Yeah. It's SERIOUS, all right.

[TygrBright]

A virtually unknown Democrat, thirty points behind in the polls, comes back to win a dead heat against a twelve-year incumbent GOPpie on the Wisconsin state Supreme Court.

Don't let the whining from the GOPpie gallery fool you, brothers and sisters. This is big mojo.

Every part of that statement matters.

JoAnne Kloppenburg was NOT well known. She did NOT have a long and bright political resume--she'd never held ANY electoral office, much less a statewide office

Prosser had been Speaker of the State Assembly and served in the legislature for nearly twenty years before he became a Supreme Court Justice. In 2001 he received more than 99.5% of all votes cast, nearly 550,000.

The GOP and their corporate backers poured money into the Supreme Court race; they outspent the Dems by 2:1 or thereabouts.

And, while Wisconsin is home to some of America's proudest Progressive tradition and many, many wonderful, active, passionate grass roots liberals, it is also a state with an established conservative majority, and among that majority are a large number of fervent, rigid, terrified, highly-motivated troglodytes with access to plenty of money and mainstream media clout.

Of course it was a narrow victory. And I had very little doubt that she would pull it out, even in the wildly-seesawing final hours of the count. But I'm not at all disappointed that it was close. A well-liked incumbent in a conservative state with vast wads of money and media and national support is taken to the mat by a FIRST-TIMER Dem cobbling together a campaign from students, working folks, union activists, and (this is the biggie) ordinary independents and moderates pissed off at the Imperial behavior of their GOPpie Goob? For a Supreme Court seat?

Dang, people.

It's serious.

There are some GOPpie strategists double-clutching their pearls and trying to negotiate cheap one-way fares to small island nations right now, mark my words.

Now, does this bode well for the national scene? No idea, but it doesn't bode ill, that's for sure.

Will it force the GOPpies to re-examine their dependence on, and kowtowing to, the batshit-crazy wing of their own party? I sincerely and optimistically doubt it. That ship has sailed, that train has left the station, they are on a downhill grade with no brakes and a yawning precipice over Political Oblivion in front of them.

Enjoy it.

The naysayers are already warming up another couple of reasons we should bite our lips and clutch our own pearls and squabble among ourselves, even as I write this. They'll be back. But for now?


Party, party, party!

:party: :toast: :party: :toast:

happily,
Bright

[Stuart G]

1. Proud to Kick this one...nt.

[yellerpup]

2. Happily, I kick this thread.

And wholeheartedly recommend it. Thanks for the uplift, Tygr

[Lucinda]

3. I watched a tiny bit of Bernie Sanders talking about this election last night

and how important an indicator it was for everyone.
Both sides know things have changed.
Hopefully arrogance will make the Reps continue their, very public as of late, screw the people ways. It will make the next elections much easier for us if they do.

And very well said! :toast:

[KittyWampus]

4. Oh Tiger, you just made my whole day. Week even. Thanks for the perspective.

:loveya:

[Chorophyll]

5. Kicked! Rec'd!

Surely we can be happy for at least the rest of today. :D

[Search4Justice]

6. The Backlash Cometh. n/t

[Horse with no Name]

7. Thank you for this background information

It makes it easier to understand why the race was so close at times.

I appreciate this.

[TygrBright]

14. Wisconsin is in serious contention for the "most politically schizoid state" title.

One state produced Fightin' Bob LaFollette AND Tailgunner Joe McCarthy.

Madison may be one of the bluest places in America.

There are plenty of other little pockets of classic liberal/moderate sensibility. But they are awash in a sea of woolhat "good enough for Lutheran Great-Grandpa, good enough for me" podunk dorps.

Don't get me wrong--- even some of the knuckle-draggingest trogs are fine, wonderful people who will stop to help a stranger with a flat, who'll give the shirt off their back to a needy neighbor, show up for a barn-raising and all that good stuff. But they've never evolved beyond the late nineteenth century, ideologically.

diffidently,
Bright

[Hestia]

75. In WI though, they showed "how does it apply to *me*? That's a lesson we all need to take with us

in the next election. To answer those basic questions, "why does it matter?" "how does it benefit me?" "so?" "and?" We've got to come up with our own talking points, and just think - we don't have to pay anyone for this, this is something the base doesn't really need help with - showing our neighbors and friends how voting Democratic matters.

