The press release came through today that Martha Laning has decided not to run for re-election.
MADISON -- Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Martha Laning, who has served in the role since being elected in 2015, has offered the following statement on her decision not to seek re-election in the Party’s June leadership race: “Four years ago, I ran to become Chair because I knew that Wisconsin Democrats needed a strong party infrastructure, a robust and engaged grassroots network, and a clear vision for what it means to be a Democrat. Like so many people in our state, I was deeply concerned about how the policies of Scott Walker and Wisconsin Republicans were taking opportunity away from our kids, jeopardizing the future of our communities and turning Wisconsin into a state none of us recognized anymore. I wanted to do my part to help. “Four years later, I am incredibly proud of the Party we have built. For the first time since 1982, Democrats hold all five constitutional state offices, lead by Governor Tony Evers who will put the people first as he champions our Wisconsin values. We re-elected our Senator Tammy Baldwin so she could continue her work improving the lives of Wisconsinites and protecting those that need it most. “These victories didn’t happen by accident. We launched an unprecedented year-round, every-year organizing program to empower activists across our state to inspire, engage and turn-out Democratic voters. We bolstered our candidate services team to support down-ballot candidates and helped them run competitive campaigns. We ensured the Party had the financial resources to support our ambitious plans. “Given these accomplishments and the bright future ahead for Wisconsin Democrats, I believe this is the perfect time for me to transition to my next challenge. I will not stand for reelection as DPW Chair this coming June and welcome the opportunity to support new leadership as they take the helm this summer. I remain committed to the Party and to our Democratic values, and I will continue to lead the Party with the same transparency and vigor as we prepare for the next Chair’s race and leadership transition following June’s election. “It has been an honor to work with so many caring and passionate activists who give their time to help make our vision a reality. I am humbled to work with a staff that doesn’t see the work just as a job, but as a calling to build a stronger Wisconsin. Chairing the Democratic Party of Wisconsin has been an incredible opportunity, and I couldn’t be prouder of the work we’ve done together to move Wisconsin forward.”
As is typical of past Chairs, taking credit for the wins and not discussing the losses, patting herself on the back as she walks out the door.
It is great that we won all Constitutional offices, but with the strong winds blowing a blue wave we were pretty much stopped there.
As Thomas Paine would say: "We have it in our power to begin the party over again.".
It is time for new ideas, new people, someone who lives and breathes progressive principles. It is time to take the fight to the Republicans instead of sitting back and allowing Robin Vos and Scott Fitzgerald the ability to guide the discourse.
That being said, let me offer up a few names who I personally would like to see run.
1. Bob Harlow - Regular readers here know. that I was team Harlow in the WI Governors race, as he was the first one in all the way until he dropped out. Bob is personable, hard worker, enthusiastic and full of great ideas!
2. Robert Hansen - The Former chair of the Milwaukee County Democratic party, (of which that has tended to be one of the few places in the state that has had Democratic success. Hansen, quit his job to work on the Campaign of Randy Bryce and worked part time with Senator Chris Larsen. Not sure any one person in Wisconsin, who can bridge the gap between the insiders and progressives, between the members and the people who should be members, than Hansen. In the aftermath of the election while ex aides and cronies were being recycled at an amazing rate, Hansen was left out. If anyone can do the work and deserves a chance it is Robert Hansen.
3. Tim Burns - an unabashed Progressive but it seems like a big step down to run for Wisconsin Supreme Court to running the WISDEMS. I like Tim, but think he should focus on bigger things (State Senate maybe?) .
4. Kathleen Vinehout - Kathleen ran for Governor, giving up her seat and is now out of Government. Vinehout might not be ideal, but I always felt she was a solid Democratic Rep for Wisconsin. I have had some problems with her positions, but not enough IMO to disqualify her. One of her strengths is, since she has been in Madison for so long she knows who the vipers and snakes are and will do her best to make sure they are no longer relevant in the Party.
5. Angela Lang - Angela ran Black Leaders Organizing for Communities (BLOC) and in my mind, BLOC was the MVP of the 2018 election. Let's let her take her vision of community and organizing abilities Statewide.
2020 is an important election and we need a real leader as WISDEMs Party Chair. We can not afford to have another two years of "Welcome to the new boss, same as the old boss.".
I attended my first Wisconsin Democratic Convention this weekend and wanted to share a few thoughts.
1. The Voting has to get better!
People were lined up way early on Saturday morning to vote for chair. Congrats to Martha Laning, David Bowen,Meg Andriesch,Mandela Barnes and Khary Penebaker, for being elected to leadership positions in the Wisconsin Democratic Party. Now lets lead the party into the 21st Century and make sure in two years, party voting looks completely different.
First, let us look at the results.
Laning - 722
Kennedy - 569
Finch - 50
Donovan - 48
-----------------
Total -1839
Vote total needed to beat Scott Walker last election - 1, 259, 163
Vote Total needed to win Assembly District 14,723
Ok you get the idea, we need more people involved. The more people involved, the more people who feel they have a stake in the party and the more people who feel they have a stake in the party, the more people will participate. The more people who participate, the more elections we win.... See what I did there
So how do we fix it.
1. We need a way for everyone to have a vote. Designating certain people as delegates and others as not, to decide the future of the party, is not the way to do it, If you are a member of the party, you should have a vote as to who is the head of the party. Period.
2. At the very least, everyone who attends the convention, pays their money to be a member and then pays even more for the convention should have a vote! No excuses for this. '
3. There has to be an APP or a way to vote online, with a code or at your local county party if you can not make the convention etc... While you are at the convention, two boxes at a time for each CD is archaic. Give people their one ballot as they walk in the room and then let them vote and have numerous boxes all around the room to put yours in. We would raise bloody hell if this happened at regular elections and rightly so!
** As a quick aside, to worry about Republicans joining and screwing with the vote, that is an impossibility. The numbers do not add up! Secondly, do not tell me its a priavte club and they do not have to follow those rules, and then be mad when so many people walk away and vote third party.
4. Another problem was the candidates WORKED THE LINES! How is that even acceptable? When we minimize the waiting times to vote, this will be somewhat fixed but it also needs to stop.
5. WISDEMS staffers. This is a problem that numerous people who talked to me at the convention brought up. There was a group of people, staffers, who showed great enthusiasm for Martha, during the speeches, and were strategically placed in front of the cameras, and brought a decent amount of votes.
Now I am not blaming Martha's win on this, but it is something people noticed. DO they truly think Martha was the best choice, or was Martha being re-elected their best chance to keep getting paychecks? I would propose that anyone who gets paid by the WISDEMS can not vote in the election, with the one exception of the current chair(while they get paid they also are answerable to the voters, the staffers are not). I would be more flexible on this if the voting was opened up, but when you limit delegates, then you give them an incredible amount of power.
