Politico reports that, good gawd, freshmen Democrats in the House are co-sponsoring the Employee Free Choice Act without fear of retribution. But consider this: Seven of the eight freshmen Democratic senators were elected, in states like North Carolina, Alaska and New Hampshire, in spite of both their support of the Employee Free Choice Act and millions of dollars in attack ads attacking them for that support (the one exception was Mark Warner in Virginia, who didn't announce his position on the legislation). This slide show may be informative on that front. Despite the intense debate over the bill here in Washington, when it comes down to voting time, it seems that most people don't make their final choices based on labor policy, in part, I'd imagine, because of low union density. But it's not clear from recent events that support of EFCA will lead to an elected official losing their seat, even in contested states.
-- Tim Fernholz
