From W. With Love

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Unions are also planning a major effort to defeat Florida Governor Jeb Bush in his re-election bid next year. More than election grudges are at stake. After negotiations between Jeb and the public-employees union bogged down, the Governor went to the legislature to get some of his demands written into law. "We've got a responsibility," says Gerald McEntee, the union's national president. "How can we stand on the sidelines when the workers are being attacked by the Governor of the state?"

But the sidelines are where labor will find itself as long as Bush is in the White House and Republicans control both houses of Congress. The biggest question now is whether a weakening economy will make it more difficult for the President to satisfy the demands of his corporate backers while meeting the concerns of Americans worried about losing jobs, benefits and economic security. It was probably a bad omen that the Senate voted to toughen the bankruptcy laws last week just as the market headed into bear territory, raising the possibility that more people will be learning about those laws firsthand. Business is all about separating the winners from the losers, but in politics, the losers as well as the winners get to vote.