CHICAGO POLITICS – AT 9:05 A.M. ET:  Democratic leaders have spent the last few days complaining about the roughness in America's current political culture.  Maybe some of their own operatives didn't get the memo.  You think?  From The Politico:

Senior White House and organized labor officials are warning the handful of House Democrats who supported health care legislation last year only to oppose the final measure on Sunday that they shouldn’t expect assistance for their reelection campaigns this fall.

The five who switched from yes to no — Reps. Michael Arcuri of New York, Marion Berry of Arkansas, Daniel Lipinski of Illinois, Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts and Zack Space of Ohio — have so annoyed top Democrats that there is also open talk of finding opponents to ensure they pay a steep political price for changing their vote.

“We’re looking at candidates we can trust to run against them, either through a primary or in the general election,” said Service Employees International Union Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger, noting that recruitment conversations were already under way.

Of the five who switched, Burger said flatly, “They should not expect help from us.”

COMMENT:  You'd think, now that the health bill has passed, that Democratic leaders and their allies would try to unify the party and realize that some members had serious problems with the bill.  But these are hardline machine politicians.  The Service Employees International Union represents public employees, who are rapidly becoming one of the most powerful forces in society.  This is a bad brew, bad for the Democratic Party, for democracy, and for the country.  Not that they care.

March 25, 2010