First we had some anonymous White House official blasting labor for supporting Bill Halter in the Arkansas Democratic Primary. Now we got some other senior Democrat doing the same. From Sam Stein:
Another senior Democrat (who also would not be quoted by name) echoed the point in an exchange with the Huffington Post. “Labor is humiliated,” the source said. “$10 million flushed down the toilet at a time when Democrats across the country are fighting for their lives, they look like absolute idiots.”
This is nothing but the kind of “inside the beltway” thinking that Americans are tired of. It also seems like there’s a general tone being struck here. Compare the above statement to the one from last night:
“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.”
There is one similarity that keeps sticking out at me – November. It sounds like the beltway gang is preparing to scapegoat labor for any losses in November.
Another meme is also being struck here. On Morning Joe this morning, Mark Whitaker was saying that labor backing other candidates shows that Obama is not in charge of the Democratic Party. Well that assessment is totally ass backwards. As the AFL-CIO stated last night, they are not part of the Democratic Party.
But there is proof that Obama isn’t doing a good job leading the party, and this proves it. It’s not labor he has to worry about – it’s these anonymous sources out blasting labor. Could you imagine someone in the Bush White House saying “these pro-lifers are just wasting their money”? Karl Rove would have that person renditioned.
President Obama needs to get better control on messaging. He needs to make a statement himself saying that he totally disagrees with these statements and that Labor is a strong force in America that must continue to fight for their people.
In midterm elections the base counts big time. If senior Democrats want to alienate a large portion of that base through anonymous insults, then the losses in November will be at the fault of the Democratic Party and the President.