Wisconsin: Everybody chill a minute!

[Scuba]

As as even casual observers have noted, the right has been going all out to gin up dissent within the ranks of Wisconsin Democrats, and indeed the reluctance of the DNC to help in the recall Walker effort is unsettling.

Well keep the faith, folks. Walker is going down on June 5th. I'm confident that very few of the 930,000 citizens who signed Recall Walker petitions are going to sit on their hands election day.

I'm also confident there's a substantial contingent of folks who voted for Walker in 2010 who will not do so this time around.

I'm also confident that our side can win at least one of the four Senate seats up for grabs, giving us control of that chamber.


So......

Ignore the crap and keep working! Get on the phone banks, do door-to-door canvassing, talk to your neighbor, cousin, aunt, mechanic and the guy waiting on you at the Kwik Trip. Get a bumper sticker or a yard sign, or make your own.

If you can afford it, toss a couple bucks Tom Barrett's way.

But don't become discouraged and let the right-wing spin machine beat you!!!

That said, we need one more giant rally on the Square in Madison to get every last one of us fired up. Anyone aware of plans? Saturday, June 2nd sounds like a good date to me.

[dragonlady]

1. How about rallies in each community?

I doubt that Madison needs a rally to be fired up, but Milwaukee might benefit from one as part of the GOTV effort. Half a dozen groups are canvassing and phoning every day now and will hit a peak during that last weekend. Honestly, I don't think as many would leave home and come to Madison.

You are absolutely right about people being ready to vote. While registering voters in African American neighborhoods we found great determination to get Walker out. We still do need to reach some lower-information voters who think it's already over because we got the signatures, or because Walker got more votes than Barrett in the primary. Voter contact is crucial.

[Scuba]

2. Thanks, appreciate your response. Community rallies sounds better than my idea...

... anyone know if the Democratic Party or Barrett campaign is doing anything on this front?

[dragonlady]

7. As to Milwaukee County

which has always been a large source of Democratic votes, see http://www.milwaukeedems.org/get-involved/calendar/ .

[Scuba]

10. Cool! Thank you!

[sybylla]

3. Great, have your community rallies - then get your asses out and talk to voters.

Rallies do nothing but, maybe, depending on how conservative your papers/radio stations are, get you a little press. If you don't have a significant number of people show up, it gets you bad press.

If everyone who went to a rally took two hours and a handful of GOTV lit and walked doors in a neighborhood, we'd get a lot of the state covered and do far more good than standing on a street corner rallying.

[Scuba]

4. This sort of addresses why my first thought was a large rally in Madison - press coverage....

I'm open to any suggestions. Thanks for mentioning GOTV.

[wandy]

5. That the DNC is not involved in this is somewhat depressing.....

Can they not see that Walker is the image of everything we stand against.
Or, in the end will they allow Romney to win by virtue of lies and corporate dollars.

Walkers defeat needs to be the first victory.

[RBInMaine]

14. This is an UNTRUE meme. Wasserman-Schultz herself is coming, and they are helping with fundraising.

[Scuba]

16. Source/link please. I want to spread the word...

Not that I doubt you, but a quick google search got me nada.

[RBInMaine]

20. Tom Barrett's website under "Take Action" then "Events." It is May 30th.

[Scuba]

21. Great, thank you!. Hope she brings a boatload of cash with her.

[wandy]

22. I hope you are right......

Disposing 'King Walker' would be a major victory.
Walker represents the republican 'new deal' for America.
A 'new deal' where their are no unions.
A 'new deal' where their is no minimum wage.
A 'new deal' where safe working conditions are sacrificed for corporate profit.
A 'new deal' where only the BlueBloods can afford to send their children to privet schools.
A 'new deal' in which America sinks farther and farther behind in technology, health care and all other advanced areas.
A 'new deal' of corporate feudalism.

I sure hope that the DNC understands how important it is to rid ourselves of the Walker/Koch vision of America.

[hue]

6. Thanks for Your positive thoughts Scuba!!

[lastlib]

8. I'm with you guys, in heart and soul!!

I heartily second everything you said!

I'm unemployed, I don't live in Wisconsin, but I scraped up fifty buck to give the recall effort. We GOTTA WIN this, folks!

