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(108,903 posts) Mon Sep 15, 2014, 07:35 AM Sep 2014

Meet the Democratic Candidates Backed By the Biggest Big Business Lobby in the Land

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/09/democratic-candidates-chamber-commerce-endorsement

Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.); Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Tex.); Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.); Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.) Photos: Zuma

The US Chamber of Commerce, the biggest big business trade group in the country, lobbies against things like Obamacare, regulation of Wall Street, and action on climate change. So it’s no surprise that the Chamber tends to support Republican candidates; this year, it has already thrown its weight behind 256 GOP contenders. It's also backing a few Democrats: four of them, to be precise.

These Dems vote with the Chamber more than most Democrats. "The Democrats the Chamber has backed are reliable votes on business issues. We can tell from their track records," explains Jennifer Lawless, a professor of political science at American University. But that's not the only reason the Chamber is backing them: In all four cases, the Dems that the big business lobby is supporting are running against exactly the sort of Republicans the Chamber doesn't like—tea party and libertarian GOPers. Tea party Republicans—who have spooked Big Business repeatedly in recent years by shutting down the government, threatening to throw the country into default, and slamming Wall Street excess—are less predictable "in terms of what they will ultimately do for business if they win and get to Congress," Lawless says, and the Chamber hates that. (The Chamber did not respond to a request for comment.)

Here's a rundown of the four Dems the Chamber is backing.

Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.): Peters is running against tea partier and former San Diego city council member Carl DeMaio in California’s 52nd district, and is one of the most vulnerable Democrats running for reelection.