6. Please Martha, David, Meg and Mandela - Fix the voting system for next time.
Now the rest of the convention, thoughts and suggestions.
I understand that there has to be party business, I understand that the long time electeds need to have their ego stroked and have to speak, I understand that its cute to have cutesy slogans and themes,
* However, I would have one theme at every convention - Win the next election. Anyone who plans to be in a race coming up, should have 3-5 minutes to speak. They do not need to be introduced fancily, or any music played, just a quick introduction. That allows Democrats from all over the state to meet the people who might/will be running for major offices.
Tammy should have spoken for sure, and anyone running/thinking of running for Governor, anyone running against an entrenched Republican, etc... 3-5 minutes max! Then people can seek them out for more information as the convention goes on.
* If we can eliminate the two hour wait to vote, that will open up more time for breakout sessions. Maybe something like speed dating where you sit 8 people at a table and have different candidates, party members, etc...move around every few minutes to introduce yourself and answer questions. Make everyone feel they have a voice and are being heard.
* More interaction is what is needed to keep people involved, and interested.
* Sorry, I have no suggestions on how to make resolutions and by-laws more exciting.
* I heard Sachin Cheda and Nation Consulting was there working behind the scenes,...I don't think the people could be more clear that we need to rid ourselves of these toxic high paid consultants. If they are involved the state loses.
* There were some very good people running for these offices. It is imperative that the people who did not win their races be an integral part of the WISDEMS going forward, Eric Finch, Bryan Kennedy, Joe Donovan, Adam Brabender, Luke Fuszard and Peter Peckarsky all brought many strengths to the table and we need all of their skills going forward!
The best line of the whole convention was this one from Eric Finch:
Eric Finch, chair candidate at #DPW2017, tells crowd to take the anti-Scott Walker bumper stickers off and put on one for their candidate.
I agree whole heartedly, dump the old recall signs and stickers and lets look forward not backwards!
* Finally, we found out something that anyone who read the Walkerdocs, already knew. That the opposition, the WISGOP is run by a bunch of immature fools with the creativity and wit of a 12 year old math wiz.
The WISGOP put this billboard up (although not sure where because i never saw it):
But thats not all. They vandalized cars all over the parking lot by putting this(which they did not have permission to use) on windshields:
But Wait there is more:
The WISGOP spent all hours of the night, stalking the WISDEM members and putting this under their door. Kind of very creepy if you ask me!
Now it is my turn. I spent alot of time thinking and debating this topic and after long thought, I have decided that I will fully support Bryan Kennedy for Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair.
I appreciate and respect the hard work that Bryan Kennedy has been putting in. I appreciate that Bryan has had a long career in the Democratic Party, from an elected official, to a union President, to a candidate against the Tampon King of Menominee Falls. It is no small feat to run against a firmly entrenched multi millionaire in today's political culture. I like the fact that while the rest of Wisconsin Democratic insiders, and electeds were falling over themselves to endorse Hillary, Bryan was unapologetically behind Senator Bernie Sanders for President. I respect the fact that once the race was over, he jumped in line and supported Hillary(if only her loyalty had been a two way street). I like the fact that he has put the time and effort into running for the party and has a solid plan and the optimism to retake the state in 2018. The final straw that put me over the edge is the fact that Bryan, not only has been available throughout his run, but he personally stopped by my house and asked for my vote.
Bryan now officially has my vote, and I hope he has yours also.
While telling you why I am voting for Bryan, I have to also have to explain why I feel there is a need for change.
First, I have to say that I like David Bowen and feel he is being under utilized as Vice chair, otnd one big step to taking the State back from the far right extremists, would be to make David Bowen, minority leader and have Peter Barca give up his reign(but I digress).
While I want to acknowledge that the election debacle has plenty of owners, being head of the Democratic Party, you have to shoulder your share of the burden!
Now let's look at where things went off the rails.
* Martha rode a wave of change to the chair of the Democratic Party, unfortunately, she did not acknowledge that change. She kept everyone on board for months, despite the fact that she inherited a staff that was known for losing elections.
* There was a special election as soon as she took over, and it was all but ignored.
* Bloggers and grass roots seem all but ignored. When Kory Kozlowski, executive director of the party was leaving and Martha was hiring Jason Sidener, Daniel Bice was the person who was breaking all of the stories.
* She oversaw the party during the primary of 2016, where there was an incumbent protection plan, which caused primary challenges to big of a burden to overcome.
* She oversaw the party during the 2016 debacle of a statewide election.
* She promised to vote for the winner of the Wisconsin Primary and as soon as Senator Sanders won, she immediately broke her promise.
* She was one of the few state chairs, who signed up for the Hillary Victory Fund, which turned into the Hillary Fund and they forgot all about the Victory part. Really this, in my mind, is the one thats inexcusable.
* Speaking from personal experience, Martha has not been approachable or accessible. A mailer and a phone call from a supporter is the way to win elections in the 1980s.
I plan on critiquing Bryan every step of the way, and criticizing and complimenting the party as needed,
The 2018 elections are the most important of our lifetime and we can not afford another debacle.
It is time we put the party in Union hands and started to win elections again.
Kory Kozloski, executive director of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, plans to leave his post in January, a party spokesman said Tuesday.
Kozloski, who was hired about a year ago, told state party leaders in a memo that he and his wife plan to leave the state.
Weathersby said in an email that Kozloski "made a deal with his wife long ago that if she would like to move from WI at any point he would support her and come along." Kory came to much fanfare from Chair Martha Laning: Madison - Martha Laning, Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, announced today that Kory Kozloski has been named DPW’s new Executive Director.
“Kory’s extensive political experience combined with his passion for Wisconsin politics will be a great addition to our team,” said Laning. “Kory knows how to find the best candidates and get them ready to run. We intend to win races next November and I have no doubt Kory will help make that happen.”
“After 6 years of failed Republican policies the majority of Wisconsin residents believe our state is headed in the wrong direction,” said Kozloski. “I look forward to working with party leaders, candidates and activists across the state to win elections up and down the ballot, and outline a strong new vision for moving Wisconsin forward.”
Now this is not meant as a look backwards, so I will not be critiquing Kory's performance(that was already done here) but pointing out where we need to go moving forward. It appears that Chair Laning, has no interest in posting the job and only wants to give it to a specific person, so there is no posted job description. So I took it upon myself to do just that(using the open position in Hawaii as a guide):
POSITION TITLE: Executive Director, Democratic Party of Wisconsin
REPORTS TO: Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin
LOCATION: Madison, Wisconsin
SCOPE AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
The Executive Director, working with the State Chair and Party officers, oversees all programmatic and fundraising activities of the state party. The Executive Director is responsible for managing the headquarters and daily operations of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. He or she must be reliable, honest, loyal and discreet. The Executive Director reports to the State Chair.
