Spaced Out

In an unintentionally funny article, the Chillicothe Gazette is reporting that unions in Ohio are telling no longer supporting the re-election bid of Democrat Zack Space. One union, the ever popular SEIU, is expressly telling its members not to vote for Space. Supposedly, the reason for this position is that Space voted against the final healthcare bill.

In many ways, this is like watching theater of the absurd. The unions, particularly SEIU, do not want to see a GOP majority in the House. After all, it was the Democrats who funneled billions of dollars towards the unions in the last two years. A change to GOP control will surely cut off that flow, and nothing warms a union officials heart more than a steady flow of cash. So why the big anti-Space pronouncement? The reason is that Spce is considered to already have lost. Indeed, the NY Times lists him this morning as one of the few Democrat incumbents with essentially no chance of re-election. So, the unions can pretend to be actiing on principle when they cut off their support for this loser. It looks much better to the members and the press to cut off support in a show of principle rather than in an effort to stem total defeat. Still, if one pays attention, it is not too hard to figure out what is actually going on here.