Wednesday, November 7, 2012

25 Post Election Thoughts!

#1 First and Foremost - Mike Tate has to go, today is NOT soon enough.  In a night of a pretty successful national democratic national night, and one where we delivered two national victories, we once again took a statewide beating. 

I get that the republicans have a huge funding advantage, but we have a strong committed membership and some great candidates.   I get that the republicans were so unethical in the redistricting process(but not sure the rest of the electorate does - hint hint), but still if we can not beat such people as Andres Jacque or Robin Vos then there is a problem. 

We can not as a state afford to keep losing, and Tate's record speaks for itself.  It is time for a change in leadership.

2.  The biggest loser of the night was Public Education in Wisconsin.

3.  Democrats need better messaging, its plain and simple.  What do the republicans truly stand for?  Who knows?  It is no coincidence that the republicans started winning more elections when they hired Frank Luntz.  

4.  Can we as a democratic party please stand up for Collective Bargaining rights?   When no democrat mentioned restoring collective bargaining rights as a major issue, that put us behind the eight ball.  When having a discussion about this with a solid democrat who I respect immensely, she asked me what I would call someone who obviously supports collective bargaining rights, but does not push them as a major issue because it should be assumed.

My answer to that was (and is) I would call them the minority party.  

5.  It is time for the elected representative to become leaders. Have a plan of attack and draw a line.  Pick some issues that they all stand behind, and stand like a rock.   Sometimes, it appears, that some of the democrats in the "safe seats" are very comfortable in the minority. 

6.  I would personally like to thank Paul Ryan for helping deliver Wisconsin to President Obama.  I would also like to thank Rob Zerban for running a great campaign and putting himself out there.   He pulled a very large percentage of the votes considering that Ryan spent $4 million dollars with silly ads and redistricted to make his district much more friendly.   FYI to the democratic party, Ryan is beatable.  There is a reason Ryan ducked debates and hid from his district.    

7.  Paul Ryan 2016??  Please God! 

8. Once upon a time, Morals and Ethics mattered.  Once upon a time, the Republican party ran as the party of values.  


 The republican voters of Racine showed us that this is all a distant memory, by re-electing Robin Vos.

9.  Be prepared for the next fight - Wisconsin becoming a forced-to-work-for-less state.  Its coming.  

10.   I do respect the service that Tommy Thompson has given to Wisconsin.  However he ran such a bad campaign and has taken such a hard right turn to win the primary that he deserved to lose.  Not only did he deserve to lose, but he deserved to lose to an openly gay woman!   

11.  Anti Gay Marriage amendments lost all over the country, we were a couple years to early in putting ours to a vote(still a black mark on Wisconsin).   In the next election cycle, can we have a referendum declaring Julainne Appling illegal?  

12.  What does Mitt do, since he planned his whole life to be president, now that the country has rejected him twice?   Hint:  See Todd Marinovich.

13.  It was great to see democratic women(statewide and nationally) make a huge inroads.  

14.  Every republican who shared their crazy views on abortion, was punished for it at the ballot box.  All except 1 - Paul Ryan! That is why many republicans will not discuss their views on abortion.  

15.  Education won in many districts, in terms of passing referendums throughout the state to increase funding, yet we keep electing anti education representatives.   It should not be that hard for the democrats to make that connection and put that message out.

16.   I am very proud to have voted for President Obama twice.   Everyone on my ballot, who I voted for, won!



17.  Everyone on the left needs to accept that money makes a huge difference in politics and work from there.  It is important to work to change that, but its even more important to embrace it!

18.  We need to find a way that incumbents are not automatically elected.  People say they hat career politicians, yet continually vote for the same person over and over.

19.  Shame on the Fox valley for not re-electing Jessica King.   Jessica is a true American success story and someone who "raised herself up by the bootstraps" and is a true public servant!   She is what America is all about!   I hope she runs again!

