The American Spectator

br> Wondering why Gerald McEntee , head of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), pulled out of organized labor’s big PAC a few weeks ago? Probably because he got a better offer. /p>

Word on the street, “K” Street that is, is that McEntee, along with some other disgruntled union money bags, has invested in a new grassroots Democratic fundraising machine being started up by a former vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

The group, to be known as “Grassroots Democrats,” will be a coalition of interest groups and organized labor, and McEntee, who envisions himself as a party kingmaker, has been promised a high profile role. The group, one of the new breed of organizations allowed to raise money under the new campaign finance laws, is intended to offer state and local Democratic Party operations the cash and strategic advice the national party rarely has the time to give them. It will also serve as an outlet for McEntee’s union members who may not be able to play a role in the Democratic Party under the new campaign finance regime.