Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

While Bill Halter's failed attempt to unseat Blanche Lincoln understandably has received all the media attention, there is a congressional race in Massachusetts in which labor is trying to unseat a politically incorrect (i.e., not sufficiently liberal) Democratic incumbent.

Steve Lynch is a Democrat in the MA-09 district who has earned the eternal ire of progressives for voting against Obamacare (even though real progressives also were against Obamacare, go figure). Lynch is being challenged on the Republican side by Keith Lepor.

SEIU has put up a challenger in the Democratic primary, much as unions backed Halter.

Not just any challenger, mind you, but an SEIU political director, Mac D'Alessandro:

My name is Mac D'Alessandro. I'm the New England Political Director for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU); and, as of this week, I am a candidate for United States Congress from Massachusetts' 9th district. I am a progressive Democrat, and I'm running for Congress because I believe that the working families in our communities deserve a Congressman who will fight for them and who will actually be a leader on key issues that matter to them - from reforming our health care system (and building on the recently-passed reforms) to holding Wall Street accountable to investing in job creation for our communities to protecting our civil rights and ensuring equal protection under the law.

Lynch could be vulnerable:

Barely a third of likely Democratic primary voters in his district say that Steve Lynch deserves re-election, according to April poll numbers obtained by the Boston Phoenix....

The poll, conducted on behalf of a third party prior to D'Alessandro's entrance into the race, did not test any potential head-to-head match-ups. It found that 39 percent of likely primary voters hold a favorable impression of Lynch, with 29 percent unfavorable and 32 percent undecided. That is a low favorability number for an incumbent, among voters in his own party -- although not as bad as it might be in the current anti-incumbent mood.

Just 35 percent said that Lynch deserves re-election, with 33 percent saying it is time for somebody new, and 32 percent not offering an opinion.

An SEIU Political Director in Congress. What possibly could go wrong?

A Democratic senator is introducing legislation for a bailout of troubled union pension funds. If passed, the bill could put another $165 billion in liabilities on the shoulders of American taxpayers.

The bill, which would put the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation behind struggling pensions for union workers, is being introduced by Senator Bob Casey, (D-Pa.), who says it will save jobs and help people.

At least his SEIU background will help bring civility and honesty back to the halls of Congress:

Impersonating nurses in a multimillion dollar campaign replete with deceptive mailers, phone calls, a website linked to a phony RN group, and the diversion of groups ostensibly working on "healthcare reform," the Service Employees International Union has sharply escalated an offensive to seize control of the nation's largest nurses' organization, it was charged today.

SEIU is trying to take over the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (AFL-CIO) by soliciting SEIU-allied individuals to run for the CNA/NNOC national board of directors, as well as attempting to harass and intimidate the CNA/NNOC leadership, said CNA/NNOC.

Since D'Allesandro was the Political Director for SEIU in Massachusetts, I wonder what he knew, and when he knew it, about SEIU efforts to get state workers to "volunteer" for Martha Coakley:

Republican Senate hopeful Scott Brown has filed a state ethics complaint after a report that a union backing rival Martha Coakley used state resources to urge workers to volunteer for her campaign.

After Brown’s complaint Wednesday, the operations director of Service Employees International Local 509 said it mistakenly sent an e-mail to state employee members Nov. 20 asking them to volunteer for the Democratic attorney general.

"What did Mac know, and when did he know it?" Sounds like a plan.



Update: I wonder what Mac's position is on the "Choose Life" license plate controversy in Massachusetts?

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Related Posts:
I'm On The Case of Angle v. Reid
Is SEIU Behind Anti-Brown Push Polling?
Astroturfing For Coakley

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