This is an interesting development. Evidently, the union rank and file are Bernie Sanders-loving leftwingnutters - which we already knew - but Big Labor's national leadership are now residing in the "DINO" category (i.e. they're planning to endorse Hillary Clinton), and that's creating problems between the two:
AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka is warning labor leaders to hold off on endorsing Senator Bernie Sanders' bid for the presidency, saying the federation's bylaws specify that such endorsements are to be left up to the organization on a national level.
Trumka, in a memo sent out this week, reminded groups that they are not allowed to "endorse a presidential candidate" or even work on statements or resolutions that indicate a preference for any candidate, reports Politico. Further, he said that "personal statements" are also forbidden.
"Because in years past, and already this year, a number of questions have been raised," Trumka said, "I want to remind you all that the AFL-CIO endorsement for president and vice president belongs to the national AFL-CIO.
"State federations, central and area labor councils, and all other subordinate bodies must follow the national AFL-CIO endorsement regarding president and vice president."
In short, "We will do the endorsing, and you will endorse who we tell you to endorse, and you will like it - or else!" Which is entirely in character for Dick Trumka, and which his rank & file members and State affiliates have loved in the past when the extremist belligerence was directed at the Right, Now that they're on the receiving end of it themselves - shazam! - they don't seem to appreciate it very much:
National union leaders, though, are drawn to the party's more [communist] side, represented by Sanders, a[ socialist] running for the Democrat nomination, and groups in South Carolina and Sanders' home state of Vermont have already passed resolutions that support him. Some union leaders in Iowa are also calling for a resolution to be passed at their convention in August to back Sanders.
In addition, reports Politico, there are more than a thousand labor supporters, which includes local AFL-CIO leaders, who are part of a group called "Labor for Bernie," which is calling on the nation's union leaders to back Sanders....
Jeff Johnson, the president of the AFL-CIO's Washington State Labor Council, said he has not seen a memo like Trumka's before. State leaders are aware of the national law, as the AFL-CIO's endorsement decisions are made by the national leadership.
"There's a lot of anxiety out there in the labor movement," Johnson told Politico, agreeing that it is important for the overall group to endorse just one candidate. "We’re desperately searching for a candidate that actually speaks to working-class values. The Elizabeth Warren/Bernie Sanders camp is very, very attractive to many of our members and to many of us as leaders, because they’re talking about the things that need to happen in this country." [emphases added]
That Barack Obama hasn't already taken care of? How can that possibly be? Or are pinkos really insatiable? (Yes, that's a rhetorical question.)
Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Steven Tolman also agreed that Trumka had to enforce the AFL-CIO's bylaws, but still made a broad hint over who he supports.
"Bernie Sanders has spent his life actually fighting for working people," Tolman told Politico. "He’s made no secret of it, and he’s used it as his mantra. And that I respect very much."
And here's the punchline:
When asked about Hillary Clinton, he replied: "Who? Who? Please. I mean with all respect, huh?" [emphasis added]
This is a major league schism, folks. It fits in perfectly with the ongoing trend: the Democrats' hard-left base does not want to get stuck with Hillary Clinton, because they don't believe in her and don't trust her, and they are so desperate for an alternative in the absence of Elizabeth Warren jumping into the race that they're willing to back an old, white, male, fringe kook like Weekend Bernie. And the Donk "establishment," which evidently includes Comrade Trumka and the AFL-CIO poobah-ry, are determined to back the Empress, or they wouldn't have issued that unprecedented memo.
I'm telling you, my friends, there is a major rupture coming on the Left that is going to lead to electoral disaster next year that only the Republicans nominating Jeb Bush could avert.
Or, in other words, dueling intra-party civil wars.
Feel free to order the popcorn and the frosty beverage, but keep in mind that it might be like watching a tennis match.
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