COMMENTARY | Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa’s call for the Republicans and the tea party to be “taken out” fetched a sharp rebuke by none other than Sarah Palin in a long post on her Facebook page. Hoffa should smart from the smack delivered.
“What I say now, I say as a proud former union member and the wife, daughter, and sister of union members. So, as a former card-carrying IBEW sister married to a proud former Laborers, IBEW, and later USW member, please hear me out. What I have to say is for the hard working, patriotic, selfless union brothers and sisters in Michigan and throughout our country: Please don’t be taken in by union bosses’ thuggery like Jim Hoffa represented yesterday. Union bosses like this do not have your best interests at heart. What they care about is their own power and re-electing their friend Barack Obama so he will take care of them to the detriment of everyone else.”
Here Palin reminds her readers are several things. First she identifies with “working people” whom Hoffa and Obama keep referring to, even going so far as to highlight her previous union membership. She also suggests that a lot of the tea party people whom Hoffa would like to have “taken out” comprise some working people, some of them in unions, a few likely Teamsters.
It has been a truism in American politics that union bosses tend to be Democrat while union members, at least those in the private sector, often vote Republican. It was true under Reagan, who was attractive to blue collar people for his patriotism and his willingness to deal harshly with enemies of the United States. Palin must sense that it is true now if the Republicans nominate the right candidate.
Palin might have someone in mind.
She went on to tie together the tendency of political elites, corporate CEOs, and union bosses to try to amass power at the expense of the little folks. She is not anti-business or anti-capitalist. She does have a problem with private businesses or unions allying themselves with government to garner unfair advantages. Her record as a crusading governor in Alaska attests to the fact that it is no mere talking point.
Palin may well have hit upon a populous message that people from across the political spectrum will be attracted to. The conflict she sees is not so much about left vs. right, but rather the well-heeled and well-connected against everyone else. The difference is she doesn’t want to restrict the making of money, as liberal populists have demanded. The former governor who went toe to toe with big oil is also the person who coined the phrase “Drill, baby, drill.” She is more libertarian than Marxist in her disdain for the elite.
If she can pull off a campaign based around the theme of spreading not so much wealth but power around, she will be, despite current polling, unstoppable.
Source: Teamsters’ Jimmy Hoffa, Obama Union Ally, Calls for ‘War’ on Republicans, Tea Party, Mark R. Whittington, Yahoo News, September 6, 2011
Welcome Union Brothers and Sisters, Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin Facebook Page, September 6, 2011