The Democratic money machine, already reeling from the collapse of their voter-registration group, America Coming Together, suffered another blow with a deep split in the AFL-CIO.

The Democratic money machine, already reeling from the collapse of their voter-registration group, America Coming Together, suffered another blow with a deep split in the AFL-CIO. In late July, two major players in the labor organization, the Service Employees International Union and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, withdrew from the AFL-CIO in a fight over political strategy; a third group has followed them out. The dissident unions want to spend more money to recruit new members, figuring that labor will never regain its political clout until it stops its decline, while the AFL-CIO, led by president John Sweeney, wants to continue to use coerced union dues to make massive contributions to Democratic candidates and organizations. So now, Democrats find themselves with a divided labor base, no America Coming Together, and disillusioned donors. And they say George W. Bush is running out of steam?