Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) isn’t generally considered a friend of organized labor. But the U.S. Chamber of Commerce may be trying to fence her in anyhow.
Lincoln has opposed EFCA in the past, and has said she could not support it now without significant concessions, and the Chamber–pleased with her position–seems to be trying to make a “no” vote on robust worker protections legislation a fait accompli. That’s not how her Arkansas opponents see things, though. When he saw the ad, Arkansas Rep. Davy Carter–a one-time potential Lincoln opponent–took to twitter.
“I can’t believe the chamber ran the Sen. Lincoln ad on page 6a of the Dem-Gaz today.. After all her back-and- forth on the issue this looks like a first-class butt kissing to me .. The people of Arkansas will see right through it.”
It must be tricky for a Republican when his opposition to even a fig-leaf version of EFCA is so strong that he’s willing to lash out at the Chamber of Commerce. But that seems to be what happened here. At least for a while. “I shouldn’t have used that particular phrase,” Carter said in a later statement. “[B]ut for the ad to imply she has been a staunch opponent of card check? Give me a break.”
He also made sure to follow up his original tweet with a caveat tweet. “BTW—the Lincoln ad was not ran [sic] by the Ark. Chamber (U.S.),” Carter wrote. Good to know.