Primary responsibilities and duties include, but are not limited to:
* Serve as the chief strategic and tactical executive of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin
• Work with the Treasurer to manage the organization’s finances, track income and expenditures, pay bills, and maintain records and accounts in order to produce financial stability.
• Work with the Chair, Treasurer, State Central Committee, and Executive Committee to develop and adhere to an operating budget.
• Develop, implement, and monitor a fundraising plan in conjunction with the Chair and fundraising committee.
• Manage all staff and interns, including conducting annual performance reviews.
• Knowledge and understanding of the WISDEMS platform, resolutions, and governing documents.
• Ensure the organization and staff complies with all applicable laws governing political parties, including timely filing of required state and federal reports, and the Constitution, Bylaws and Rules of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.
• Work with the Chair to manage political relationships both in-state and around the country.
• Work with the Chair to assist and facilitate the needs of the County Committees.
• Manage the external and internal communications of the WISDEMS. Work with the Chair to issue press releases, respond to time-sensitive media events, and present the Democratic Party in a positive, professional light. Refer media inquiries to the Chair. (Executive Director does not serve as the spokesperson for the WISDEMS.) Make sure the Chair is responding and getting her message out to the media.
• Oversee development and production of party-building and message delivery tools, including print and digital.
• Coordinate with WISDEMS Secretary in preparing written reports for all meetings of the State Central Committee, Executive Committee and State Convention.
• Liaise with the staffs of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Association of State Democratic Chairs (ASDC), and the Association of State Democratic Executive Directors (ASDED).
• Organize logistics for all meetings of the State Central Committee and Executive Committee; Organize calendar and schedule activities and meetings held at the WISDEMS headquarters.
• Demonstrate an understanding of all aspects of winning elections including state-of-the-art campaign techniques, new technology, campaign planning, targeting, polling, election law, grassroots initiatives and get-out-the-vote programs.
• Develop, strengthen and grow the grassroots volunteers and leaders of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.
• Working with the Party Secretary to develop, update, and implement guidelines for the use and maintenance of Party files and records, including archiving, storage and disposal. Assisting Party Secretary with all data management operations of the Party, including the membership database and voter database systems.
• Ensure proper maintenance of all WISDEM computers, including providing appropriate security and back-up systems. Does not give John Podesta access to any passwords, smart phones or laptops.
EXPERIENCE:
• A proven, successful executive with the ability to provide dynamic internal and external leadership to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin to achieve political and financial objectives.
* Someone who is passionate about Wisconsin and makes expanding the diversity of the party priority number one. It is only a big tent party when people want into the tent.
• Pertinent experience in Executive/Senior level management. Preferred experience: a combination of work in the not-for profit sector, public sector, private sector and/or trade associations, including some experience in local, state or federal politics.
• Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain a credible reputation and high profile presence in the community as would be required on behalf of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and execute strategic political strategies and manage the tactical execution to achieve results.
• Experience in soliciting and securing donor dollars is essential both in state and nationally. Also must understand that while money is important, it is the people of the party that make the difference and we can not compromise dollars for message or outreach.
• An excellent internal leader recognized for the ability to develop, motivate, manage and build functional teams that regularly achieve and maintain superior levels of performance.
• Proven excellence in written and oral communication and proven media experience are essential.
• Knowledge and understanding of the political landscape within Wisconsin is preferred. Someone who understands that while the members of the WISDEMS are important, that there are millions more people who associate themselves as Democrats, liberals, progressives, who have not joined the party and whose opinions are to be valued and sought after. Someone who understands that reaching these people is critical to future success.
• An individual who is passionate about the success of the Democratic Party and the quality of life for Wisconsin residents. Someone who understands that winning elections is the primary and only responsibility of the Democratic Party. Someone who takes it personally when elections are lost and celebrates when elections are won. Someone who understands that finishing second in an election is unacceptable and not something to be proud of.
• Fluent in MS Office including Word, Excel, Outlook, as well as internet and social media.
PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES:
• Key Attributes: Excellent manager of paid staff and volunteers, trustworthiness/believability, professional appearance, highly developed interpersonal and communications skills, results oriented, global thinker, diplomatic, ability to multi-task, strong public communication skills, open-minded to differing views, persuasive, quick thinking, outgoing and approachable, excellent time management skills, strong leadership ability, conflict resolution skills, negotiation skills, and ability to influence.
• Political Acumen: Knowledgeable in current and possible future practices, trends, and other information affecting the Democratic Party in Wisconsin and the country. Understands the competitive issues; aware of the political landscape for change and how collaborative strategies around the state work for the betterment of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin; comprehends how collaborative strategies with national entities work for the betterment of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and candidates in Wisconsin.
• Member Focus: Dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external groups; effectively articulates and promotes Democratic Party of Wisconsin programs and services; talks and acts with Democratic Party of Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin idea, values in mind; establishes and maintains effective on-going relationships with board members and all groups and gains their trust and respect.
Those are the basics, now in order to actually start winning elections, the next executive director must have the following(the Simpson Job Description):
Must know the difference between a Holstein and a Hereford and the difference of a Duroc to an Appaloosa!
Must be more comfortable at the Sawyer County Democratic Picnic than at the Founders Day Dinner.
Must never agree to ever be part of a national candidates "Victory fund" ever again.
Must Understand how important your work is. When someone takes away your healthcare, collective bargaining rights, , etc.. they are not great people who just disagree with you, they are attacking fundamental rights for people all over Wisconsin and you are many people's only line of defense.
Must understand that climate change is a real threat to the future of our planet, and be willing to discuss it anytime, anyplace, even if the national party pretends it does not exist.
Must never ever look at someone and judge them by how much money they have or how much money you think they have
Must never allow access to a microphone, party award, or endorsement of anyone who does not fully support labor, unions and the working class people of WI.
Must never discuss seats, districts, states that can NOT be won.
Must be comfortable on a farm, in a union hall, at a county fair or a local diner. Anywhere in Wisconsin.
Must go to work with passion and a love of Wisconsin, not to cash a paycheck or look for your next job.
Must vow to never buy and/or wear a cheese head for longer than 30 seconds.
Must understand that while the elected Democrats represent their districts, the party represents all Democrats in Wisconsin and must act accordingly and be able to speak up when electeds are being unreasonable.
