AFSCME Rocks the 2010 Elections

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that AFSCME is "now the biggest outside spender of the 2010 elections..." In a year when independent expenditures have dominated the election landscape, it's heartening to know that AFSCME is in there swinging on behalf of our members.

According to the Journal, "the 1.6 million-member AFSCME is spending a total of $87.5 million on the elections after tapping into a $16 million emergency account to help fortify the Democrats' hold on Congress. Last week, AFSCME dug deeper, taking out a $2 million loan to fund its push. The group is spending money on television advertisements, phone calls, campaign mailings and other political efforts..."

Some of AFSCME's war chest has been spent here in Washington state in this ad condemning Dino Rossi and in support of Patty Murray:



The most recent series of AFSCME-sponsored political ads -- airing in Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, and Pennsylvania -- can be seen in a recent post at Talking Points Memo. They are powerful and, I would think, very effective.

As the WSJ reported, "the union is spending heavily this year because 'a lot of people are attacking public-sector workers as the problem,' said AFSCME President Gerald McEntee. 'We're spending big. And we're damn happy it's big. And our members are damn happy it's big—it's their money,' he said."

-- Dennis