20   My son had a "mock election" in his school.   President Obama won handily and Tommy Thompson also won.   It seems the kids did not like tammy because she said the D-word.  My son tried to make the case how that was ridiculous reason to vote against her, to no avail.   It shows that the same ads that appeal to the republican base are also making a difference in the perception of 2nd - 4th graders.     Must be on the same intellectual level. 

21.   I used to make fun of the "tea party" but now I realize how important they are to the democratic party!   They helped deliver numerous seats to the democrats!   So Thank you and please stay around! 

22. Mitt Romney & Paul Ryan, both lost every ward, state, etc.... voting area where they originate from.   Romney lost Michigan & Massachusetts, and lost.  Paul Ryan lost not only Wisconsin, but also Rock County and his home ward!

What does that say about you, when the people who know you the best, solidly reject you:???

23.  Congrats to Heidi Heitkamp, Chris Murphy, Elizabeth Warren, Jon Tester, Sherrod Brown, Bernie Sanders. Claire McCaskill and Tim Kaine on your solid wins!

24.  Let's hope the blatant racism that the national republicans and Reince Priebus ran on will never happen again





25.   Capper delivered the perfect line summing up last night

 Enjoy the victory for a few days. You've earned it. Then come back and we'll get back to work. We helped save the country, now we gotta save the state.

The work now has to come, not fighting the republican party, but in changing the party from within!

On to the next election!  

Your thoughts???












12 comments:

  1. As much as I agree the Tate has to go, redistricting is the missing piece. In 2008 when the Dems had the opportunity to do redistricting reform, they gambled that they would win in 2010 and be able to draw partisan districts. We know how that turned out. I think it is clear that neither party when in power will let go of the possibility of partisan redistricting and time to look at a state Constitutional amendment.

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  2. I am not discounting redistricting at all I brought it up there as a reason, but we need results.

    The fact that the dems hugely squandered their opportunity to change WI for the better whne they had control is what I was trying to get to in # 5.

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  3. Well put. Couldn't agree more. Now we need to out the focus on fixing Wisconsin. Walker is already talking about pushing his agenda hard in 2013. I only hope that the Democrats can come up with a strong candidate to run against Walker in 2014.

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  4. Sean Duffy was beatable as well. He voted to zero out funding for worker training programs and funding for Job Centers. He then stole the Veteran's Job Fair and put his name on the next two Job Fairs that are given annually by the Marathon County Job Center. So in other words the people whose jobs he voted to zero out did all the work, he put his name on it, and then showed up claiming to be the hero of the unemployed. Don't you think that might have been information that people might find relevant? With over 2500 people losing their jobs in the Wausau area in the last year alone due to factory closings, that information out there might have made a difference....but then what do I know? Most of those laid off workers have been through the Job Centers and have worked with the job training programs. But we wouldn't want to point out what a lying hypocrite Mr. Duffy is. I want the money back I donated to defeat him.
    http://www.wisdems.org/news/press/view/2011-10-struggling-sean-duffy-hijacks-jobs-fair-for-self-pro/

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    1. What Baldwin did right was that when she was attacked, she didn't go on the defensive, she actually turned it back around on Thompson. So that probably could have been done in the House races too, but, money would have been needed.

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  5. Unfortunately, we're going to see the same blatant racism, due to the likes of Robin Vos (just check out his "Pints & Politics" speeches to rabid racists in Racine Co. The Wis Dems missed an opportunity to give Vos the heave-ho, as Kelley Albrecht on her own with limited funds stole 42% of the vote from Robin Vos. Just 2,508 more votes and Peter Barca and Mike Tate could have consigned Vos to the floor of his popcorn factory. Now, we have to suffer through two more years of Vos's extreme partisanship while he decimates our schools (sending voucher funds to Catholic entities so that he can "earn" his next marriage annulment). I certainly hope that Wis Dems realize that Albrecht captured 42% of the vote with NO Dem support, while Kevin Koth captured 42% of the vote with huge Dem support). Facts is facts.