Must immediately end the incumbent protection program of giving incumbents so many advantages in terms of running in primaries, especially not allowing challengers access to the VAN. You might not want a primary but you should adamantly defend any members rights to run, and remain neutral, in front of and behind closed doors!
Must solemnly swear to protect and defend public education at all times!
Must be willing to throw away all how-to guides, manuals, books, pamphlets, etc... of anything that remotely has to do with winning elections that was written before 2015,
Above all, it is crucial to keep the wolves, out of state consultants, political lifers and lobbyists away from the inner circle or the checkbooks of the WISDEMS. That includes anyone who worked with the Mike Tate regime and Nation Consulting.
By Jeff Simpson Hillary Clinton just finished what could be one of the most epic, incompetent, political campaigns in History. One of the more controversial things that the Hillary Campaign did was enter into "fundraising" agreements with numerous state parties called the Hillary Victory Fund. There was much concern and outrage amongst people who were not party insiders. From local media, to the Bernie Sanders campaign, realized something was wrong and started questioning. This did not lead to the campaign rethinking what they were doing, but instead banded together with the DNC leadership to attack Bernie Sanders personally. With a massive disinformation campaign, mixed with personal attacks on the most vociferous the fervor was brought to a slow simmer. In Wisconsin, Martha Laning DNC chair, felt the need to issue a statement:
From Martha Laning, chair of the DPW, for an explanation. A number of incorrect stories and blogs have been posted about our participation in a fundraisingVictory Fund – and it is very important to me that we correct the record.Last year, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, along with 32 other state parties, entered into a joint finance agreement with the Democratic National Committee and theHillary Clinton campaign to raise funds that help to support state parties and Democratic candidates in 2016. We have offered, and would gladly partner with Sen. Sanders as well if he is interested in creating a similar joint fundraising agreement. These funds have helped us to maintain a top-notch state voter file, work with the DNC to combat the effects of Photo ID, hire critical coordinated campaign staff, and begin to build the infrastructure for our turnout efforts in the fall. These funds are not being used to support any one particular presidential candidate, and in fact, by helping to update our data and address legal issues around Photo ID, they are helping all candidates in Wisconsin. Much has also been made about us sharing portions of these funds with the DNC. The DPW regularly partners with the DNC on a wide range of projects and efforts. In fact, over the last two years the DPW has received nearly $200,000 from the DNC to help us build our state party infrastructure. We will continue to work with both campaigns, and with the DNC to do everything we can to support our great Democratic candidates up and down the ballot in 2016, and beyond. If you have any questions about this, please don’t hesitate to contact me. If you would like to contact either Martha or Kory, below is their contact info: Chair Martha Laning: info@wisdems.org; (608) 255-5172 Executive Director Kory Kozloski: koryk@wisdems.org; (608) 255-5172Much has also been made about us sharing portions of these funds with the DNC. The DPW regularly partners with the DNC on a wide range of projects and efforts. In fact, over the last two years the DPW has received nearly $200,000 from the DNC to help us build our state party infrastructure. We will continue to work with both campaigns, and with the DNC to do everything we can to support our great Democratic candidates up and down the ballot in 2016, and beyond.If you have any questions about this, please don’t hesitate to contact me.If you would like to contact either Martha or Kory, below is their contact info:Chair Martha Laning: info@wisdems.org; (608) 255-5172Executive Director Kory Kozloski: koryk@wisdems.org; (608) 255-5172
Unfortunately, using hindsight, that did not turn out to be the case. It turns out the partnership was not much of a partnership after all. Especially in major battleground states, that used to be solidly blue and turned a dark shade of red. As we see from Huffington Post:
A similar situation unfolded in Wisconsin. According to several operatives there, the campaign’s state office and local officials scrambled to raise nearly $1 million for efforts to get out the vote in the closing weeks. Brooklyn headquarters had balked at funding it themselves, arguing that the state already had a decent-sized footprintbecause of the labor-backed super PAC For Our Future and pointing out that Clinton had never trailed in a single poll in Wisconsin.The campaign’s state office argued additionally for prominent African-American surrogates to help in Milwaukee. “There are only so many times you can get folks excited about Chelsea Clinton,” explained one Wisconsin Democrat. But President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama didn’t come. Nor did Hillary Clinton after the July Democratic convention. She would go on to lose the state, hampered by lower turnout in precisely the place that had operatives worried. Clinton got 289,000 votes in Milwaukee County compared to the 328,000 that Obama won in 2012.“They had staff on the ground and lots of volunteers, but they weren’t running a massive program because they thought they were up 6-7 points,” said the aforementioned senior battleground state operative.In politics, much like anything else, victory has a thousand fathers and defeat is an orphan. A senior official from Clinton’s campaign noted that they did have a large staff presence in Michigan and Wisconsin (200 and 180 people respectively) while also stressing that one of the reasons they didn’t do more was, in part, because of psychological games they were playing with the Trump campaign. They recognized that Michigan, for example, was a vulnerable state and felt that if they could keep Trump away ― by acting overly confident about their chances ― they would win it by a small margin and with a marginal resource allocation.
A strategy of winning by a small margin, shows how their first, last and middle priorities were winning the Presidency for Hillary Clinton and the down ballot and Senatorial races were never a priority. But wait there is more!
Back in JulyChuck Schumersummed it up: “For every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs in Philadelphia, and you can repeat that in Ohio and Illinois and Wisconsin.”From this theory and strategy flowed a deeply flawed set of tactics, and a badly fumbled get-out-the-vote (GOTV) effort.
Or not! Hard working Democrats all over the country, gave money they did not have, and valuable time to the Democratic Party to have them ignore the working class, and focus on Republicans. Now they have less money, no protections and a more solidly Republican Government than ever before in their lifetime. At least Chuck Schumer got a promotion. It was not just there, it was the political guru's and consultants who know more than the local grass roots. In Wisconsin, former Executive Director of the WISDEMS, Jake Hadju, who helped oversee three straight losing elections, was in charge of the Hillary campaign here. His superior efforts, along with the Hillary "Victory" fund and help from the ADCC and SDCC led us to a drubbing at the hands of the WISGOP. However, incompetence at the top is not unique to WI(emphasis mine):
Writing in the Huffington Post last week, Becky Bond and Zack Exley, both veterans of the Sanders campaign, noted: “Volunteers for the Clinton campaign in Pennsylvania, Ohio and North Carolina,” working from computer-generated lists, “have reported that when reminding people to vote, they encountered a significant number of Trump voters. Anecdotal evidence points to anywhere from 5 to 25 percent of contacts [being] inadvertently targeted to Trump supporters.” So much for those brainiac, glued-to-the-screen whiz kids. They lacked nouse, street smarts, soul, real-world experience, a grip on reality.
