Chamber of Horrors Continues

Why’s everybody always pickin’ on me?

That’s the musical question the Coasters sang on Charlie Brown’s behalf, but these days it could be playing inside Tom Donohue’s head.

Donohue, the president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, woke up Friday morning to read a scathing attack on him and his “undemocratic” organization by Washington Post business columnist Steven Pearlstein. The 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner dismissed the Chamber’s Campaign for Free Enterprise as a “$100 million propaganda campaign” that is “nothing more than a desperate attempt to repackage the same old antitax, antiregulation, antigovernment rhetoric in hopes of derailing the major initiatives of the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress.”

Meanwhile, labor’s Change to Win coalition issued a report that contended Donohue has “hijacked the Chamber’s agenda away from serving the interests of the business community to serving corporate CEOs.”

The report’s cover features a grainy portrait of a grim-faced Donohue, with skin that’s nearly pumpkin orange. It’s downright scary-looking. The headline: “Preaching Principle, Enabling Excess: How Tom Donohue Compromised the Credibility of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.”

Change to Win’s beef with Donohue is that under his leadership, the Chamber has opposed financial reforms and curbs on executive compensation. The report also contends Donohue was complicit in shady practices and “indefensibly high pay” for executives at four publicly traded companies where he served as a director.

These attacks followed a series of high-profile defections—most notably, Apple—from the Chamber over its opposition to current legislation and proposed federal regulations that would cap greenhouse-gas emissions.

The Chamber blamed the corporate defections on orchestrated pressure by environmental groups, but these latest attacks seem more like a case of piling on. Donohue and his “minions,” as Pearlstein called them, are tough players in the Washington lobbying world, and they consider all the attention they’re getting as a compliment.

Plus, consider the source of the criticism. Apple’s resignation and the decision by Nike to step down from the Chamber’s board are a black eye because of their powerful consumer brands and hip images. Plus, a group of environmentally conscious investors followed up these defections with letters to 14 other companies, asking them to quit the Chamber.

Pearlstein’s column isn’t likely to cause much heartburn at the Chamber, however. He’s a provocative writer, but he’s more prone to attack business than back it. Plus, he thinks small businesses have too much sway over policymakers, not enough. Those aren’t views that resonate with your local Chamber of Commerce members out in Omaha or down in Durham. This grassroots network, combined with the national Chamber’s corporate war chest, make the organization powerful.

As for Change to Win? Consider the source. The Chamber is fighting many battles, but one of its biggest is going to be with labor unions over the Employee Free Choice Act and other actions that would make it easier to organize workplaces. On this fight, it will have almost every nonunionized company in the U.S. on its side—even if its leader is made to look like a monster.