Union Attacks Hurting Republicans With Cops, Firefighters - FDL

[WillyT]

Union Attacks Hurting Republicans With Cops, Firefighters
By: David Dayen - FDL
Sunday April 3, 2011 6:45 am

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Cops and firefighters have traditionally been up-for-grabs or even lean Republican constituencies in America over the past 30 years or so. Bill Clinton gained a lot of goodwill with the COPS program, but Republicans have held their own. But a series of GOP-led anti-union bills in the states, some of which affect public safety personnel in particular, have soured them toward Republicans in a way that could have lasting effects.

It’s a political shift that could have significant repercussions, and not just because these right-leaning union members vote for Republicans in sizable numbers. Angry cops and firefighters make for bad PR — especially after Republicans under President George W. Bush aligned themselves so successfully with the heroes of Sept. 11 in the years since then.

Chuck Canterbury, the national president of the Fraternal Order of Police, said his members are “shocked” by the turn of events.

“Who are these evil teachers who teach your children, these evil policemen who protect them, these evil firemen who pull them from burning buildings? When did we all become evil?” said Canterbury, whose union endorsed Bush in 2000 and 2004 and John McCain in 2008.

You could have seen this coming a mile away. The 2005 special election in California is something of a harbinger for all of this. Arnold Schwarzenegger went directly after labor unions in the state. One of the major ballot measures was a “paycheck protection” initiative, which would have forced unions to get permission from members to engage in any political activity (I’m sure corporations will seek that permission from shareholders any day now). The ads from labor in that campaign all featured regular people – teachers, nurses, and especially police and firefighters – giving direct testimony on how Arnold’s ballot measures would affect them personally. In November, the initatives all went down in a big way.

Now we’re seeing police and firefighters run screaming from the GOP in these other states. In Wisconsin, Scott Walker tried to split them from the coalition by exempting them, but it didn’t work; public safety officials showed solidarity with their fellow public employees in the protests. In Ohio, police and fire are affected by the bill, and Republicans they supported are pushing it:

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More: http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/04/01/union-attacks-hurting-republicans-with-cops-firefighters/

:kick:

[Oceansaway]

1. K&R...n/t

[lib2DaBone]

2. Time and again... they right-wing convinces people to vote against their own best interest...

I hope this latest round of union busting forces police and firemen and teachers to look at the true face of the Republican party.