It appears Colorado’s newest U.S. senator has been hitting the books on the black arts of political negotiation to use a wedge issue to his advantage.
The Atlantic’s Mark Ambinder writes today on his theory on Sen. Michael Bennet’s maddeningly mute stance on the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). It’s a strong-arm tactic to bring labor and business together to negotiate on two causes close to the hearts of progressive activists and entrepreneurs alike: union-organizing and health care reform.
Says Ambinder, referring to a now-edited Coloradoan story that has inexplicably removed a key passage on Bennet’s discussion with Larimer County Democratic activists:
[He] is the guy who’s shaping the debate into a wedge. He’s saying these days that health care reform is possible if and only if labor and business work together. But if there’s a continuing fight over EFCA, business won’t play ball, and the cooperation needed to pass health care fails.
It’s an interesting tactic, if true, made that much more intriguing coming from a largely unknown freshman lawmaker whose Senate predecessors would never be confused with hardcore political players.
Comments are closed.