The provocation in Wisconsin is not so different from attempts by the conservatives in Minnesota, which is just one reason of many for posting this update here as a public service announcement for our readers (with minor edits and redactions). As this effort continues and grows, the recount for the Wisconsin Supreme Court election from earlier this month also continues, with modest gains for the Democratic candidate, although so far nothing that would unseat the incumbent Republican, but one may hope. Wisconsin continues to be a volatile state politically.
Today, Democrats in Wisconsin are submitting the petition signatures to have the SIXTH Republican state senator, Sen. Robert Cowles, put on the ballot for a recall election.I believe they are serious, and so should the conservatives in Wisconsin!
That's six -- Dan Kapanke, Randy Hopper, Luther Olsen, Sheila Harsdorf, Alberta Darling and now Robert Cowles -- of the eight GOP senators eligible for recall, and it covers all of the senators who are considered most vulnerable. A net gain of only three seats is needed for the Democrats to take control of the Wisconsin Senate.
Things are heating up! If things go as planned, we expect the first recall elections to be held in early July. That gives us just over two months to stage a targeted and strategic mobilization effort and send as many of Gov. Scott Walker's cronies in the state senate packing as we can.
Republicans have filed recall petitions against three of the 14 Democratic senators who stood in solidarity against Gov. Walker's attacks on Wisconsin's working families -- Sens. Dave Hansen, Jim Holperin and Robert Wirch. So we have to play defense as well as offense.
People For has organized a presence for our Wisconsin members at rallies and other events across the state -- including Sarah Palin's recent speech to hers and Gov. Walker's Tea Party supporters in Madison. We've been directing volunteers to help with the recall petition effort. And now, as we move into the election phase, we're holding meetings this week to determine our advertising and communications strategy for the campaigns.
Wisconsin is vitally important for the entire country because it is the front lines of a national right-wing attack not just on workers' rights, but on the middle class as a whole.
The petition effort to undo a similar attack on workers' rights in Ohio is under way and we're fighting the demonization of public employees and legislative attacks on workers in a growing number of states.
Republicans in Washington recently voted to pull the plug on Medicare and Medicaid and remain hell bent on paying for more tax cuts for corporations and billionaires with deep cuts to vital services.
Just this week it was reported that one of the country's leading unions, the International Association of Fire Fighters, is so strained by fighting off anti-union attacks in the states that its PAC won't be participating in federal elections next year -- playing directly into the Right's plan to weaken progressives by attacking any institution that offers them political support.
We need to send a message in Wisconsin and we need to do it with these recall elections. Help us let the GOP know that their attacks on the middle class come with a serious cost ... and with Gov. Scott Walker eligible for recall in 2012, let him know that we're coming for him next.
The last count I had was that there were filings to recall three Democratic state senators, and efforts were in play to recall four others of the group which had fled the state to thwart legislation passing. To date insufficient numbers of signatures existed to do so. Interestingly, a group in Utah appears to be one of the driving forces behind the Democratic recalls, the "American Recall Coalition".
Additionally, adding to the volatility in Wisconsin, Congressman Paul Ryan has been booed and challenged at town hall meetings by unhappy constituents.
I don't think the Conservatives have anything like the mandate they seem to think they have...
I beg to differ. In the recent election, Justice David Prosser defeated challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg by 7,316 votes; and that's after the onslaught of outside artillery against the incumbent sitting Judge. Ms. Kloppenburg was a pre-vetted candidate who promised to give the nod to whatever the far-Left public-sector unionists (who were screaming because (wait for it!) their jobs had been saved by Governor Scott Walker) asked of her. That's just not right, and is un-American. These public-sector unions are an abomination; and their existance (as a taxpayer-paid funding arm of the Democratic Party) should be terminated.
ReplyDeleteThe terrible swift swords borne against Justice Prosser prior to that election should have rendered him defeated by a wide margin; I followed the #WiUnion hashtag on the Twitter carefully; and the frothing unionists all declared that it would be an easy victory for 'SOLIDARITY!' (those twitterers with their 'raised fist' - socialist iconography).
Not so much. Justice Prosser was re-elected, and is in for 10 more years.
And the hateful spite invented and tossed toward the Klopp Brothers! Orchestrated untruth! I knew Madison was known as "Berkeley on the Prairie", but I had no idea that State of Wisconsin was as bad off as was indicated.
In any event, with all the outside monies flowing into that election; with OFA bringing in all sorts of support; even with 'Jabba the Filmmaker' giving an impassioned dirty socialist speech, Kloppenberg couldn't secure a victory.
Which tells me there are some good people of sound mind living in Wisconsin, after all. This nation might have hope! Now for some real CHANGE!
(Did I really write 'Klopp' instead of 'Koch'? So much for their having any staying power or influence with me!)
ReplyDeleteSer Ated,
ReplyDeleteThat's one take. Of course another might well be that Prosser, who lead by 20 plus points 6 weeks prior to the election, who had 2.3 Million spent to support him from outstate money vs. 1.8 for his opponent, saw a race that NEVER should have been close, become very close, in fact appearing, but for some sort of bizarro world mistake by a pro-Republican poll judge who miraculously found 14,000 votes, but for that, Prosser apparently would have lost.
So, in scneario one, (yours), a hand-picked Dem was defeated despite outside money - which while true is only half the story, the story you apparently want to cut it down to.
And in scenario two, a HEAVILY favored candidate, one with a massive lead, was almost caught by a no-name, someone who was barely recognizable to the electorate two months prior to the election AND he was almost caught despite outspending the opposition by 20%.
The fact is the margin of victory was less than .5% - it was a VERY close race, and no one side had the monopoly on outside support.
Me, I'll take the full boat, no shortcuts or shortchanging the story here. You, you can keep the change.