Labor leader calls for union members to get behind Conn. Dems

A senior labor official will warn union members Tuesday that Republicans Linda McMahon and Tom Foley could win in solidly Democratic Connecticut this fall if they sit out the elections.

In a speech at the Connecticut AFL-CIO's political convention in Hartford, AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker will tell union members to get behind the state's Democratic candidates, Connecticut Attorney General Dick Blumenthal, who is vying against McMahon for retiring Sen. Chris Dodd's (D) seat, and Dan Malloy, competing against Foley to be the Constitution State's next governor.

"And don’t for a minute think Foley can’t win. That McMahon can’t win. They can," Baker will say. "But I believe you will drive Dick Blumenthal and Dan Malloy to victory."

Both Connecticut Democrats have been ahead of their GOP counterparts in the polls of late, though there has been some tightening in the race between Blumenthal and McMahon. As the party in charge of Washington during tough economic times, Democrats are expected to suffer heavy losses in November, with Republicans looking to gain control of the House.

The labor movement wants to stymie those GOP gains, though, and is working hard during the 2010 campaign to protect Democratic incumbents. For example, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka was in California last week endorsing Democrats and calling Republicans Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina — running for the state's gubernatorial and Senate seats, respectively — "two clueless CEOs."

Unions are opposing several GOP candidates because the party in Congress has stood in the way of several of labor's top priorities, whether it was the stimulus package or the healthcare reform bill. In her speech Tuesday, Baker will say McMahon and Foley can be expected to do the same if they win office.

"You can count on Tom Foley to stand in the way of better healthcare, of education, of jobs and working people. And count on Linda McMahon. Count on her to keep pushing for tax breaks for companies that ship our jobs away, to keep hollowing out our economy," Baker will say. "That, brothers and sisters, is not what Connecticut needs in the governor’s office, and it’s the last thing America needs in the Senate: more politicians who think being anti-worker means being pro-business."