Tom Barrett and the Unions!

The early endorsement of Kathleen Falk by AFSCME may have made the recall election all about the unions, instead of the people’s movement in support of labor, unionized or otherwise. There's also a case to made that this union disagreement may put on full display Mayor Tom Barrett's record with the unions.

Instead of stressing the return of collective bargaining, fine tuning the message and the Democratic plan for the state, and we’re now giving the media an excuse to manufacture a whole new narrative.  Did I eat some kind of hallucinogen in my eggs this morning? 

The best coverage is coming from Sly in the Morning on 1670 AM, who has had union representatives on, that have dealt with Barrett at the negotiating table, and audio clips of Tom Barrett that you probably won't hear anywhere else. I highly recommend giving the links a listen.

I’m happy to see WPPA’s Jim Palmer weigh in.

jsonline: A state police union is criticizing another union's attack on Milwaukee mayor and gubernatorial recall candidate Tom Barrett. The executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association said Friday that an Internet video promoted by the AF SCME Council 24 distorted Barrett's record and made it appear as if the mayor supported Gov. Scott Walker's repeal of most collective bargaining for public employees. Palmer said his group will endorse in the Democratic primary but so far the union has not announced a choice. He has been critical of other unions' decision to endorse Falk before Barrett had decided whether or not to run in the recall.

"This recall election represents an historic opportunity for Wisconsinites to reclaim this state in favor of a leader who can create jobs, protect our local services, and restore the right to have a voice at the bargaining table," said Jim Palmer, executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association. "For anyone to sink to the level of distorting the information it sends to its own members is shameful, and it creates the kind of internal discord that Scott Walker will need to keep his office."

A spokesman for AFSCME had no immediate comment. 

The comments called into question?

"I would vote for the changes in the health care and the pension. I would vote no for the changes in collective bargaining," Barrett said in the part of the audio that is not included in the Web video. "We did not create the video," AFSCME spokesman Robert Allen told Politifact, "but it does comport with our criticism of Barrett's behavior during the standoff over Act 10, which is why we passed it along to members."