Move underlines broader rift
by Gordon Sova (gordon.sova@thomsonreuters.com)
The Democratic Senator from Arkansas, Blanche Lincoln, no longer has union support. In fact, they want to defeat her. After years of Lincoln taking union money and voting against union initiatives, they’ve had enough.
And she is not alone. Union patience is flagging for Democrats who are racing toward the right in response to the Tea Party movement.
Union members to man the phones and to register voters have long been invaluable for U.S. Democrats; Barack Obama is only the most recent and the most prominent. Without that support, many Democrats are looking at defeats that cannot be prevented by adopting a Republican platform. And, to add insult to injury, unions are starting, though largely unsuccessfully, to try to run candidates against the offending Democrats.
The Labour party in Britain under Tony Blair cast off the unions and adopted the “Third Way.” But, Labour supporters moved away from the party this year and, despite a three-way race, the election was lost.
In Canada, union support has never been gone unreservedly to one party as it has south of the border. Nor is it as effective, despite the greater union penetration here. But there are definitely ridings where union support has been crucial for electing members.
The NDP has also provided fewer disappointments to its supporters, primarily because it has had fewer terms in office to disappoint them (Bob Rae being the exception).
British and American “labour” parties have failed their union supporters when in office. Which leaves the unions casting about for a more hard-line alternative. Paradoxically, Canadian unions have an ideologically firmer but marginal party to support and some have are toying with the idea of backing the Liberals because they have a shot at power.
Barack Obama is supporting Blanche Lincoln. He can’t afford to lose any electable Democrats.
Subscribe to this feed
I think this might be a reflection of the fact we have rejected class-based politics in this part of the world. At first glance, that would sound like a good thing, except that for some reason in North America we have this backwards idea that somehow the centre-left represents the elites within society and the Tories/Republicans represent the interests of the working classes. For example, I have friends who are staunch (militant even) union supporters, yet they vote Tory.
The influence of right wing media like the Toronto Sun targeting blue collar readers could have something to do with this, but I also believe it has something to do with the fact that many blue collar union members earn close to six figures and are actually better off than many university-educated managers and professionals (not that all union members are blue collar – I realize that). On the other hand, many people argue that due to globalization pressures and changing economic realities, those days are numbered (just look at Inco and the automotive industry, etc.).
I suppose the upshot of all of this is that the centre-left has got to get its act together and do a better job of convincing ordinary people that their interests are better served by voting for progressive parties. In Canada, the NDP and the Liberals need to stop taking shots at each other, and join forces to defeat the Tories. The Democrats need to do the same, but at least the “left” in the U.S. is largely united.
To finish the story, Blanche Lincoln was crushed in the 2010 election. Could union support have saved her? Doubtful.