[malaise]

8. HUGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Rec

[KansDem]

9. Bu...but...FOX News is saying Posser is up by over 800 votes!

??
:(
I...I'm confused!

[mwooldri]

67. Heck Radio China International is more "fair and balanced" than "Fox News". nt

[Vincardog]

10. I hope they take ALL the corporate enablers with the

[Generic Other]

11. So happy for all of you! What an amazing victory!

This guy is ready to party!!

[lunatica]

12. Imagine what the not so popular GOPers are thinking right now.

If Prosser has lost to an unknown what is gonna happen to the rest of us?!

[calimary]

I hope they all crawl into their bottles of Maalox - AND STAY THERE!!!!!

And get the fuck OUT OF OUR WAY!!!!

We have a LOT of their breakage and wreckage to repair and clean up. Starting with our civil rights and our Constitution.

[freshwest]

53. Tell it!

[freshwest]

54. They should be skeered! Love the gifs!

[Dogtown]

13. K&R n/t

[Mnemosyne]

15. Another happy K&R! n/t

[bvar22]

16. Congrats to the Working Class Grass Root Dems in Wisconsin!!!

:party:
This could be a start in reclaiming our Party and The Country.
Next up:

Feingold
for
Governor!

[TygrBright]

17. Ohboy.... from yer keyboard to the Deity's to-do list. n/t

[Plucketeer]

20. Got my checkbook ready! nt

[Casandia]

22. I wish I was able to vote in Wisconsin!!!

[SemperEadem]

59. exactly!

Feingold for Governor. I thought that right when this whole debacle was starting to go down and the word "recall" was being floated.

[Enthusiast]

70. Feingold for president! nt

[PeaceNikki]

18. Indeed. A lot of people here on DU don't get it AT ALL.

So, thanks! :)

[Initech]

19. Let's kick the teabaggers to the curb!

[FarLeftFist]

21. LETS ALSO NOT FORGET:

In another race that became largely about Walker and his policies, Democrat Chris Abele defeated Republican state Rep. Jeff Stone to become Milwaukee County executive, the seat Walker held until he was elected governor in November. Abele beat Stone 61%-39%.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/chris-abele/2011/04/

[BEZERKO]

23. I'm looking foreword to

the first November in 2012

[rpannier]

24. One thing you could add

Judge races are viewed by many as a non-partisan issue.
Chances are there are some people who voted for Prosser, but would not vote for Walker or the Republicans in partisan races.

[paparush]

25. Hey, DLC, Obama, are you guys paying attention?

[murielm99]

46. I sure as hell hope so, papa.

When we kick the teabagger/repubbies to the curb, then we can hold the DLCers and their enablers accountable.

The rank and file of the Democratic Party has been pretty far to the left of the leadership of our party for many years. How do I know this? I have been in the trenches, phone banking, door knocking, and registering voters for years. I have held every party office at the local level, from precinct committeeman to party chairman. I know what people are thinking. The Democrats who hold elected office had better start listening.

Why do they keep moving to the center? They say they are seeking the support of the independents and moderates. Screw that. Let's give the independents and moderates a real choice. I am tired of the mushy middle dictating who we are.

[paparush]

66. I see part of the Right Wing Nutjob media role is to keep dragging the center

farther and farther to the right. Hell, just the fact that Limbaugh, Beck, Coulter, Palin, Hannity, O'Reilly, et al have any kind of public forum at all speaks to how far to the right the country has shifted.

What's the center now would have made Nixon queasy, and that's pretty scary.

[Enthusiast]

71. The people have not shifted.

The 'powers' have pulled us this way by craftily buying up the entire media and controlling the message. Remember that 81% that want to raise taxes on the wealthy? THAT is your true center.

