US Chamber targets Kerry/Edwards

WSJ.com: "Business Elite Vows To Take On Kerry If He Taps Edwards" Registration Required

From today's WSJ, article by Alan Murray:

Tom Donohue, head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has made a public vow: If John Edwards is chosen as John Kerry's running mate, the chamber will abandon its traditional stance of neutrality in the presidential race and work feverishly to defeat the Democratic ticket. "We'd get the best people and the greatest assets we can rally" to the cause, he says.

Other business leaders in Washington have been less public and less precise, but no less passionate. Reviewing the candidates in the Democratic primaries earlier this year, a Fortune 100 chief executive who is active in Washington told me that Mr. Edwards, the North Carolina senator, "is the one we fear the most" -- more than John Kerry, more than Dick Gephardt, more than Howard Dean.

None of this is personal. These businessmen barely know Sen. Edwards and would probably find him a far more engaging dinner companion than most of his fellow Democrats -- Sen. Kerry included.

Nor is it completely rational. Mr. Edwards's political and policy views are more moderate -- and more in line with business -- than those of Gov. Dean, Rep. Gephardt or even Sen. Kerry.

But Mr. Edwards is a trial lawyer. His campaign for the presidency was financed by trial lawyers. And there is nothing that makes America's CEOs see red these days like America's trial lawyers. "It's visceral," says one person who works with a group of chief executives. "You can feel it in a room." The nation's top executives view the plaintiff's bar as modern-day mobsters, shaking down corporations by bringing endless lawsuits that are too costly and too dangerous to litigate and that result in settlements costing billions to the corporate bottom line. The antipathy, while not new, has never been greater.

"This is not a personal issue and it is not a party issue," says Mr. Donohue. "It is not about getting Bush or Kerry elected. It is about something so fundamental to what we do here at the chamber that we can't walk away from it."

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When Gray Davis faced his recall here in California, I asked an attorney friend of mine who he was supporting. His response was "Whomever can do the least to implement tort reform."

I don't begrudge my friend for his response -- he took a risk and hung out his own shingle, and he has a family to support. He's doing what many would do -- looking out for his interests.

But also, looking at the state of business in California, there are several things that you can easily point to as the reasons why California ranks near the bottom of business-friendly states in the USA. Worker's Compensation costs. An over-regulating state legislature. And perhaps worst of all, the over-litigious nature of society. Spill hot coffee from McDonald's? It's as good as winning the Lottery. Yes, I'm being overly cynical, but let's face it -- this really happened. Why else would hair dryers come with warning labels that tell us "Do not use while sleeping?" Because some idiot failed to read the "Open other end" on the bottom of a Coke bottle, and cut themselves breaking open the bottle to get to their drink. I'm surprised ambulances don't have signs on the steering wheel, saying "Don't stop suddenly -- Lawyers following closely behind."

I had the pleasure of meeting a gentleman last year who is the president of a great organization -- the Civil Justice Association of California. Visit their website and learn why tort reform is crucial to getting California back on track. . .