In his first remarks since WikiLeaks began releasing thousands of his hacked emails, John D. Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, said Tuesday that Russian intelligence officials intent on swaying the election to Donald J. Trump had been responsible for the illegal breach into his account. “I’ve been involved in politics for nearly five decades,” Mr. Podesta told reporters aboard the Clinton campaign plane. “This definitely is the first campaign that I’ve been involved with in which I’ve had to tangle with Russian intelligence agencies,” he added, “who seem to be doing everything that they can on behalf of our opponent.” Without verifying the authenticity of the emails, Mr. Podesta said that he had spoken with the F.B.I. “as a victim” of hacking.
About Poor Mr. Podesta's victimhood:
But what we do know, thanks to digital forensics of the hacked emails, is that Podesta clicked twice on a not-so-sophisticated fishing email asking for his password. We also know from the same emails that John Podesta lost his cellphone in a taxi on January 19, 2015; and that his password was “p@ssword.” With leadership like that, the rest makes sense.
A point for the Left in all this: the DNC’s ideas are not only bad because they don’t advocate the social-democratic redistribution we would like to see — they are also bad because they don’t work at a purely technical level. Their arrogance and contempt for the working class produced a flawed political theory, which in turn produced a bad strategy, which in turn produced a tactically inept ground game. Too busy congratulating themselves and concurring with each other, the Clintonites couldn’t even get the rudiments of the campaign correct.
The question now is, where do we go from here? Did we learn anything from the Hillary Victory Fund and how they played the state parties like a fiddle? Have we learned that there are too many careerist in politics who care more about their next paycheck than winning an election. That just because your dad/mom have been in politics, give big money or are famous, does not mean that you have the competence to win an election. Will the Democratic party learn from their mistakes and start standing up for the middle class and the working poor in this country?
If the two weeks since the election are any indication, the answer is no. We have yet to see a single resignation from the DNC or the WISDEMS, or anyone to take even a semblance of responsibility for the massive losses on election day. There has been enough of passing the bucks in the last two weeks, to fill Gringots.
As Peter Barca made clear recently, elections only have consequences for some of us! For the rest of us though, who will be fighting and suffering from GOP policies for the next few years, it is time for us to start taking 2018 seriously. The work to win the next three elections starts now.
I know its a small club, and people like to not let outsiders in, and give each other jobs but things have advanced beyond the small club pettiness we have witnessed the last six years. We need to get people on board or out of the way. It needs to happen now!
In every election as far back as I can remember, the party in power gets smoked in the mid-terms. For Wisconsinites, the timing could not be better. The 2018 election will be much more important than the beating the Democrats took last night. The work for that needs to begin today, but first we need some housekeeping and lessons from the election of 2016(from a Wisconsin point of view). 1. The old rules of how to campaign, win elections etc... all got thrown out the window this year. While normal candidates, by the book, spent thousands on polling(more on this later), the Donald spent more on hats than he did polling. The Donald had no real ground game, fought with everyone and spent most of his energy attacking anyone who criticized him, yet was the first Republican to win WI since Ronnie. 2. There NEEDS to be accountability. We have zero power now to make change, but we have all of the power to demand change. There needs to be resignations and they need to come yesterday. I would recommend we start with Martha Laning, Kory Kozlowski and whoever the head of research for the party is because he/she apparently had no idea that many people were running for office on the Dem Ticket. We need to continue on and get new leadership in the State Senate and Assembly. Jen Shilling and Peter Barca need to step down from their "lack of " leadership positions.
3. I recommend that David Bowen take over the party for the next year and he hire Mandela Barnes as Executive Director. Then Mandela can decide after a year if he wants to run for office again or take over the WISDEMS. One way or another, Mandela Barnes is part of the future of our party. I also recommend that Kathleen Vinehout be Senate Minority leader and that Katrina Shankland be Assembly Democratic Leader with Jonathon Brostoff as her assistant. Fresh leadership is desperatly needed! 4. Anyone who tells you that Bernie would not have done better against The Donald is just trying to cover up their own incompetence and lack of understanding of the election process and the Wisconsin electorates, so please take what they say with a huge grain of sand! 5. We need to have all of the super delegates, understand their role in the massive losses that we sustained in Wisconsin. Bernie was a huge favorite, won Wisconsin primary handily, and yet all but David Bowen used their super delegate vote for HRC. Wisconsinites who supported Bernie were contacting them to advocate for their candidate, some of the SD's were reprinting their letters and openly mocking them on social media. David Bowen, Mark Pocan, Gwen Moore, Ron Kind, Tammy Baldwin, Martha Laning, Jason Rae, Christine Bremer Muggli, Martha Love and Michael Childers. 6. The old saying of "Don't mourn, Organize" is becoming passe' and needs to be edited to say "Don't mourn, talk". I understand that everyone needs a little time to let the loss sink in but do not withdraw. I see lots of my liberal/progressive friends on social media unfriending their Trump supporting friends and family members. Stop it!
I have no problem criticizing our elected officials who are bigoted, anti education, racist and just plain dumb. Keep that up, but their supporters are a different story. We need to dialogue with them, try and understand them, see where they are coming from. how they got there. and what you have in common. Help them see the same things about you. A big problem is we have put ourselves in a little bubble and only hear and see what we want too. That happens on both sides (see News Fox) and we need to find ways to step outside our bubble and into theirs and vice versa.
So Don't mourn, engage!
7. Find a spot for Mandy Wright. Like Mandela Barnes, Mandy Wright also needs to be the future of the party!
8. Lets stop pretending that Charles Franklin and Nate Silver are heroes, guru's, experts or geniuses. It is time to recognize that the anonymous opinion of a thousand people does not speak for 5 million others. Polls are fine and they are good to know some information, but like a standardized test in public schools, tell us just a small frame of a feature film.
9. Who is the base of the Democratic Party? As a former industrial, heavily unionized, blue state, the economy is not working for many many people. With Gatt, NAFTA, WTO, And now the TPP, states like Wisconsin have been crushed economically.
Why have we allowed someone like Scott Walker to divide and conquer? Because there is no champion to unite us. No person to acknowledge the fact that we have lost jobs, that poverty is going up and so are incomes of the upper class. No one to acknowledge that people are working two jobs and losing their homes. No one to acknowledge that attacking public workers for having health insurance while we allow our politicians to give millions of our tax dollars to their friends no questions asked is hurting our state.
That is what made Bernie so popular in WI(he won 71/72 counties) and elsewhere. He spoke to the people that needed a champion. He spoke directly to them and told them he gets it and understand their pain and the importance of fixing it.
