Californian* Mitt Romney gave his anti-worker corporate backers a big boost when he spent yesterday in New Hampshire getting involved in the state fight surrounding “right to work” for less.
Instead of talking about what working people want to hear—how every politician is going to create jobs—he’s spending his time with partisan political attacks that have no basis in economic reality. If he was focused on the economics, he’d realize that “right to work” for less lowers wages for everyone. In fact, the average worker in a “right to work” state makes about $5,333 a year less than workers in other states ($35,500 compared with $30,167).
Romney ought to beware of associating himself with the more radical elements of the New Hampshire right wing, which has been losing race after race after it began its war on the middle class. Democratic state candidate Jennifer Daler bested anti-working family candidate Peter Kucmas by 16 percentage points in a state House race May 17 in a district where Republicans have held a 7 percent edge over Democrats since 2004. Daler even swept all five towns in Republican Speaker William O’Brien’s home district.
Bob Perry, a 30-year retired union member and Democrat, defeated Honey Puterbaugh by 16 percentage points in the Aug. 9 special election to regain a Republican-held state seat.
Two pro-labor candidates are running in the upcoming election in Rockingham after labor-endorsed firefighter Kevin Janvrin upset a tea party candidate in the Republican primary on July 5. Janvrin will face Democrat Ryan Mahoney Sept. 6.
If Romney can’t figure it out from New Hampshire, maybe he should check out Ohio where Gov. John Kasich’s attack on collective bargaining rights for public employees has resulted in a groundswell of support for public employees—and against Kasich.
* California is where he is quadrupling the size of his current multimillion-dollar mansion, but at different times Romney claims Michigan, Massachusetts and New Hampshire as his “home states,” showing no more certainty of his place of origin than whether he continues to support his old health care plan. Maybe we should ask for his birth certificate.