It'll take million$$ to win this--to lose it will TAKE ALL WE'VE GOT!

[Manufactured Consent]

9. none of this matters if the election is stolen

Absolutely nothing was done with Kathy Nickolaus blatantly stole previous elections, and that absurd recount!!

They got away with it all due to manufactured consent by the corporate media.

You have a major problem with the media in Wisconsin (as do we all)...you have to surround the TV stations like they did in Egypt and demand they tell the truth about Walker and how people feel about him. Demand independent polls and protest outside the stations until they report the results of a real poll.

When they steal the elections, activists need to hit the streets again, demanding the TV stations cover it.

You need to tell everyone what happened last time.

It is not who votes that matter, it is who counts the votes!!!

[tcaudilllg]

26. The Dems are probably watching her.

I'll bet Obama has a team working on her.

That woman is headed straight to hell, and I don't think the Democrats are interested in being dragged along with her...

Are we guys?

[snacker]

11. Thank you...

for making my day! I feel better now...I'm off to canvass and deliver signs with a renewed confidence. Solidarity.

[progree]

12. Despite the gloomy news, and despite being a Minnesotan, I contributed.

$300 at http://grassroots.barrettforwisconsin.com/page/s/g-join-our-campaign

But I'm a Minnesotan so can't vote in Wisconsin. I hope you all do.

Like Wisconsin, here in Minnesota we have a RepubliCON legislature (both houses, by sizable majorities), but fortunately, unlike Wisconsin, we have a Democratic governor (Mark Dayton) that vetoes all the crap legislation the CONservatives come up with. Unfortunately, they bypassed the governor by putting the voter ID amendment and the anti-gay marriage amendment on the November ballot, so pretty soon fewer of us will be voting.

[Scuba]

13. Thank you for your help!!

[RBInMaine]

15. Well get your people the hell to the polls and BEAT their referendums.

[eridani]

17. Best thing for out of state people to do?

I've gotten links inviting me to phonebank, but have also heard that WI voters are tending more and more to ignore calls from numbers they don't recognize. Is this a useful thing to do or not? Or is it best just to try to raise as much money as possible for Barrett?

[Canuckistanian]

18. It simply astounds me

That Walker is getting anywhere NEAR 50%. After a successful recall campaign (although not totally successful) and with polls before this showing MAJOR negatives for Walker...
How can these recent polls show such gains? Especially after the WILDY popular recall movement?

Yeah, sure Walker PLASTERED the state with campaign signs from Koch money, but I thought people of WI could see right through that.

I was listening to Ed earlier and he's as incredulous as me.

No, I agree. Now is NOT the time to give up. There's something fishy going on here.

Polls and election day results are NOT exactly parallel numbers, are they?

[dragonlady]

19. What Barrett's pollster says about the current situation

Everyone should read this statement that gives details on why the outlook for Walker isn't as great as his polls may indicate. There is much truth in this memo, especially where it says the election will be won or lost on the ground.

http://wispolitics.com/1006/barrett_memo_5_17_12.pdf

[HereSince1628]

23. Why? The son of stinky cheese curd got himself elected just 18 months ago in a two horse race.

I understand that you are trying to say something like "If all Wisconsinites were like me, Walker would be dumped in a landslide."

But the fact is, that DUer's values can't actually be projected onto the people of Wisconsin.

Not much has changed in a year. There is not much middle here, and there hasn't been since Walker announced austerity and trashed the high-speed rail project contracts the day after the election.

The people are actually most evenly divided, certainly within the margins of error for polls that look at all Wisconsinites rather than voters who voted in 2010.

A win will go to the side that gets out the vote. Whoever wins isn't going to win by much more than a few percentage points plus the margin of error in recent polls.

[rocktivity]

24. Rallies and door knocking doesn't alter the fact that the WI Dems need money for field operations

in which case the DLC SHOULD give it to them or explain why.

But if they NEED money to spend on field operations, the DLC SHOULD give it to them which they say they need for field operations With barely two weeks left, why should they be forced to wait for Debbie to arrive like Jesus on Palm Sunday? There's only so much that even the biggest volunteer squad can do.


rocktivity

[Firebrand Gary]

25. Great post! Keep working friends! We got this!

K and R

[boomerbust]

27. And now

The first Black President will make an appearance in Wisconsin.