[NYC_SKP]

26. K and R!

:party:

enthusiastically,

NYC_SKP

:P

[myrna minx]

27. Excellent essay. Proud to K&R

:party:

[AllTooEasy]

28. WI Reps lost the independents bigtime; I hope it happens nationally

I know us liberals don't like to hear/acknowledge this, but there are more independents that Conservatives or Liberals. We/Obama/Democrats have to win these folks over and the Repukes are making it easier. Let's not lose this momentum. Independents decide elections and Repukes/Teabaggers/Walker have told them to go screw themselves.

Dumb$hits!

[femrap]

29. this is just so sweet.....

how f*cking wonderful. I hope the Repugnant strategists are sh*tting their collective pants.

[fishwax]

30. A very happy kick and rec

Great job, Wisconsin!

:kick:

[Greybnk48]

31. K&R Yesterday and today have been something else.

Not least of which is VERY important, as you so clearly stated!:toast:

[Liberal_in_LA]

32. hee!

[Snoutport]

33. Thank you for putting this in perspective!! Imagine what will happen i

in those states where the red guys just squeaked into office on the red wave.

[drm604]

34. Great post!

:toast:

[WheelWalker]

35. I don't think there's a gram of hyperbole in that entire OP ! Party on !!!

[calimary]

36. You couldn't be more spot-on, Bright! This is a BIG moment.

Ms Nobody-ever-heard-of-her-before beat a strong, established incumbent with plenty of money and fire-power from GOP higher-ups all over the state and beyond. I LOVE the thought of all their money wasted trying to keep prosser on the job!!!

But this is VERY BIG. I'm glad it's OUR victory, too, because it alters the momentum - and turns it OUR way. Evidently prosser was considered a shoo-in as recently as a few weeks ago. This was a no-brainer. NOT ANYMORE! It proved that David really can beat Goliath! And it gives our side a much-needed emotional and morale boost. A REAL "Yes We Can" moment! Feels like the first one in ages. And our side DESPERATELY AND URGENTLY needs a narrative like this to further motivate all our forces for the combat ahead.

Now, too, these weasels realize they're gonna have to spend like drunken sailors EVERYWHERE, that NO race is safe, and that it's going to be a lot more costly than they expected. And they're also staring down a reported ONE BILLION dollars that Obama expects to raise. I wonder how many of the GOP money men are having to revise their math now - on how much more they're gonna have to beg for. ALL SORTS of races they weren't expecting to have to fight, or fight too hard for, are in play now. They're going to have to weigh how much they have to give to whoever's the nominee, whoever's fighting their way through the primary season to GET TO BE the nominee, and all the little diddly-squat races everywhere, from county officials to school boards to state legislators to, of course, the House and Senate. There's all kinds of unanticipated extra work that's just been poured on these people like a tsunami. Now they're gonna have to go begging the koch brothers for MORE PILES of money for more campaigns in more places than the koch brothers may want to cough up. After all, they're funding 50 brazillion frickin' "think tanks" and "foundations" and "institutions" with high-sounding innocuous names, and buying thousands of buses with all the gasoline those buses need to bus the teabaggers here and there. Things may get too much even for bank accounts as big as theirs.

And THEY in turn are going to start popping the Maalox when they see how much money they just flushed down the toilet trying to keep prosser's ass out of trouble. They're businessmen. They're going to be thinking much more carefully now about Return-On-Investment. They really ate a big one on this race. It'll be interesting to watch what happens to the koch brothers and their empire when they start discovering that all their money can't buy them love (or wholly-owned judges, governors, representatives, and more. They'll still cough it up because there are enough know-nothing neanderthals who'll fervently watch Pox Noise and listen to limbaugh and do what they're told. There'll be enough teabaggers and other knuckle-draggers to keep a few seats.

The koch brothers have a LONG way to go before they can be bankrupted, unfortunately. They'll be around for a long time.

Which is why WE have to STAY VIGILANT!!! Because there are more bad guys with big money out there than just the koch brothers. We still have our work cut out for us. But THIS is a great place from which to begin! The bad guys just got the big black eye, not us. Now we just have to keep that going, and parlay it into MORE VICTORIES.

