Frank Chopp is one smart donkey

He knows how to say no to labour on an issue that's a no-win for his party in a high stakes midterm. This would have brought the silver hammer of business down on the head of the state Democratic Party as they hold both chambers of the legislature, but by far from insurmountable margins. The GOP needs to win two seats in the Senate and six in the House, and while the Senate seats up in 2006 are not favourable, many Democratic seats in the House are held by precarious margins. Because of this, Chopp's decision was very smart politically.

Big labour thought they could knock off Helen Sommers in the 2004 Democratic primary, and failed, but do they really think they can try such a stunt against the sitting speaker? Probably not, unless they're more pompous and/or stupid than they appear. This issue isn't a winner for Democrats, and if labour really wants it to have a chance, they have to do it at the initiative box.