Monday, September 26, 2005

Senator Talent Meeting With Carpenters Union

The Post is reporting that Missouri Senator Talent (R) and Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder (R) are meeting with leaders from the local Carpenters Union. Jo Mannies of the Post is reporting on her blog that the talk centers around Talent & Kinder's support for the Union and being against any change in making the state a "right to work" state.

Talent & Carpenters Union

I'm not a big supporter of organized labor for countless reasons, but as Mannies points out the Carpenters Union has a history of being pretty independent and have supported Republican candidates in the past. A majority of the union members are probably left of center only on the issue of organized labor, and tend to be much more right of center on other issues. People building my home I can sort of see being unionized as opposed to say grocery store checkers or the folks selling us those $6 beers at the Rams and Cardinal games.

This could be a coup for Talent getting the most moderate of Union in his corner who also share most of the same views on "value" issues as the Republicans. I don't see how it really could hurt Talent and could only help if he brought the most moderate union into his camp. If he does not get their official endorsement, he will still get plenty of their votes when they go to the polls.

I'll reserve my final opinion until we know exactly what the meeting was about, the outcome, and what that might mean from an endorsement perspective and from a policy perspective. Regardless, this could be the start of a strange and very new political partnership when it comes to some unions.....................................