The people of Wisconsin, and elsewhere, are desperate not only for a populist message but a sincere populist message. If you can filter out the racism, sexism, bigotry, etc... (and many people could) the message that Trump was saying was a populist message, He told the people that he understood that they are losing their jobs to Mexico and China etc... He let them know that he understood that we need jobs in America and that if you elect him the jobs will come back. Ignoring the fact that the messenger was incredibly hypocritical, and the part of the problem, but the message resonated.
10. The Dem party, which includes the party apparatchik, made many mistakes throughout.
A. This is the first election in memory where the candidate did not make an appearance in the final days before the election. Great idea.
B. Hillary did send many surrogates here (Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren) and every time, they gave speeches to a solid crowd of Democrats and not once, did local/statewide candidates get a chance to share the stage and introduce themselves. Now when we start looking at the next election, we get to hear how so many Democrats do not have "name recognition".
C. Statewide Dems, who had a chance to get on a bigger stage, never once did they start naming names and talking about winning. For instance, Mark Pocan was on Mike Gousha show and when asked about Paul Ryan working with The Donald, never once even mention the fact that Ryan Solen was running against him and he had to win his election first.
11. We need to identify who the base actually is. It should be a big tent party where we bring in and appeal to everyone from the white working class to the minorities to the CEO's to the people in poverty. If you follow politics, really follow politics, you know that many Trump/Walker supporters should be voting Democratic...so why aren't they?
12. There is a whole professional political class, that moves from one inside job to another and they are destroying our state. The consultant class is consulting our state into a bright bright shade of red. For instance:
* As Nation Consulting owns writes: 2. THERE IS NO SILVER BULLET. This is not the case of one thing going wrong. If you think nominating Bernie changes this 180 degrees, no. If you think more money changes this, no. If you think only racism or sexism or bigotry explains this, no. If you think only economics or culture explains this, no. If you think any one thing being different is the solution, no. A clusterfuck of this proportion only happens when many, many things go wrong. So take your simplistic answers and shove them.
* Former Mary Burke team member, Joe Zepecki(who handled the press operations for Burke, on what might be the worse press operation campaign in history), who was given numerous chances on news talk shows to "speak for the Democrats", was also given the keys to a multi million dollar Super PAC (For Our Future Fund), which focused on community organizing, was based in Milwaukee. The lower turnout in Milwaukee was the difference in helping the Donald win WI and the Presidency.
Looking at some numbers (not sure what they mean, except turnout matters). (Assuming the results are all in) Clinton had similar margins of victory as Obama in Milwaukee County (66% to 29% vs 67% to 32%; 162,895 more votes in 2016 vs 169,660 in 2012). However, Obama collected 39,104 more total votes in Milwaukee County. Trump's statewide margin of victory was 26,788.
* Many statewide candidates hired a company from Chicago called The Strategy Group. Apparently this group of high priced political consultants from Chicago, most of whom were from the Coasts and Washington DC, were the perfect group to tell us how to win in Ladysmith, Winter and Oconto. Of course right up until election day when they cash their checks, head home and their candidates get their hats handed to them.
13. The party insiders need to get over themselves and take a long hard look in the mirror. Wisconsin was a blue state until Mike Tate and his crew took over and now we are a bright red state. Members of his team turned that kind of success into other jobs, like Jake Hadju, who ran Hillary's operations in WI( the first time since 1984 that a Republican won our state).
Many of the team are outright hostile to people who are not members of the party or have criticisms. Which leads to divisions in the party and Republican landslides. If they want to continue in their old habits, then they need to find a new career. If they are willing to acknowledge that their way has not worked in years then lets all work together and change this state back to blue!
15. Finally, we need some people to start running for Governor now. Lets get name recognition and message fine tuned soon. We need to let the Republicans attack them now, and make the hard core criticisms old news by election season!
Extra Credit: Make Alan Grayson head of the Democratic National Committee!
We can do this. 2018 can bring a new day but we need to work together and we need to start now!
Today on the Devils Advocate Radio show, Michael Crute played an interview with Democratic Senate Minority Leader Jen Shilling where she said she expected this election to go very well for the Democrats and they should pick up a Senate seat or two.
Well not sure if anyone told Ms. Shilling what is happening lately in WI but someone needs to clue her in. First off the Democrats need to win three seats to retake the majority. Secondly, Donald Trump, the racist, misogynist, sexist, petty, babied billionaire will be om the top of the ticket. Third, the Walker administration and the WISGOP, have run our state into the ground with the largest debt and the most spending in our history(among other problems).
If the Democratic party can come out of this once in a lifetime election with only gaining one seat it might be the biggest colossal failure in electoral history
As a "leader" (Ms. Shilling is not the first Democrat to talk about how few seats they are going to win) that is not very inspiring to the "troops",
Can you imagine how quickly Paul Chryst would be fired, if he pointed out that "because they are playing Ohio State, they should be able to get a first down or two. That it would be a great day if they only lost by two touchdowns"?
I get it though, the Democrats have been getting a beat down since Mike Tate rose to prominence. The party also has a a history of hiring professional political class consultants who are very good at increasing their bank accounts and decreasing the seats that Democrats hold.
With such a long history of being down, I am going to offer some free advice.
Q. Senator Shilling, how do you see the election cycle going for your party in November?
A. Senator Shilling: Very good question. We are very excited this election cycle. We have been out knocking on doors, meeting voters and Wisconsin citizens and they have been very receptive of our positive message. The voters know that our Governor has been so busy campaigning for President that he has greatly ignored our state The voters are also aware that his allies in the Senate, like Senator Fitzgerald, have given him a blank check to run our state and he has written it for vast sums of money. Our last budget was the biggest budget in state history and they have also burdened us with a record amount of debt that our children will bare the burden for. For example, in Senate District 14, we see that the King Nursing home is in the news often because it has been so incompetently run. That is right in Luther Olson's back yard and he decided to go eat pies(literally) than take steps to solve the problem and treat our Veteran heroes with the respect and dignity they deserve. The voters there are anxious to be represented by Brian Smith, a true public servant. In Senate District 18, our challenger Mark Harris so scares Senator Fitzgerald that they had to pass a bill that strictly targets Mr. Harris. He is currently the Winnebago County Executive and Scott Fitzgerald playing petty politics, passed a bill that specifically said that County Executives can not also serve in the Senate. Well there are mayors, school board members. county board members etc... that are serving in, or running for the State Senate. However, there is only one county executive that fits that description - Mark Harris. Mark will make a great Senator when the people in his district send him to Madison! in the 12th district, Incumbent Tom Tiffany has been a firebrand for the Republicans. Not in a good way of course, but more so in a, this guy makes Donald Trump seem fair and open minded, kind of way. The Democratic challenger there is Bryan Van Stippen. The people of the 12th district finally have someone that wants to represent the people of the 12th and not whatever company comes in and throws a few hundred dollars in his campaign fund. Bryan Van Stippen is someone who wants to restore local control back to our communities and rebuilding Wisconsin. I know I forgot a couple people off the top of my head but I am certain that November 8th will be a very good day for the Democrats in WI!
