Saturday, March 31, 2012

Barrett, Walker Show Their Hands

With the certification of the recall, and only a few days to gather the required number of signatures, Tom Barrett felt the need to announce his candidacy. But because he is also running for mayor and the election for that this Tuesday, he chose to do it as a Friday afternoon news dump. Here is the email he sent out:
Dear Friend:

Today, the Government Accountability Board certified a recall election against Scott Walker, and I wanted you to be among the first to know that, after serious deliberation and reflection, I will be a candidate for Governor.

This was not a decision I made lightly. I love this state and I care deeply about our future. That's why I ran for governor in 2010 -- even though I knew it was an uphill battle. We ran a strong and energetic campaign fueled by your support and the support of thousands across Wisconsin.

In the end, Russ Feingold and I both fell short in a Tea Party wave. But we can all take pride that we took the fight to Scott Walker, and the past 15 months have shown why that fight is so important.

Scott Walker came into the governor's office promising to create 250,000 jobs, and to bring us together. Instead, he divided our state like never before and presided over a Wisconsin economy that last year lost more jobs than any state in the country.

He 'dropped the bomb,' as he said, and ended 50 years of labor peace and worker protections -- something he never said he'd do during the 2010 campaign. I know, because I was there. As governor, I will fight to restore collective bargaining rights, because it's the right thing to do, and it's necessary to heal Wisconsin.

And Gov. Walker gutted education, cut women's health, and diverted millions of dollars intended for Wisconsin victims of Wall Street foreclosure fraud to patch a hole in his budget.

In response to this unanticipated assault on Wisconsin values, the people united and fought back. Hundreds of thousands made their voices heard at the Capitol. The protests turned into a movement last summer, and two GOP state senators who rubberstamped Walker's agenda were recalled.

And nearly 1 million people from all across Wisconsin signed their name to trigger a recall election of Gov. Walker, hold him accountable, and restore our Wisconsin values.

We need to bring our state back. Wisconsin needs a governor who is focused on jobs, not ideology; a leader committed to bringing our state together and healing political wounds, not pitting people against each other and catering to the special interests.

This is the governor I will be for the people of Wisconsin.

Starting tomorrow, I will crisscross the state, taking our message directly to the people in every corner and working everyday to restore our values and move Wisconsin forward. With you standing with me, I know we will prevail.

Thank you for all of your help and support.

Your Friend,

Tom Barrett
P.S: I will be filing my official declaration of candidacy shortly. Please click the links below or visit my current website, www.barrettformilwaukee.com, to contribute, sign up to volunteer, and learn more about our campaign!
My first reaction is "Meh."

It's not like it was a big secret.

While I concede that he has a good shot of winning the primary with the strong name recognition and large war chest, I can't find myself thrilled with it. After all, Barrett is the one that said he is all for parts of Act 10 and making workers pay more for things they've already paid for in full. In fact, Barrett is the one that told the Republicans on how to pass the bill while his fellow Democrats were doing everything in their power to fight it. He also refused to meet with the unions at the beginning of the year. Barrett also actively fought against the overwhelming majority of the people by fighting the paid sick leave law.

Knowing now that he doesn't want to be the Mayor of Milwaukee makes me wonder why I should vote for him in that race either.

But even as I am less than thrilled with the news that Barrett is making his third run at governor, one thing that did pique my interest in him is the fact that Walker is terrified of Barrett. Team Walker is so scared of Barrett running that they shot their own email blast within a couple of hours:
Just a few moments ago, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett announced his intentions to run for governor in the upcoming recall election.

After months of sitting on the sidelines and taking pot-shots at Governor Walker’s bold reforms that have put Wisconsin on the track towards prosperity, Mayor Barrett has finally emerged from the shadows and thrown his hat into the ring.

We expect nothing but the same empty rhetoric that Mayor Barrett used during the last campaign cycle. However, much like his last two failed attempts at running for the state’s top executive spot, he cannot run from his record of failed leadership and bankrupting tax-and-spend policies.

Under Mayor Barrett, Milwaukee has seen a systematic and dramatic rise in its unemployment rate, which has skyrocketed more than 27 percent since he first took office. He has raised taxes more than $48 million dollars on the citizens of his horrendously economically depressed city, and not a single resident is better off due to his misguided and dangerous policy decisions. While in congress Mayor “Tom the Taxer” Barrett voted for one of the single largest tax increases in our nation’s history.