We have to work like there's no tomorrow and ALWAYS STAY ON HIGH ALERT. After all, we have an America to save.

[earcandle]

43. IF we had facebook "like" options I would like this for you! Thanks!

[calimary]

49. Thanks back atcha!

Sometimes I become a bit of a windbagger about teabaggers.

[999998th word]

47. Ditto what[s]he said^

[calimary]

50. Thanks - and Welcome to DU!!!

:hi:

It's wild and wooly in here, but great fun and HUGELY educational. Unless you already know, and you've been hanging around a long time but just not posting often.

[Ramulux]

37. At the very least

Republicans in Wisconsin have got to be shitting themselves. If David Prosser is vulnerable to a political novice like Kloppenberg, no one is safe. This guy had every advantage, and lost a 30 point lead almost overnight just for associating himself with Walker. Thats the truth and while other republicans may say otherwise publicly they cant just ignore what happened here.

[livetohike]

38. Thank you! Now let's get those recall petitions

into high gear!

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

39. *THIS* is what DEMOCRACY looks like! K&R!!!!!!!!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

40. Awesome and exciting post!

Love it!

K n R, totally!

:D

[tpsbmam]

41. What an EXCELLENT post! I'm lovin' every second of this...

Most here clearly knew the import of this election. I stayed up later than I should have last night watching every single seesaw back and forth. I finally had to crash to get up for an early appointment this morning but the FIRST thing I did this morning was quick check the results before I got in the shower. And I'm sooooooooo not alone here -- I stuck with threads last night until I had to force myself to stop.

Gooooooooo Wisconsin! I knew the state was making true, awesome history with the protests and then this....holy shit! Into the history books goes the Wisconsin Revolution!!

:bounce: :toast: :party: :smoke: :loveya: :fistbump: :headbang: :yourock: :woohoo: :applause:

[MadMaddie]

42. I think the moral of the story is that if we put

qualified serious candidates up to run against the Republicans and we support them, they can win.

Wisonsin prooves that point!!

Congrats Wisconsin!!:toast: :toast:

[russspeakeasy]

44. faux news is presenting it as an automatic challenge.

[shark]

45. Is the GOP Sinking.

This is what the GOP will get in the next national elections, I love it !!!!

[thoughtcrime1984]

48. Very pleased! We need to watch the recount like hawks. nt

[sudopod]

51. When it's time to party we will PARTY HARD!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WccfbPQNMbg

[freshwest]

52. The tide is turning!

:kick:

[defendandprotect]

55. K/R

[deutsey]

56. I agree...I just hope the DNC sees it this way, too

They seem a bit squeamish to me when it comes to using the results of an election like this as a call to arms. Might make the Big Donors uncomfortable, and we mustn't do that. :sarcasm:

Still, I think everything you say here is spot on.

[sendero]

57. Truly awesome.

... and possibly the harbinger of a long-awaited sea change in American politics. The Republican message, lower taxes, deregulate, is falling flat in the face of irrefutable evidence that it doesn't accomplish what was claimed it would.

People are getting tired of the smoke being blown up their asses.

[SemperEadem]

58. Well said

This is the first wave towards 2012. Those very people that the thugs are trying to cull are the ones who voted most of them into office. Corporations still do not have the right to vote in this country. All they have the right to do is to saturate all information streams in order to bend the minds of the more gullible voters to see things there way, even if it means voting against their own best economic interests.

Progressives need to keep the push going and don't let up. I'll party when the White House, the House and the Senate are in control by progressive Dems/Independents.

Wisconsin reflects the attitude and the mood of "We the People". I'm so happy for them.

[Left_Is_Right]

60. While this is truly GREAT NEWS!...and not wanting to detract from it.....

Let us not forget that this is only on the state level...We've got MUCH bigger problems on the Federal level...ON ALL SIDES!....It's time we realize this and actually take a hint from what happened in Wisconsin...and run with it on capitol hill!




