Pulling sick-day proposal in Ohio helps Dems

Source: MSN Money

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - It seemed nothing would stop a proposal mandating seven paid sick days a year for most Ohio workers from getting on the November ballot. Not Gov. Ted Strickland. Not the strong rhetoric of the state's business establishment.

But then political considerations triumphed over policy, derailing an issue supporters are still convinced would have been a success at the ballot box. On Thursday, Ohioans for Healthy Families, led by the Service Employees International Union, announced they were going to pull the issue from the ballot, citing their reluctance to engage in what would be a divisive campaign.

Why pull back when public opinion is on your side just 60 days from an election? Yes, the fight would have likely been nasty. But that's not all. Supporters believed victory would have had its costs, and handing the cause off to a new torchbearer — Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama — would have its benefits.

Strickland, a Democrat, came out against the sick-day proposal after he failed to broker a compromise between business and the coalition to keep it off the ballot. But while he was an opponent of labor on the sick day issue, he is a friend to them on much more.

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