National Police Union Turns Down Romney and Obama...

[Indi Guy]

Source: Wall Street Journal

...The 330,000-member Fraternal Order of Police, the country’s largest police union, announced that it would back no candidate for president this year, the first time the group had passed on an endorsement in its 98-year history. The union backed the Republican nominees in 2000, 2004 and 2008, and backed President Bill Clinton in 1996.

...“The important challenges faced by our rank-and-file officers, the real issues in public safety, and the problems that our criminal justice system is facing are not the focus of either campaign,” Chuck Canterbury, the group’s president, said in a statement. “It would be irresponsible for us to support either candidate.”

People familiar with the group’s decision said leaders had been disturbed by Mr. Romney’s statements of strong support for several antiunion initiatives, particularly the move in Ohio to restrict the collective-bargaining rights of public-union employees, including police and firefighters. The measure was overturned by voters in Ohio last year.

...Mr. Canterbury bemoaned a lack of bipartisanship in Washington. “This national preoccupation with defeating or trumping political opponents has eroded confidence in our leaders and the entire political system,” he said. “In such an environment comity, compromise and cooperation have become virtually impossible,”...

Read more: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/09/07/national-police-union-turns-down-romney/

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..."lack of bipartisanship in Washington"?! Which party wouldn't play ball?

[PearliePoo2]

1. But they had NO problem backing Bush and McNuts?

Man, Rmoney must REALLY be bad in their eyes!

[WCGreen]

3. That's the way I look at it...

The FOP here in Ohio almost always went GOP while the local police unions stayed out or backed Democrats.

[pinto]

7. That's the way I read this, too. Didn't endorse Obama in '08. This is a bail on Romney's campaign.

[orpupilofnature57]

2. The American Police Force, Blackwater, and the Extinction

of municipal law enforcement is what they should be using their clout against .

[daybranch]

8. Here in Ohio

It is amazing that after rank and file democrats worked for and voted to allow the police , the firefighters, and the teachers as well as other public unions to keep trheir bargaining rights, they can turn their backs on us.
I recognize that some members of the police department may believe they are an elite organization, better than those GM workers etc. and respected by republicans as essential. They need to get some reality- the democrats built their right to organize, the democrats have expanded it, and now the democrats have helped to save it.
They need to help us elect Obama and Democrats like Sherrod Brown. It is the least they should do for what we do for them.

[greiner3]

38. AS I read the FOP's statement;

A 'present' vote IS an endorsement. Imagine the howls of indignation from most of the FOP supporters ( the REAL American voters (snark) if there was in fact an endorsement broadcast. The contributions would decline and the FOP's clout would necessarily decline. Hence the 'present' vote.

If this were a public sector union, it would be the same as the leadership of the union were telling its rank and file to 'vote its conscious,' another way to say, 'present.'

[bread_and_roses]

39. No - ordinary workers "built" their own right to organize

and ordinary workers fought to expand it and have worked hard to protect it. Politicians did not do it for them - neither Rs nor Ds. Have Democrats been better friends to organized labor than the Rs? Yes. But they have not "saved" it - no one can save it but the ordinary working people. Have Democrats been less obstructive? Yes. Have they made overt attacks? No. Does it make any sense for any working person, ever, to vote for an R? No. In my entire lifetime the Rs have been the Party of the rich, the bosses, the owners.

As for saving it, no. As someone deeply involved in the lost fight for the Employee Free Choice Act I know from first-hand experience how much pressure we had to put on "our" Dems - to try to keep them from bailing on us. They really, really wanted the whole thing to go away. They really, really, really did not want to have to take a public stance in favor of organizing. It is a common observation among union members that Dems are our good friends alone in the room with us - strong supporters of the right to organize, of collective bargaining, oh yes! - and usually silent anywhere else.

I tell you from my own personal experience that organized Labor has to work hard for vote that supports their rights - every time, no matter the justice of the issue. It is the same for unorganized workers - who's battles we join. Minimum wage is a good example.

Politicians are politicians. Were we not donating, turning out the on-the-ground volunteers, and lobbying constantly we'd have nothing from any of them. They would always rather do what is easy and expedient. You may think that's quite OK. I don't. I don't think that we should have to beg and plead every time for them to do the right thing.

We get little enough, as it is, for all our work.

And as an example I give you the one I am most familiar with - Andrew Cuomo, Democratic Governor of NY, who's been quite happy to use the hatred for public workers manufactured by the Rs to his own advantage.

Neither Party wants to see a strong organized workforce. The Ds are quite happy with organized Labor in its current weakened and thus craven position. They are quite happy that we are caught between a rock and a hard place and our leaders feel compelled to make "lose less" bargains. Works for them - for workers, not so much.

[D23MIURG23]

4. Good, fuck the fraternal order of police. I like Obama better without that endorsement. n/t

[ProSense]

5. Correction

"The union backed the Republican nominees in 2000, 2004 and 2008"

..."National Police Union Turns Down Romney." Period, and

[SILVER__FOX52]

6. Who cares about this.............

our Police utility workers are not important.

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. I wish the teachers' unions had done this.

Good for the cops.

[msanthrope]

13. The majority of teachers didn't agree with you. Does this mean you are not voting for the President?

Why would you not want major union support for President Obama?

[Comrade Grumpy]

20. I hope you're getting paid for all the site policing you're doing.

[Bodhi BloodWave]

32. What exactly was wrong with the question, Comrade? nt

[aaaaaa5a]

10. Once again you can see the GOP bias in the headline.

The headline should have read:


"The Fraternal Order Of Police, a traditional endorser of GOP candidates refuses to back Romney"





If Obama were in this situation, that's how it would have been written.

