Posted by
arandomguy on Friday, April 13, 2007 4:24:49 PM
The decision by the Democratic National Committee to have their selection for president take place in Denver, in August, 2008, has upset some of the labor unions that form the traditional base of their support. Colorado is generally seen by unions as a state unfriendly to labor unions (all the more reason to live there I'd think). In a statement released today, AFL-CIO (the largest and most annoying labor union) president John Sweeney said "Unless we can be assured that the governor will support our values and priorities, we will strongly urge the Democratic Party to relocate the convention."
Colorado's Democratic (gasp) governor vetoed a bill that would make it much easier to establish all-union workplaces, out of concerns for business. The AFL-CIO has even gone so far as to claim they could force Democrats to abandon Denver, if the labor issues aren't worked out.
Teamsters head, James Hoffa (!) inserted himself into the conversation, claiming that they would "blow up" Denver with protests if the convention were held there without working out the labor and union issues.
Labor unions are some of the most tyrannical, money-grabbing, anti-capitalist organizations in our country. That their influence is so huge with one of our major parties is a good example of the kind of politics we can expect from a Democratic president. Even more importantly, Democrats have their eye on the white house in 2008, and need their convention to go off without a hitch.
This puts them in quite a pickle. If they move from Denver to pacify the labor concerns, they will strongly anger the good people of Colorado. Furthermore, this move itself will be seen as a problem by voters, which may turn people off of Democrats due to their lack of forethought and poor organization (whoa.. revolutionary).
If however, they choose to remain in Denver, and are rocked by picketing and protests by union and labor leaders, this can only help Republicans. Voters will see the Democrats as aggravating, and will see that they can't even rally their own base of support around their cause. If you cannot rally your base, how are you going to be able to swing moderate voters your direction? This is the question many voters will be asking should these labor problems erupt at the DNC in Denver.
I don't know whether this will have any effect, but it raises two interesting issues. First, the strength of labor unions amongst the Democratic party. This is deeply troubling to me. The second issue, is how little the Democrats can afford problems, and yet how easily they create problems for themselves...
It will be an interesting election cycle.