We have to start talking about winning before we can actually start winning!
It is time for a check in as the Fall election cycle starts to really kick in.
The first thing, that we need to understand is this election cycle is not like any other election cycle in our history. The Trump Phenomona is something that, while was created by the electeds in the GOP party and we should have seen coming, no one did.
Simple case in point. At one point this ended a presidential run:
while this gained Mr. Trump more and more supporters:
The first thing we need to do is never start a sentence with the word "Historically".
* The committee not only recommends
a stronger rebuttal to the basic Republican argument, but to proactively identify and present a different
argument. Two plus years later we are still waiting for that argument.
* A common point of contention is that the party and our candidates have delivered a
flawed message based upon the actions of Governor Walker. Essentially the critical view of that message
has been, “Governor Walker is bad for Wisconsin and we aren’t him.” Find me an instance where Mary Burke or most candidates running criticized Scott Walker in the last race? Martha Laning, our current state chair ran an ad with the theme "Republicans have great ideas" while running for an Assembly seat.
* To understand the crux of the issue of Rural Wisconsin, we sought out and
reviewed qualitative academic studies done in Wisconsin. Yoo Hoo, they are not that hard to find, go talk to the people in rural Wisconsin. Looking at them through academic studies? really?
* We need the conversation at the rural gas station in the morning to shift from the bad things that
government is doing to a discussion about how government is working to enhance rural lives. If you really think that rural Wisconsin 2016 is the same as life in Mayberry in the Andy Griffith show then you really really need to get out and talk to people. WOW.
* The 72 County Strategy, much like Howard Dean’s original plan, is not about winning all 72 counties, 'Nuff said!
Now the recommendations:
* Do not be afraid of primaries, hold the internal party units to the constraints of party rules and
understand we do not control the decisions of outside forces. The party has compeletely ignored this recommendation as when Jimmy Anderson announced a run against Robb Kahl(who later dropped out), Gordon Hintz became unhinged. In Madison, Progressive Jacob Wischmeier, decided to challenge Lisa Subeck in a PRIMARY, and the Democratic party challenged his signatures. We also see where Myron Bucholz has challenged Ron Kind and Mandela Barnes has challenged Lena Taylor and yet both were denied the VAN and shut down by the party.
* When possible, hire campaign staff who have a background in rural organizing or if possible give
those staffers additional time to shorten the learning curve. Great idea I look forward to that actually happening.
* Look for opportunities to build new relationships with community groups that have similar
progressive interests to the Democratic Party to create a larger base of support. With the aggressiveness that local party leaders have against anyone who questions them, the complete lack of outreach or interest in people with Democratic ideals who have yet to join the party and the lack of interest in engaging with the million Wisconsinites who signed the recall of our Governor, shows me that relationship building and increasing support is not even remotely in their plans(but it sounds really good).
Despite the current electoral status of Wisconsin, history shows us that we not only have a road forward
but the path to a new progressive era is entirely possible. We heed the advice of the late Congressman
Robert Kastenmeier on this topic:
"Don't give up the ship...there are better days ahead." Apparently wishing so, while on the same path as previous elections, will make it so.
Now the things they ommitted!
* Leadership: Not a word about how much leadership has let the party down. Mike Tate was in charge for 6 years and in that time, the Democratic Party lost seats in almost every election and went from having control of the Governor's office, the Assembly and Senate to being so far in the minority that they are no longer relevant in any debate. In the whole time Mr. Tate was ahead of the party, it seems as though he was able to work mostly on advancing his own career. Mike Tate allowed union busting Chris Abele prime speaking spots at Democratic dinners and in turn Chris Abele then hired Mike to help run his campaign against Democratic Senator Chris Larson. Quid pro quo at its finest. Then Mr. Tate did not just hekp Chris Abele win the election, he smeared Chris Larson, his old friend, often. When you have someone in charge who will turn on his friends and allies for a few pences, then you can expect to have an organization with no ethics. Heck even Rick Nielsen had more loyalty to the Party then Mike Tate. * Party Insiders: After the Democratic convention, and after Bernie sanders won he Wisconsin Primary handily, Kristen Hansen unleashed a series of tweets@KHansen1724 aimed at Senator Sanders and his supporters:
- Can we get hair and makeup into this Sanders event? Thanks. - There's only 1 Democrat running for POTUS - @HillaryClinton. I'm done pretending this is a primary. It's a hostile takeover. #fightback - Things I am no longer doing: pretending the Dem race isn't over, being nice to Bernie Bros, nod and smile at misogynists. #emancipation - You know why we have superdelegates? Because people who are NOT Democrats and don't give a shit about the party can run AS Dems and fuck us. - Dear Sen Sanders: I will not let you destroy our party. You were never with us: 'It will be a contested convention' Ok
I am not sure if that is the new inclusive message that the party is looking to send to win elections or not but there was no apology and she was so proud of these tweets that she has them still up. *Democratic Party of WI: The current state of the party shows major signals that even more dire election results are ahead. If you pull up the WISDEMS website under the "Our Candidates" tab, you see a picture of Senator Russ Feingold and no one else. Apparently no one explained to them that the 's' after candidate, means plural = more than one. We have important races all over the state, local and nationa,l and the WISDEMS are only aware of Senator Feingold. Secondly go to the "news" section and what do we see there? Under the latest from our party section: The Latest from Our Party
November 24, 2015
Democratic Weekly Radio Address: "Happy Thanksgiving"
I
For those of you scoring at home, it is currently July 18,2016. I guess nothing that is newsworthy has happened since last Thanksgiving.
The Political Establishment in WI: Tune into a Sunday political TV show and who do you see? The same people week after week, Bloggers David Blaska, and Christian Schneider, For some un beknownest reason, Joe Zepecki and Sachin Cheda, etc... All on, talking like this is a similar election to the one before and the one before, etc... All bringing nothing to the table but the same ole drivel.
Against this backdrop, I attended a forum on building the Democratic bench recently, whichThe Progressivemagazine co-sponsored, along with Emerge Wisconsin, New Leaders Council and Wisconsin Progress — three groups that are doing the hard work recruiting and training candidates to try to take back citizen control of our government.These groups’ efforts are unimpeachable. They are in the trenches trying to get smart progressives to consider public service, and they are supporting their campaigns and achieving some victories.