[progressivebydesign]

12. of course... the MSM is so obvious nt

[progressivebydesign]

11. Umm okay. By not backing Romney's opponents they are enabling the UNION BUSTERS...

you know, the republicans who have policies and ideology NOW that cuts police and public services. Brilliant.

[meow2u3]

14. They had to sneak in the false equivalency

After all, the WSJ is a Murdoch paper.

[bluestateguy]

15. I knew this one was going to be a close call

Last edited Sat Sep 8, 2012, 03:30 PM - Edit history (1)

Except for 1996, they always endorsed the Republican.

I had read the questionaire responses they sent out to the candidates and I saw areas of agreement and disagreement from both candidates. Ramney is very anti-union and anti-collective bargaining, but Obama opposes liability caps on jury awards to victims of police brutality. Ramney supports this. Obama saved a lot of police jobs with the stimulus, but FOP probably doesn't like that he reduced cocaine/crack sentencing disparities.

Since they almost always endorse the Republican, this is a net good for Obama. It would be like the NRA staying neutral

Edit: Looks like they DID support the sentencing bill, after all. http://www.fop.net/publications/archives/legislation/111support.shtml

[judesedit]

16. lack of bipartisanship in Washington"?! Which party wouldn't play ball?

I guess they are bought and paid for, too. Obama's done more for them than the thugs ever did. And they claim to be public servants???? Nothing but power-trippers pepper spraying and taking their frustrations out on innocent people. Is this the gestapo?

[valerief]

17. I guess Rmoney's check to them wasn't big enough to buy their support. nt

[byeya]

18. The Fraternal Order of Police supported HR 18, the powered cocaine/crack equalization bill.

I don't recall the FOP leadership changing their position but it's certainly possible.

[bluestateguy]

25. Looks like I stand corrected

http://www.fop.net/publications/archives/legislation/111support.shtml

[byeya]

28. That was a while back and the FOP may have changed its stance but I don't think

that they did.

[IrishAle]

19. In these parts...

in the local lodges, the FoP was divided very bitterly over backing the GoP in '04 and '08. I think this was true across a lot of the country.. in order to keep from supporting a dem and not openly back obvious union busters, the admin chose to hide behind the rock till it passes.

I know in the local lodges again, this is not going over well with a large portion either, but this being a red state, I doubt there will be any debate over the matter.

[byeya]

21. The FOP has many rural deputies as members and these officers are among the most fervidly

Republican. Since the largest contracts the FOP administers are in northern and western cities, my guess is that Canterbury felt it best to keep the FOP neutral and not totally honk off a significant percentage of the membership. Canterbury just won reelection and probably wants to move on piece by piece since the FOP's endorsed legislation - in large part - hasn't gone anywhere lately.

[iandhr]

22. This is big news.

The usually back the Republican a non endorsement of Romney is big news.

[iandhr]

23. Can locals make their own call?

Last edited Sat Sep 8, 2012, 06:11 PM - Edit history (1)

[byeya]

29. To the best of my knowledge, local lodges - if they can endorse at all - are confined to local

races.
The State Lodges are confined to state races and do not endorse presidential candidates. The State Lodges can also endorse candidates for the US House and the US Senate.

[leftyohiolib]

24. they wont or cant back a republican so the back noone

[byeya]

26. I would say a non-endorsement is a plus for our President in this case.

There are few national Lodges; 95+% are local with usually no more than a handful of departments in their area to get members from.
Many Lodges have well less than 100 members. And, the state Lodges handle the non bargaining unit affairs for the subsiderary Lodges within that state. The state Lodges intereact with the main lodge - called the Grand Lodge - not the local Lodges except for national dues and membership rolls.

[kestrel91316]

27. Bunch of closet racists.

[elbloggoZY27]

30. WOW! E WOW!

I hope their membership votes for the Candidate who actually cares about this country.

[VPStoltz]

31. Again no good turn will get in the way of our knee jerk idiology.

How many police jobs were saved by the stimulus?
Comparable to teachers I would think.
I'm a teacher, I'm thankful for the stimulus and I'm voting for "O" to thank him.
Same damned thing with veterans - even though they KNOW "O" has been their best hope, they don't "trust" him as my vet brother says.

[David__77]

33. The support for Clinton is notable.

His support for massively expanding the death penalty and law enforcement powers were the reason for that. I'm not displeased that Obama didn't "earn" their support.

[Dawson Leery]

35. The FOP is the one "union" I am certainly against.

[byeya]

40. President Clinton created federal funding for the hiring of local police officers making

for safer communities and safer working conditions for the police.

[olddad56]

34. would they back a Nazi candidate?

[busterbrown]

36. WTF

Don't these guys understand that the 1% republican corporate scum would just
love to privatize all union police forces, scrap all pension funds and benefits including
healthcare and replace them with $10.00 an hr. rent a cops.
Its time police unions woke the hell up and realized who their real enemy is.
Enough with the supporting of republicans because of social issues including abortion, guns,
gay marriage. These issues have nothing to due with the welfare of you and your family.
Have they not learned anything from Christie, Walker, kasich ?

[MrSlayer]

37. Which party openly wants to destroy public unions?

And which party still pays lip service to them?

[nanabugg]

41. Bigoted ranks just can't bring themselves to support Obama even though he supports them.

Racism is a bitch!!