
My Fourth Rule of Politics
“At some time in political history, Democrats married Unions as their partner in the path to political power, and Republicans married the business community as theirs. The Democrats’ partner is faithful, the Republicans’ partner cheats all the time.”
I learned this rule early on in politics, and it was really emphasized during the two years that Republicans had a majority in the Assembly and the Governor’s office. Unions always gave 99% of their money to Democrats for Democrat elections prior to the 1994 election, and gave even more in the 1994-6 election cycle to unseat the Republicans. The Business Community, prior to 1994, gave about 60% of its money to Democrats with the excuse that they had to because “the Democrats are in charge of the Legislature.” In the 1994-6 election cycle, they gave about 55% of their money to Democrats because, according to one lobbyist I spoke to, “they might be in charge again, and we have to maintain those relationship.”
What? The unions don’t use such a lame excuse to justify their campaign contribution behavior, and besides, when the Democrats take over… Read More