SEANC: Democrat Party mouthpiece
I’ve been getting some — ahem — “love letters” from people defending the State Employees Association of North Carolina from my insinuations that the group is little more than a front group for the Democrat establishment. (I previously published a report from a Democrat source revealing that he was approached by reps of SEANC and SEIU on behalf of Obama to lobby Lame Duck Bev to not seek reelection.)
SEANC reliably gets out in front, cheering for the Democrat agenda and campaigning for Democrat candidates. SEANC claims to be a voice for ALL state government workers. I am sure that NOT EVERY state employee is a partisan Democrat. Statewide voter registration totals show GOP and unaffiliated voters split pretty evenly with Democrats.
But SEANC overwhelmingly gets behind Democrats at election time. Let’s look at the record from 2008. All of SEANC’S Council of State endorsements –except ONE — were Democrats. SEANC endorsed a total of 74 state House candidates in 2008 — 72 of which were Democrats. In the state Senate, SEANC endorsed 32 candidates — 26 of which were Democrats.
What did the GOP candidates who won SEANC endorsements have in common? The Council of State candidate was incumbent auditor Les Merritt, who lost his bid for reelection. The General Assembly Republicans who were endorsed were folks who regularly throw their party and its platform under the bus when it comes time to vote on legislation.
This tradition may end up backfiring on SEANC after November. The GOP controls both sides of the General Assembly, and is favored to take the governor’s mansion. Keep this up, guys, and you’re going to be quite lonely in Raleigh.
A common defense I get from SEANC backers is that the association’s endorsements are “bi-partisan.” Sure, if that’s what you want to call the token handful of RINOs who get your nod each election year. But the association’s leadership and agenda is tucked firmly in the far left edge of the political spectrum.
The association’s agenda is all about raising taxes, growing government, and busting the budget. Our state is facing an unprecedented economic disaster. How about leading an effort to make state government more efficient, less intrusive in the lives of taxpayers, and more cost-effective?
Maybe you should look at 2012…..27 Legislative endorsements; 17 Dems (all in Democratic safe districts) and 10 GOP endorsements. (Berger, Apodaca, Jackson, Dixon,etc). Plus last year SEANC released a comprehensive report to the media showing some budget cuts proposed by their members. In the past they’ve had committees formed to bring forward savings to the state from members. You really need to follow the news now and then.