most likely to be a one termer anyway-pretty solid GOP seat. Matheson in Salt Lake, Moore in Kansas, and Snyder in Little Rock are more problematic- some like Snyder have done some good pro-labor efforts, or there really isn't a readily available candidate to challenge them plausibly in the primary
Posted by: Skipster | Aug 5, 2005 5:12:19 PM
Skipster is right. For example, the two candidates I mentioned as possible challengers to Towns are people of color. The challengers to Cuellar are both Hispanic. As for Moran, he's been a sleaze ball for a long time so I'd take anyone--though he should have been vulnerable in the last cycle (after several publicized incidents, personal and professional) and on paper he looks beatable but he still won, against a woman.
Posted by: Tasini | Aug 5, 2005 5:41:04 PM
Bad reporting, Tasini. Sandy Rosenberg, Moran's opponent, was no woman.
Posted by: Annfromdc | Aug 6, 2005 1:39:06 PM
Precise reporting: Moran defeated Lisa Cheney in the general election. And actually he won the primary defeating Andrew Rosenberg, not Sandy. But at least you're reading, if not on the ball.
Posted by: Tasini | Aug 6, 2005 4:18:17 PM
Norm Dicks might be an interesting target, he's been around forever and is somewhat of an institution in Washington politics. But he basically keeps getting reelected on the basis of fighting off military base closures. WA has a pretty strong local labor movement if they could be convinced to take him on...
Any reason we are concentrating only on the House beyond simple mathematics? (it takes a helluva lot more money to win a Senate race) Murray and Cantwell piss me off just as much as Dicks.
Carl
Posted by: Carl | Aug 6, 2005 6:20:16 PM
CarL: just trying to be somewhat realistic--so much harder to run a statewide primary Senate race against an incumbet, not that there aren't a few of those that deserve a challenge.
Posted by: Tasini | Aug 6, 2005 7:47:13 PM
How about links to the email addresses of these republican-lite 15? I'd love to share their addresses w/ my friends to let them know that we will not forget their shameful vote.
Posted by: Dennis Feichtinger | Aug 7, 2005 9:34:21 AM
Not to be a nag, but I thought I'd reassert my plug for a challenge to some of the CAFTA 15 on the newly revitalized (let's hope!) Labor Party line in the general election, not just in the primaries.
This goes especially for Bean who would almost certainly be torpedoed by a labor candidate making a minimally respectable showing in November.
Another strategic option would be for labor to threaten the Dems with the run unless the DP leadership commits to throw their weight behind a labor backed challenger to Bean (and maybe others) in the primary.
These are the kind of options labor would have if it had a viable third party stick at its disposal to be used in the right circumstances.
Now's the time to take it out of the box, it seems to me.
Posted by: John Halle | Aug 7, 2005 1:39:56 PM
CAFTA 15 is only part of the story.
What will Labor do about the Senators who voted for CAFTA?
Will the California Labor Federation and CLCs, local and international unions, and so-called progressive groups finally fight to oppose the middle-of-the-road millionaire Dianne Feinsten in 2006?
Will there be a pro-worker challenge from within the Democratic Party in the June 2006 primary? Not likely.
Will Labor take a serious look at backing an independent or 'third party' candidate. The California Peace and Freedom Party's Marsha Feinland is running again. One could argue that the support she got last year in her run against Barbara Boxer had an impact in making it safe for Boxer to move more to the left. Will Labor risk alienating the Democratic Party by supporting a P&F, Green Party, or independent candidate? Not likely either but worth the risk to build an independent Labor or Labor-Green-Socialist alternative.
If Labor is serious about punishing the CAFTA 15 plus, then it's time to recruit candidates at the House & Senate level as well.
Posted by: pablo | Aug 7, 2005 8:37:41 PM
Regarding not ousting people of color and women who vote against labor interests...
If someone is turning their back on unions, they are turning their back on women and people of color (understanding the serious flaws in the labor movement, it is nonetheless one of the primary vehicles for pushing progressive politics in America).
I for one do not support politicians that rely only on their being a member of an oppressed group for political legitimacy; I support them if they then vote in accordance with the needs of the oppressed group as a whole.
Is this not the principle behind opposing people like Clarence Thomas, Lynne Cheney and Alberto Gonzales?
We should in this case, and always, be looking to stand in solidarity with progressive members of oppressed groups as they seek public office.
Posted by: maria | Aug 8, 2005 12:33:42 PM
August 6, 2005
RE: NIFL - Person of the Year Fundraising Dinner
Dear Friend of Labor:
Recently you received a letter from the Northeastern Illinois Federation of Labor announcing our annual Person of the Year dinner. This is our annual fundraising dinner to support our political action fund. As the letter indicated, we had planned on honoring Congresswoman Melissa Bean at our event. Congresswoman Bean had overcome great odds in defeating 30 year Republican incumbent Phil Crane. She did so with the help of organized labor.
However, Congresswoman Bean has made several votes against the interests of working families. The most recent and most disappointing was her vote in support of the CAFTA. In light of this vote the Northeastern Illinois Federation of Labor Executive Board has decided to rescind our recognition of Congresswoman Bean as this year’s Person of the Year Award.
However, we will continue with our fundraising dinner on September 25th and we have invited Lori Wallach, Executive Director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch.
Ms. Wallach is one of the foremost experts on trade and is a dynamic and exciting speaker. You won’t be disappointed.
Global Trade Watch (GTW), based in Washington, D.C. promotes democracy by challenging corporate globalization. GTW works on an array of globalization issues, including health and safety, environmental protection, economic justice, and democratic, accountable governance. GTW is part of a coalition of labor, environmental, religious, family farm and consumer organizations united in the pursuit of socially and environmentally just trade policy.
We hope you will continue to support us as you have in the past by purchasing an ad for our program and tickets to the dinner. You may use the form that was sent to you in the previous mailing or if you need additional ad forms or ticket order forms contact President Lee Schillinger 224-628-2223.
A splendid time is guaranteed for all.
In Solidarity,
The Executive Board of the Northeastern Federation of Labor
PS Reminder: Sunday September 25, 2005 5pm Cocktails 6pm Dinner
Midlane Country Club 4555 W. Yorkhouse Rd. Wadsworth
Posted by: Lee M.Schillinger | Aug 9, 2005 12:05:18 AM
Lee,
Lori Wallach is an inspired choice to replace Bean. Congratulations on the great idea. I'll buy a ticket.
Here's another idea: How about if you go one better and use the occassion to announce a labor endorsed candidate to take on Bean.
Make it clear to the DP leadership in the announcement that if they don't support your candidate in the Democratic primary against Bean, he/she will run as a third party candidate in November 2006.
Either way, CAFTA will be the last anti-labor vote Bean will cast.
Posted by: John Halle | Aug 9, 2005 7:22:15 AM
Norteastern Illinois Federation of Labor,AFL-CIO
248 Ambrogio Dr.
Gurnee,IL 6oo31
The event will also highlight labors role in State and local politics.
Posted by: Lee M.Schillinger | Aug 9, 2005 11:40:51 AM
