Posted on 05/01/2007 8:57:22 AM PDT by areafiftyone
Organized labor has long been a political ally of the Democratic Party, but that didn’t stop two potential candidates for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination from meeting with one of the more influential unions Monday.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia and Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska met privately in Washington with the executive committee of the Service Employees International Union, a 1.8 million member union that endorsed Democrat Howard Dean during the 2004 presidential contest.
The SEIU’s executive committee has already met with the Democratic candidates seeking the party’s 2008 nomination and has invited the Republican candidates to meet with them as well. But so far, none of the declared GOP candidates has accepted the union’s invitation.
“We hope that today’s conversations were the first of many that we will be having with Republican presidential candidates before the election,” said Roger Roeder, an SEIU member from Iowa who is also a member of the union’s Republican Advisory Committee. “Working people need to know where all of the pesidential candidates stand on health care, jobs and retirement with dignity,” said Roeder, who participated in the meeting.
SEIU includes 300,000 Repubicans nationwide, according to the union. SEIU is the fastest growing union in the United States and is concentrated within the health care, food and hospitality industries. It claims to represent the most immigrants of any union and is heavily involved in promoting immigration reform.
((((PING)))))
Sounds like the “do me first” tour.
I think Newt is seriously thinking of running. Just a gut feeling.
SEIU is a big supporter of open borders if I’m not mistaken. Food industries and all that.
Lol! Did Gingrich leave the room alive?
Yeah. But If it were me I'd be hitting up my conservative constituency; not some labor union. And Hagel? Hah. That tell's me it's a last-ditch effort to get over 1% in the polls.
SEIU includes 300,000 Repubicans nationwide, according to the union. That sounds like alot of republicans. If its true.
Gingrich, Hagel and a Union - don’t see how we can lose here! (sarc) These three things are certainly in the list of the top ten things I do not want to hear about. Least of all, all at once.
I don’t mind politicians talking to union members but talking to union leadership is always a fools errand for a republican.
SEIU URGES CONGRESS TO STOP DRAGGING ITS FEET AND PASS COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM TODAY
http://www.seiu.org/media/pressreleases.cfm?pr_id=1389
There is no point in a Republican meeting with a union for the Presidential race. You might be able to make a deal with the unions on the state level, if you are willing to sell your soul, but never for the Whitehouse. The unions are all loyal to the Democratic Socialists of America.
Talking to the members might be useful, but the leadership is selling out the interests of their members in the hopes that "comprehensive immigration reform" will give them more members and more funds flowing into the union.
However, flooding the low skilled labor market is going to hurt their members.
That actually works into the hands of the union leadership, because happy, content workers don't need a union. They would rather have a large group of discontent workers that they can convince to blame everything on the employer.
Actually, SEIU endorsed George W. Bush in 2000, if I recall correctly.
Should that be a surprise? Not to me. Anyone who would nominate Harriet Meires to the SC surely is not a conservative.
If Gingrich is hanging out with Hagel and union officials, then he has probably crossed the line to “RINO.”
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