Thanks Steve, I never knew that and it explains a great deal.srothstein wrote:In addition to what Charles and others have posted, I like to tell people what the former president (maybe executive director, I am not sure anymore) of CLEAT told me. Back when I was an officer and was elected to a director's position in the San Antonio police union, CLEAT was asked why they endorsed candidates for office that almost no police officer would support or vote for. He pointed out that CLEAT is first and foremost a LABOR organization, not a police organization. Its members might be police officers, but the organization is a labor union and endorses candidates for their labor stance.
They know that the conservatives will always support police officers and law enforcement. They take their political stances because it helps them with their labor positions. Note that the traditional political party that is anti-gun is also the traditional party for labor to support. CLEAT knows that it can depend on the support of the Democrats when they bring up labor issues to improve their contracts because they support Democratic positions. They know they can count on the Republican support on their labor issues because no Republican wants to be cast as anti-police. I do not like this hypocrisy but I see it at work and admit it is effective.
Chas.