Health Care and Union Politics

MoJo reports on AFSCME appearance at the health care hearings:

In August 2006, at its annual convention, the union adopted a "Health Care Reform Blueprint for 2007-2008" that called individual mandates "incompatible with AFSCME's principles and long term interests."

But policy principles gave way to political needs. In late October, AFSCME endorsed Hillary Clinton, whose health care plan prominently features a mandate. This week, AFSCME helped Clinton assail her primary rival, Barack Obama, for holding a position it holds itself. AFSCME's national office distributed a flier in Iowa blasting Barack Obama for not mandating coverage, saying Obama took "the timid way out, offering yet another band-aid solution." (In underhanded fashion, the attack flier was designed to look like it came from the John Edwards campaign, not the Clinton camp.)

One sad thing about union endorsements is: the Unions don't let the candidates canvass to their members on a one-on-one basis. Obama has his share of union endorsements and increasingly the real weight of these endorsements is questioned, since Obama lost Nevada after getting the culinary union endorsement.