Last week I explained the Bush strategy on overtime rules and how the administration’s proposal would make as many as 8 million working American ineligible for overtime compensation.
Today I’ve noticed that John Kerry is taking the lead on challenging the Bush plan and has come up with a clever strategy to capitalize on this issue.
The Kerry campaign announced today that it was launching an Internet-based petition drive to generate support for blocking Bush’s proposal on overtime.
“If President Bush has his way, as many as eight million Americans — including fire fighters, police officers, paramedics, nurses, and store supervisors — will be denied the pay their families count on to put food on the table or save for college and a home,” Kerry’s petition drive explains. “Tell George Bush he’s wrong — and warn him you’re going to hold him accountable. Tell him that you’re a patriot who knows that when our nation’s security is at risk we depend upon our first defenders and it’s wrong to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy on the backs of workers who are called upon to work harder and longer than ever before.”
I think this is the right strategy for the right issue. First, on the merits, Bush’s overtime plan will hurt a lot of workers who rely on the extra income. Kerry is right to condemn the plan and bringing attention to this may, with any luck, make the administration back down from implementing it.
Second, it helps Kerry with Labor. It should surprise no one that Kerry started the petition drive on this issue after meeting with top officials of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), one of the most important and politically savvy unions in America. Gephardt has made great inroads with unions and Kerry obviously understands that peeling away some of that support will only help his campaign.
And lastly, it increases Kerry’s commitment to Internet-based activism. Howard Dean may have worked his way to the top tier of Dem candidates by utilizing the web, but that doesn’t preclude Dean’s rivals from appreciating the power of politicking online. Kerry is demonstrating that he, too, is taking the Internet seriously.
In fact, when told of the initiative, Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi, according to the AP, “dismissed Kerry’s move as nothing more than a copy of the Dean campaign.”
Now, now, Joe, there’s no reason to get grouchy about this; Dean hasn’t earned exclusive rights to utilizing the Internet for politics. After all, Dean didn’t invent the Internet, Al Gore did.