Cross-posted from National Journal.com:

It's not one big happy family for the Democrats when it comes to some of the brothers and sisters in the house of labor. Frustrations are so great that union chiefs on the AFL-CIO's executive committee have discussed backing primary election challenges to Democratic senators cool to their agenda.

The idea was kicked around at the executive committee's January 25 meeting in Washington, even though just over a year ago labor pulled out all the stops to put a Democrat in the White House and expand the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.

"Some people clearly supported" the challenges, said Gerald McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, who participated in the meeting by speakerphone. McEntee said that no specific proposal was advanced for mounting primary fights against Democrats whom the leaders view as less than loyal to labor's cause. Rather, "it was a matter of discussion. When you're in the condition we're in, legislatively, you're looking around like a blinded doe; you're looking for means to pay back and make things better."

The chairman of the AFL-CIO's political committee continued, "Maybe it might be a good idea to let [potential targets] really know some things, let them know where we really stand; maybe we primary some of them--'Blue Dogs' or others."

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