Because of Mayor Tom Barrett’s record of failed leadership Milwaukee is now the 9th poorest city in America. Is that really the man we would like to see behind the desk in the Governor’s office?

The simple answer is no. Governor Walker’s bold reforms have eliminated a $3.6 billion deficit without raising taxes, dropped our unemployment rate to a three-year low of 6.9 percent, and just since the beginning of the year helped in the creation of 17,800 new private-sector jobs.

Wisconsin voters have twice rejected Mayor Tom Barrett's failed leadership because of the direction he has taken Milwaukee - This video explains it all.

To get involved and help Governor Walker move Wisconsin forward, please visit ScottWalker.org and find your nearest Victory Center.

Sincerely,

Ciara Matthews
Communications Director
Friends of Scott Walker
All I can say to this is that I hope Walker got a basement bargain discount for taking Matthews on. She actually makes his former spokeswoman Jill Bader look competent.

For Walker to attack Barrett on the conditions of the city is foolish. Barrett can just turn around and point to what Walker did to the Milwaukee County and how he is trashing the state. He could point out that Walker's job record is losing tens of thousands of jobs in Milwaukee County and tens of thousands more lost as Governor.

Think about it, we actually have less people working than we did when Walker became governor. He's even worse than the people he is criticizing, who can't really be blamed because even those things are Walker's doing as well.

While Barrett is not my first choice to be the person to come in and clean up Walker's mess, the fact that Walker is so terrified of him has to be taken into consideration as a viable contender.

30 comments:

  1. We all know Barrett has his faults and negatives, as do Falk, Vinehout and LaFollette. What it all boils down to for me is, "Which candidate has the best chance of unseating Scott Walker?" That has to be Tom Barrett. All recent polling confirms this. Independent voters will be critical. The 2008 Obama and the 2010 Walker both received 58% of the independent vote. Given Walker's performance, Barrett has more of a chance of recouping that vote than Falk or the others.

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  2. I don't see how anyone in Milwaukee is happy with this guy at all. The mayoral election is in FOUR days and you announce for a bigger office?

    If I lived in Milwaukee right now, I'd be tempted to not vote for him in either race because he pulled one hell of a dick move.

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  3. Barrett isn't my first choice. But to be honest, I would crawl through broken glass to my polling place to vote against Walker.

    Once elected, Barrett will make the move that every Democratic Governor in my adult lifetime has made, that is, an attempt to prove to the business community that they can be tough on labor too. Both Earl and Doyle did this.

    Expect a few stabs in the back right
    out-of-the-gate before he gets down to serious business. Be prepared to rattle his cage in return.

    The real power of the people will remain in the unions, community organizations and in the streets. Don't demobilize, the fight has only begun. With Rahm "NAFTA" Immanuel advising him, be prepared for austerity with a friendly face.

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    1. That is the only thing that I don't like about Barrett, the connection to the person who has been so against public education in the big city to the south. I fear that the politicians are all bought off, except Falk, by the school choice lobbies. It is easy for a non-education person to fall for their arguments because good education is expensive, you only hear about education when it is not working, and it is so tempting to believe there is an easy fix to complicated problems.

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    2. Wow! Just wow!
      I'm not sure if that's stereotyping, pigeon-holing or generalizing.
      All politicians bought off, save one.
      Non-education persons, (exactly what those are, I'm not certain) all easily falling for the bought-off politicians' arguments.
      No reports ever of education working.
      Wow!

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    3. or....you could just not vote for the guy

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  4. Gareth- Like the way you think. Which means that we work hard for Barrett (if he is the nominee), and show the contrasts with Walker's failed leadership that Capper points out above. If we bring the truth and remind people of the brutal process and incompetence of the Fitzwalkerstani era, Barrett should be just fine if he is the one to take on Walker.

    And then if/when he is elected, we get ALL OVER HIM and make sure he sticks to progressive measures, restores collective bargaining and civil service positions, and make sure he doesn't aim at education or health care as places to get Walker's messed-up budget in line.

    And we send the message strongly that if Barrett doesn't follow the people who made this recall election happen for him, he won't get our help in 2014.

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  5. Gareth and Jake, well said.