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  6. "The biggest loser of the night was Public Education in Wisconsin"

    Exactly. This is the core issue that is driving my vote now. Any candidate who supports voucher schools will never get my vote. Ever.

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  7. Okay, I've got a few thoughts in addition to the already many good additions you have gotten thus far.

    For some time now, I've been thinking about how the Tea Party got it's foothold, and garnered so much control in such a short period of time. We need to capitalize on that, and my thinking has been to break from the status quo Democrats and not create a PAC with the name progressive, but start the progressive party right here in this state. We need to gather those who have fought for the rights of workers, women, children, and our lands. We need to then structure our message and shape it in a way that is very unfamiliar to us all, but one that we've seen work for the Republican Party and the Tea Party, and that is playing on peoples fears. Fear is one of humans' main motivators. We need to show people what unregulated mining looks like. What lackluster education brings.

    Now, to answer some of Jeff's points.

    . The redistricting. They were drawn up, and we have to live with it for now. What we need to do is find which of those "R" districts are the most vulnerable, and the attack those districts with our message.

    . We don't wait for our representatives to become leaders, we demand it of them. We are their constituents, they are to work for us.

    .Knowing that "right to work" is coming, we need to collectively get ahead of this, and proactively educate the people of this state to exactly what it means. Yes, that may take money, but damn it, in today's world, we need to utilize the tools available for free too. The internet, email, web pages,etc.

    . Yes, our children are getting their political education from the ads on TV, and many seem to as well. We don't need no stinking fancy glossy colored pamphlets to expose the truth. Black and white gets the message across, we just need better delivery. It's about marketing.

    .There's a fair amount of us who share common threads. FB, twitter, etc., and with that we can start to build a movement. I'm ready. I'm not leadership material, but I am a really good observer, and feel I have good input. I've got IT skills, and know we've got a leader out there, and many other aspects that we need to move this collective unit forward.

    Some of you are friends in FB and follow me and I follow you on twitter. I can also be found on google as wazooblues at the gmail

    Solidarity brothers and sisters.

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  8. Do not connect the Fox Valley with Fon du Lac. Fon du lac is often remarked as "the armpit of Lake Winnebago. As a group the Fox Valley was 50/50 on Obama/Romney. Not small minded Fon du Lac. That town is 50 years behind the times.

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    1. As a canvasser for the local Democrats, lots of time and effort spent door to door was directed at helping Jessica King beat Gudex. She lost in the district by only 590 votes.
      I couldn't help but wonder why there wasn't more television and print advertising for Jessica King. People around here only became aware of her campaign in the last month.
      Fond du Lac voters helped Obama and Baldwin win out, but why not help Jessica King? This is truly a tragedy.
      The State Senate majority now goes to the Republicans. Let's hope the John Doe probe takes Walker to court as soon as possible.

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  9. Enjoyable read Jeff, somewhat anyway.

    Maybe I missed it but let's not forget the less than bipartisan paper of record coming out of Milwaukee and their effect on the reporting of facts or hiding of facts or failing to push for facts.

    Tate, like the rest of the D heirarchy, is nothing but top down tinkering to enable the oligarchs and the plutocracy. Changing him for another party operative isn't going to change a thing. Four people in the county D party where I reside, effectively censor every bit of information or discussion allowed or disseminated locally, period. No discussion of ideas or critical engagement, dissension or change allowed.

    The D3C cutting all their funding for Wall against Ribble six weeks ago and sending cash to several "D" (?) pro-life candidates instead. Huh? That helps how? Oh yes, that keeps a Republican Congressional majority for Obama to capitulate too, to use as an excuse for his continual slide to the right, yes, that political far right and tell us how warm and cozy, bipartisany wonderful he is. Bronco then, Bronco now, same old crap, except worse. Guess what, Bronco doesn't need you or anyone else to help him get elected to a second term anymore, good luck with that one.

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