Thursday’s 52-35 Senate vote on a proposed $14 billion bailout for the auto industry broke down along party lines in Minnesota: Norm Coleman voted against it; Amy Klobuchar for it. The vote on the House version a day earlier: Minnesota Democrats approved, while GOPers Michele Bachmann, Jim Ramstad and John Kline voted against. Democratic Reps. McCollum and Oberstar voted for, Walz and Peterson against.

Now MSNBC presents a GOP memo, reportedly circulated to Senate Republicans Wednesday morning, that shows there might be a political motive behind the votes: Entitled “Action Alert – Auto Bailout,” it characterized the defeat of the industry bailout — which is what the sub-60-vote Senate tally delivered — the “first shot against organized labor.” The memo went out to GOP senators, but perhaps Rep. Bachmann got a copy too. The same day the email was sent, she released a statement on her opposition to the bailout: “Unfortunately,  the Democrat-led Congress has chosen to blindly oblige Big Labor at every  turn, regardless of whether it’s in the best interest of taxpayers.”

From the Michigan Messenger: Big Three bailout spotlight reveals Detroit’s decay