.comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

Born at the Crest of the Empire

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Republicans vs. the Unions, Day 3

I'm a little biased, but it feels like the Republican Senators vs. the UAW battle is slipping away from the Senators. As their anti-union motivations become clearer, their opposition to the bailout looks more and more political.

However, the Republican brand will be somewhat protected as the White House works out a deal around these Senators.

Unsurprisingly, no direct labor representative on the Sunday shows. (When was the last time a union leader was on a Sunday show?)

2 Comments:

  • I'm not sure the politics will work out that way. First, the vast majority of private sector workers are not unionized any more. The numbers aren't there like they used to be - and the people who are friendly to labor causes are Democrats anyway, so it costs the GOP nothing to insult them.

    Second, correctly or not, the perception by a big part of the public is that UAW workers are highly paid with gold-plated health care and retirement benefits. They aren't getting a lot of sympathy in this economy.

    By Blogger Patrick, at 12:42 PM  

  • Very, very true.

    But the jiu-jitsu is that Republicans are willing to endanger the stock market and millions of jobs, most spread across several electorally important rustbelt states, simply out of their disdain for unions.

    In some ways, it's an example of the new southern Republican party.

    If they lose their shot at those rustbelt blue collar folks, the map looks very different. On a much smaller and less severe scale, but kinda similar to how immigration cost them votes and states.

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 1:45 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home