Not long ago, the United States passed a milestone: more than 300,000,000 people live here now. Out of all of them, who would you envision to be the worst qualified to protect Americans from rapacious companies out to exploit them by violating wage-and-hour laws? Yup, sure enough: the one George Bush just chose to do that job:

As a private practice lawyer, [Paul] DeCamp represented Wal-Mart in trying to prevent a class of 1.5 million women—the largest employment class action ever certified—from suing the company for discrimination in pay and promotions.

· He has proposed taking overtime pay away from workers in ways that were even more extreme than what the administration actually has done—and suggested easy outs for bosses who misclassify workers as not eligible for overtime pay.
· He’s represented businesses opposing union organizing campaigns and fighting unfair labor practice charges.
· He’s represented an employer appealing a record $40 million dollar sexual harassment verdict.
· And he’s fought on the bosses’ sides on collective and individual actions involving the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage and hour laws.

It’s right there in his bio from a previous gig at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher—one of Wal-Mart’s favorite law firms.

This is what the folks inside the Beltway don’t understand. Fighting to get the Republican Party out of office isn’t like cheering on one football team against another. It’s about who makes decisions about the lives of millions of ordinary people.

The Republicans want it to be people like Paul DeCamp. Most Democrats don’t. It matters.