Here's the July 4th, 2011 version....



http://landwheremyfatherdied.blogspot.com/2011/03/americais-it-time-to-stop-madness-is-it.html



Lefty,

[EOTE]

61. I agree with almost everything you said.

But Wisconsin is NOT a conservative state. It's a moderate state and has been blue for the past 4 presidential elections. There are a number of rural areas that tend to be red, but the state overall is rather moderate with a proud tradition of progressive politics. That said, this is a HUGE victory and I will relish it.

Edit: Whoops. Let's make that the past 6 presidential elections. The last time Wisconsin went red in a presidential election is when Mondale was running. That hardly seems like a conservative state to me.

[WildEyedLiberal]

72. Agreed, I thought that was an odd statement to make

I don't see how anything other than the 2010 election results could possibly provide evidence that Wisconsin is "conservative." And, clearly, that election was an aberration, and it took exactly one month for Wisconsin to regret electing so many teabag asshats.

Do some people seriously think that every state between the coasts is "conservative"?

[EOTE]

73. Yes. Some people seriously think that way.

I understand where they get that notion, but they ought to be aware that not everything is as the media portrays it to be.

[PeaceNikki]

62. Prosser won his last election to state SC with 99.5% of the 550k votes cast.

Almost 3 times as many people voted in this race and the number of votes for Prosser only increased by about 33%.

Anyone shocked by how close this race was is completely clueless. This is serious, this *is* big.

[caseymoz]

63. Serious, unless it dies down.

But with high unemployment, people being foreclosed, tons of public services being cut and people facing real India-style destitution, attacks on unions, a government shutdown, and general anxiety raised due to the Japanese reactor, I don't see how it could.

[RedCloud]

64. Go pee, GOPee!

[NuttyFluffers]

65. party now, but like every horror movie never rest until the monster is destroyed forever.

oh what the hell, things can wait a day.
:party: :toast: :bounce:

[WildEyedLiberal]

68. Good post, but Wisconsin is not a "conservative" state with an "established" R majority

It is and probably always will be a swing state, which has voted D in the last several major presidential elections. It's an unfortunate and mostly untrue generalization that takes away from an otherwise excellent post.

[Enthusiast]

69. I think we should put this into context.

In 2006 and 2008 we trounced the GOP. The American people handed the Democratic Party a huge mandate. This is was not all that long ago. The American people did not vote for Democrats expecting Republican-lite , moderate or conservative legislators. We expect the new Wisconsin justice to rule like a Democrat a real Democrat, not a corporate interest only Democrat.

If there is one thing for certain, it is that the interests of the corporation and the American people are not one and the same.

[rhett o rick]

74. A name for our movement, "The Wisconsin Effect" nm

[freshwest]

81. I love it!

[rhett o rick]

86. Well that's two votes. Now what? jk nm

[upi402]

76. Came from 30 points back? WOW!

Didn't know that. Thanks! And grats to WI. 'Ignore TV ads' needs to be an onipresent bumper sticker. They barely did that there.

[ooglymoogly]

77. KR Excellent post.

As of now it will be so much easier to say the Goppers have way over reached; it is now a given; it is now validated in an astonishing election, in the most heart challenging election in a long while.

[Uncle Joe]

78. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, TygrBright.

[Bake]

79. And the Milwaukee County Exec race, too.

That one wasn't even close ... the Walker clone lost 63-35.

Bake

[freshwest]

80. So good, I gotta recommend and kick. Great insight.

[colsohlibgal]

82. Thank You Mr. Wanker...err Walker

This creepy wingnut set this all off and it's growing. We have recall petitions percolating here in Ohio where Herr Kasich has created a world record quick case of buyer's remorse as so many finally realized they had had their heads up their...well you know. I'm not sure Kasich would get more than 25% of the vote if retaken today.

There are more of us than them, time to take our country back, time to worry more about elderly/poor people eating cat food than more tax breaks for zillionaires.

[DainBramaged]

83. troglodytes

An apt description of Repukes in general

[krispos42]

84. Let the electoral slaughter begin!

[Corruption Winz]

85. I'll be the first to admit...

That with all the things going on in Wisconsin, I didn't notice much of this going on. Seems like a great day to be a sane person. Good times.