Spanking The CAFTA 15 - Jonathan Tasini

Spanking The CAFTA 15
Jonathan Tasini
July 29, 2005
...

Enough is enough. The 15 so-called Democrats who voted for the Central American Free Trade Agreement must pay a heavy price for turning their backs on labor: None of them should receive a dime from labor unions and each one should face a labor-backed primary challenger next year. And the recruitment of good candidates should start now. If the CAFTA 15 do not suffer the political consequences for their vote, labor will look weak and the march of so-called “free trade” will continue.

...

Here are the CAFTA 15...drumroll, please...: Melissa Bean, Illinois (8th District): Jim Cooper, Tennessee (5th District); Norm Dicks, Washington (6th District); Henry Cuellar, Texas (28th District); Ruben Hinojosa, Texas (15th District); William Jefferson, Louisiana (2nd District); Jim Matheson, Utah (2nd District); Gregory Meeks, New York (6th District); Dennis Moore, Kansas (3rd District); Jim Moran, Virginia (8th District); Solomon Ortiz, Texas (27th District); Ike Skelton, Missouri (4th District); Vic Snyder, Arkansas (2nd District); John Tanner, Tennessee (8th District); and Edolphus Towns, New York (10th District).

The arguments against taking down the CAFTA 15 go something like this: Trade is only one policy arena and labor can’t pillory politicians just for voting wrong on CAFTA; doing so would tar labor with the dreaded “single-issue” constituency label. According to this line of thinking, many union members care about a broader set of issues; they need politicians who will vote right on other issues, even if those same politicians stray here and there on a vote or two. And, some would argue, trade only hurts a particular slice of the unionized workforce. Finally, going after Democrats in “swing” districts makes it harder to take back the Congress from Republicans.

...


Few politicians are guided by deep principle. Most understand one thing: power. And, just as important, once tasted, the absence of power is an enormously effective motivator. Nothing focuses the mind of a politician more than the thought of losing his or her seat. If labor had taken out one or two Democrats who voted for NAFTA more than a decade ago, I suspect that the CAFTA 15 might have numbered two or three—or maybe none.

The time for hardball politics is now.