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  6. Harping on Barrett for the timing of his announcement and using it as a strike against him is lame. He said he'd make a decision around the time an election was set. What's wrong with that? Did you know when GAB would ask for extensions? Did you know the DA wouldn't deliver John Doe charges before April 1? So, he has two job options, mayor and governor. So what? Good for him.

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  7. Putting aside the 38-42% of Wisconsinites who will vote GOP no matter what asshole's name is on the ticket, there are a lot of independents, even otherwise left-leaning independents, who bought into Walker's message of forcing public unions (specifically teachers) into concessions aimed at helping a citizenry frustrated with increasing property taxes. 45-48% of Wisconsinites believe "It's working." The property owners in my neck-of-the-woods, Waukesha County, see Walker and his minions as their champions, for sure.

    The Dem that can boot Walker to the curb is going to be the one who can best assuage independents that s/he can balance the public unions' demands for fair wages and benefits with the public's desire to hold property tax increases in check - especially in a time when private sector workers are losing wages and benefits - IF they can manage to stay employed.

    The moment Falk came out as the 'union-endorsed' candidate, I feared the indys were lost. I've met her; I'm convinced that she could be a tough negotiator. But too often, optics, not reality define politics. I think Barrett has a better chance at winning back the centrist and left-leaning independents - the 'swing vote' - the people for whom "I'm on your side" means working with unions in a fair, balanced and honest but tough manner while also protecting our public schools and environment without just increasing property taxes.

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  8. The 2010 election disaster was a direct result of the Democratic Party's policy of refusing to empower their most faithful allies - the unions. Republicans in power immediately set out to weaken their enemies and empower their allies for the long term. Democrats foolishly try to prove themselves to the "business community" (big corporations and rich political donors) by weakening their labor allies. And they wonder why they lose elections! Democrats have never figured out that, even though it is easy for them to get endorsements from labor leaders (because the Republicans are always worse), those leaders cannot command the enthusiasm of labor's rank and file. It's hard to get people to work their hearts out for candidates that stab them in the back.

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    1. You've got it all backwards. 2010 election failures were due to unions "sitting out" the election. Shame on AFSME, shame on WEAC for flacid support of democrats. Once Walker screwed them they now understand elections have consequences. When over 20% of your rank and file vote for Walker who is to blame.

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  9. I will also crawl through broken glass to vote out Walker. (So much for recall fatigue)But, Falk seems more interested in the people in the state, she is less of a national figure and is in it for the people, and it is ironic that she has this "big Labor" label, because I think she appears to be genuinely concerned about Wisconsin.

    But, while I don't like it that Barrett was so low key about signing the petition, declaring, I have to admit he was right to do that. He is being paid as an elected official of Milwaukee and it wouldn't be right to campaign on the taxpayer dime. I don't think Milwaukee residents should feel abandoned either, if Barrett is the Governor, surely he will look out for Milwaukee and know just what programs will do for the people there and how cuts affect the people of the city. Falk would know too, though and she will be sure to keep rural people in mind.

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    1. While it's nice to hear how Falk would keep rural people in mind, and I'm just talking optics here, she initially came out appearing very lame in that area. Saying, "I hunt, I fish", and showing up at a rural rally in off-the-rack hunting clothes has not exactly endeared her to people whose lives are in reality a bit more complex than that.

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    2. Saying "I hunt, I fish" was taken out of context. That is shorthand for saying, just because I worked in Dane County doesn't mean I don't know anything about anyplace else. I think it is too bad that we are so stuck on labels in this state. But I also know what you mean.

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  10. I will vote again for Tom for mayor, and I will vote again for Tom as governor -- and I see no problem in doing so. Nor do I see any problem in Tom's wait to announce his campaign until the recall had been officially announced, as that is what all candidates ought to have done.

    I do see problems in this immediate attack on and undercutting of the one who clearly has the best chance of beating Walker -- and the one who has represented me ethically for decades, since he was in Congress. Repeat: He is ethical. He never will sidestep Wisconsin law, he never will impose his will without listening -- repeat, listening well -- and explaining clearly where his conscience -- repeat, he has a conscience -- guides him.

    Do we want Walker out or not? I do, but I have to wonder about others here. Save the sniping for after the recall, as the Republicans will do plenty of it during the campaign. Right now: Work to win.

