Sen. Lincoln Speaks Out on Card Check, Griffin’s Past, and Her Auto Bailout Vote; Griffin Comments (UPDATE)

Just a day after the rumor of Tim Griffin entering the Senate race, Sen. Lincoln is already modifying her position on the card check (sort of.) If you read the AP story closely, you still will not know what her position is; although to her credit, she does talk about pretty much every position one could take. The short version is that she says she will vote against it unless they give her some pork.

Regarding the Card Check Bill, Lincoln told the AP, "I think the question is, is there a need for this legislation right now? And for multiple reasons, I don't think there is.” But she went on to say that the bill has “room for improvement.” That is political talk for show me ‘da money.

She also directly addresses the possibility of facing Griffin in 2010, making a not so veiled threat by saying, "I think he has a tremendous amount of history in terms of what he's done in this past administration, and I think all of those things are going to be fair game for people to investigate in terms of whether he's the guy for the job." In other words, if you dare run against me, I will investigate your pants off. (I called Sen. Lincoln’s office to ask about this comment specifically but have not yet heard back.)

She finishes off with one final nugget on the auto bailout. She reveals that while she voted against the Senate automakers bailout bill, she did so because she thinks the $700 billion already set aside to bailout financial institutions should be used for the automakers. Once again, Sen. Lincoln cannot pick a side.

In response to Lincoln’s extensive comments, Tim Griffin said this morning (via twitter), " I am glad to see Sen. Lincoln is reconsidering her position on card check legislation.”

UPDATE - Several beltway blogs picked up on this story today including The Hill's Pundits Blog, Marc Ambinder, K. Ryan James, and The Weekly Standard.