One day after the business advocacy group Coalition for a Democratic Workplace announced that it had purchased radio spots in Arkansas urging Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR) to vote against the Employee Free Choice Act (see our coverage HERE ), the Senator has apparently snapped back into line with most of his Democratic colleagues. The Northwest Arkansas-based The Morning News reports that Senator Pryor said today that he would support the bill .

But the Senator, who is serving his first term and faces reelection in 2008, hardly seemed enthusiastic about it:

But Pryor on Wednesday said he supports the bill, though he does not believe it will pass the Senate this year.

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Pryor said the bill should be seen as a precursor to more substantive changes to labor law.

"At some point, the business community and the labor community will come together and talk about how to modernize the way unions are formed," Pryor said. "I don't think that's going to happen this year." Pryor predicted the bill will falter on procedural grounds short of the 60 votes needed to advance it in the Senate.

 

Clearly this is not a comfortable issue for Senator Pryor, who has relied upon contributions from both business and labor PACS . He was one of only four members of the Senate Democratic caucus who declined to co-sponsor the legislation. He was probably hoping it would just go away.

Senator Pryor’s voting record on other issues indicates that he is sensitive to the fact that a significant portion his constituency does not support all of the Democratic Party’s agenda. He was one of only twelve Senate Democrats who voted to enact the Military Commissions Act of 2006 , which exempts “enemy combatants” from the protections of the Geneva Conventions. He was one of only two Democrats in the Senate to vote on March 15, 2007 against a resolution aimed at withdrawing most American combat troops from Iraq in 2008 .

Senator Pryor boasts on his website about a sign on his desk:

'Arkansas Comes First 'is more than just a sign on my desk. It is my commitment that as a United States Senator I will work hard every day to represent the interests and concerns of Arkansans.

What are the “interests and concerns of Arkansans” on the EFCA? Arkansas a Right to Work state , and it also happens to be home to the nation’s largest employer and labor’s biggest target. Only 5.2% of the Arkansas workforce belongs to a union . A staffer for Senator Pryor reportedly admitted recently that calls from the Senator's constituency were running 3-1 against the legislation .

But the pressure labor and its allies was intense. The staffer dismissed those calls as being the result of "grassroots" work , conveniently ignoring that there have been grassroots efforts on both sides of the issue. Senator Pryor reportedly had a video conference calls with the state AFL-CIO last month . Labor's fear of the CDW's radio ads likely brought more pressure than the Senator could bear. A cynical person might suggest that it is time to take down that sign.

In other swing vote news, the article in The Morning News also notes that Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), one of the remaining swing votes in the Senate, has still not made up her mind.

"I continue to hear from interested parties on both sides of the issue and will continue to have those conversations before making a decision," Lincoln said.