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    1. Your endorsement of Barrett was good, even eloquent. I liked most of it.
      But attack and sniping just isn't a good characterization of an open and necessary discussion. All these points will be considered by any savvy politician, including Barrett.

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    2. Joe, show me where in Capper's post there was anything positive about Barrett to balance the attack on him as anti-union (he is not; I've talked with him on this). And then the bulk of the post was the Walker attack on Barrett.

      Perhaps I have to go to a pro-Walker site to find Tom's (many) attacks on Walker?

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    3. Dear Anonymous Barrett Campaign Worker:

      The last three, four paragraphs were in defense of Barrett's record. I am raising valid concerns that many people have. If you consider that to be sniping, well, you must be new here.

      If he as not anti-union as you claim (like taking an anonymous person's say so will really mean much), let him explain what he meant by the Act 10 should pass. Also let him explain why he refused to meet with the unions when they were doing their interviews in January. He needs to address these concerns or there will be sniping.

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    4. Or, as *I recall the way Irv Kupcinet often referred to it, "The art of lively discussion". Some just don't appreciate this form of art.
      *Dead giveaway of one's age.

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    5. Capper, no, I'm not working for Barrett, so sorry to not assuage your feelings with your one-off that's an epic fail.

      I work for Walker. That is, I'm a state worker -- one of those who still has won nothing back in the unions' suits, one of the state workers for whom the unions never fought as we worked for our bargaining rights that we finally won for only a few months before they were gone again, so we never got to unionize.

      So I worked hard for the recall campaign. We need to win it. I've reviewed your final paragraphs, and I see more about Walker and how Barrett can attack him, but I don't see what we need with a lot of voters: Positives about Barrett.

      But don't bother; I found those on his website, so I know what to say now to those on the fence, because I need to win this. Why? Again, I work for Walker. I never got to be a union thug. I still have no hope. So I really know why we need to win this -- and how we need to win this, with positives, too.

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    6. I worked for Walker for nine years while he was Milwaukee County Executive, as that I am a Milwaukee County employee. Even as governor, he is making my life a living hell.

      Furthermore, I now work under Chris Abele, Barrett's good friend, who ran saying he wouldn't pull a Walker. He didn't. He actually made things worse.

      So, you see, I know not only how important it is to when the election, but I also know damn well how important it is to win with somebody who will actually improve things. In other words, I want to change more than just the name of the governor. I want to restore the state.

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    7. Abele is a different matter.

      Barrett promises to restore collective bargaining rights, and fully. Do you say so?

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    8. All I know is his words from a year ago and the fact that he refused to meet with the unions at the beginning of the year.

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    9. These unions such as WEAC refused to endorse Barrett in 2010, the Democratic candidate, and brought on much of the misery since for this state.

      After that, I think Barrett was correct to be wary of Bell, et al. And they ought to have come to him, rather than their ridiculous command that he come to them.

      And you certainly could know a lot more of what he has said since a year ago, of what he says now, if you wanted to look at his site rather than listen only second-hand to what the unions say he said -- and says.

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    10. It's not hearsay. It's been reported in the paper, even.

      And it shows why WEAC was wise not to support him.

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  11. "It's our recall and we'll snipe if we want to, gripe if we want to, snipe if we want to, you would snipe to if it happened to you..."

    To be sung to the tune of "It's my party..."

    Sorry, couldn't help it. :o)

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    1. LOL! - and I couldn't help laughing!

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  12. I also think a big key is to show that the attack on union rights is part of a bigger plan for the worst type of special-interest politics- corporate control of government with politicians as the puppets and everyone else getting screwed over as the money flows to the top.

    That's what drew a lot of people into protesting and the recall movement. They rightfully saw the collective bargaining fight as part of the bigger pattern. Unions and the candidates they support need to remember that this isn't all about them and their needs, but is instead about the fact that a unionized workforce keeping checks on government and corporations leads to balance. That balance led to the greatest shared prosperity this country ever saw in the '50s and '60s. I fear that Falk is the candidate that will be portrayed as part of the "this is all about collective bargaining" thinking the media wants people to believe, and that will hurt her if she faces Walker.

    This is why the tone has to be about improving Wisconsin from the Wreck of the Brothers Fitzgerald and Scott Walker. Collective bargaining is but a part of that.

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  13. The GOP is laughing at all of you.

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