Actually these groups efforts are fine but hardly unimpechable. As entrenched political organizations, while they do some good, they really have just become employment factories for political lifers.
For instance, Scott Spector was running Wisconsin Progress unril Senator Tammy Baldwin called upon him to be her chief of staff. Which will be a nice job for him for a couple years before he founds a political consultancy/lobbyist firm where he will go and make quadruple his salary now.
As Matt Taibbi recently pointed out, with the political lifers, winning is secondary to continual employment. A Former head of the local Jefferson County Democratic party disliked a Democratic candidate running in Assembly District 38 because 10 years prior he had a messy divorce (with no actual charges filed against him and he ended up with full custody of his children). The head of the JeffDems at the time was able to get this candidates blackballed from various fundraisers and from any help at all within the party. He ended up putting up a good race but slightly losing. The irony here is that the woman who was upset with him and got him blackballed, actually had charges AGAINST her for Domestic Violence but felt the need to be judge jury and executioner, all be herself. Now we have Representative Joel Kleefisch who has bills written to stop all stem cell research, while the former head of the JEFFDEMS is now in charge of one of these unimpeachable groups.
Their main focus is raise lots of money, and only talk to Democratic Voters. Which is a terrible way to bring more people into the party and has not led to many election victories.
Then Ms. Coniff saw the only way out of the Democratic funk was by Hail Mary's" - 1. Getting someone charismatic to run for Governor and 2. Win the lawsuit against redistricting. and hoping new districts would be much more fair.
That is the self defeatist, lets look at historical attitude that we are so used to seeing, and one that will help us continue our landslide.
Now that we have acknowledged much of the problems, let's look at some solutions.
Unlike the bloodsuckers of the political consulting world, that have consulted us right into the minority(I am looking at you Nation Consulting), I am giving election advice for free.
Some can be run this election cycle yet and some needs to be systemic changes. Here are 9 observations, bits of advice that could be used to take our State back.
1. Go on the offensive at all times! Quick, name all of the times you can think of that Scott Walker or the WISGOP have apologized? When calling protesters ISIS(no)? When Bob Gannon was writing racist press releases and flipped off the Democrats on the Assembly floor(no)? There is not a time that the WISGOP will ever apologize.
2. Have each others backs at ALL times. Yes, Gordon Hintz flipped out when someone decided to run for the seat that he felt Robb Kahl owned(Kahl ended up not running again), but when Hintz went unhinged, he tried to throw most of his base under the bus. That is not what having your back means. Hintz did not have a word to say about anyone else who had primaries and in his rants did not say a bad word about the GOP only the Dem base(most of which had nothing to do with the situation).
3. Update the website: There has unexplicably been a picture of Russ Feingold on the front page of the Democratic Party of Wiscosnin website for months now. There should be a page you can go to and find not only your Assembly Rep, but your State Senator and if it is a Republican, who on the Democratic Party is running in your area, with a picture, a short bio and a link to their website. If there is a primary then all candidates running should get the same treatment.
Finally, tell stories(more on this later). I would send someone with a video camera to drive around Wisconsin and tell us stories of what is really happening, not the "Its Working" crap we get from the GOP.
4 Stop Talking about all of the races you plan on LOSING! How many times have you seen one of the rare appearances by someone from the Dem Party asked about the upcoming elections and they talk about the bare minimum that we could maybe possibly win. Case in point:
Democratic Leader Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse, highlighted three seats as pickup opportunities for her party: Senate District 18, an open seat; Senate District 12, now represented by Tom Tiffany, R-Hazelhurst, and Senate District 10, represented by Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls.
Democrats would need to win all three to wrest control of the Senate — something Shilling isn’t willing to pledge.
“I always like to under-promise and over-deliver,” Shilling said. “This is a several-election-term plan that we want to implement.
I'm Sorry Jen, when have you over delivered? Maybe when you start talking about all of the races that we are GOING to win, That will help build up some momemntum and enthusiasm from places that normally do not vote Democratic? Who wants a quarterback that goes into the season saying "I can see us maybe winning three games?"
5. Stop letting the Republicans get away with their extremist, incompetent ideology!Scott Walker, spent $7 Million dollars in about three months campaigning to the most right wing of his base and ended up with 0.0% support. One of the straws that broke the Right wing camels back, was because he actually said that walling off Canada was a "legitimate issue". I have yet to hear a Wisconsin Democrat bring that up.
For example, look at Chris Larson's recent run for Milwaukee County Executive, or anytime he is in the news actually), he get referred to every time by the right wing echo chamber as "sticky fingers" Larson. Why would the Democratic party not take advantage and bring up the Canadian wall every single time the get asked about Scott Walker? Almost every GOP member running for office this time has statements/actions in their past that equate the Canadian Wall and yet the Dems never call them out.
6. Fire Nation Consulting from all inner workings of the party. I know that candidates are free to hire whoever they want. I also know that candidates are strongly encouraged who to hire and who not to hire. Over the years, they have been very strong advocates for their bank accounts and not much else. Just stop it with them. If they want to volunteer on campaigns fine, but in terms of sending them ANY money from anyone with D behind their name....just stop!
7. Stop the Madison/Milwaukee V the rest of the state debate. As someone who grew up on a small family farm and has lived in Milwaukee and Madison, I am confused as to which issues matter to Madison/Milwaukee and not to rural areas and vice versa. People in WI want much of the same things, a good education for their chidlren, opportunity, healthcare, a family supporting job, a chance to go on a vacation a year and have a house and a car that works. There is some nuance between different areas and people on their main issues but in the end we all want the same things.
8. Do not fear the Republicans but watch what they are doing and learn. They have more money than the Democrats and while they govern horribly, they do win elections. In the recall elections, I knew it was over when the Walker campaign stopped campaigning on issues and focused on the recall itself. The last couple months, their ads were strictly focused on - "while me dont like Scott Walker, we do not think he should be recalled". We did not even need to see their internal polling, it was obvious his internal polling showed that as the biggest issue. In the meantime, the Democrats responded with calling Scott Walker a rockstar. The results speak for themselves.
The Donald easily won his primary because he ran as anti-establishment. People are sick of the same people doing the same things over and over and also being perceived as above the law. Senator Sanders also made huge inroads running against the estbalishment. Look at how they campaigned here, Senator Sanders, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, had open speeches all over the state, while Hillary Clinton had private events where people in the inside could get in and take selfies for their facebook page. Its great for them, but she also got creamed on election day. Think about that.
9. Do Not Be Afraid of Progressive Populism. Actually, Progressive Populism is the ONLY thing that will beat Scott Walker in the next election. It has nothing really to do with charisma(although that does help). People in Wisconsin, did not take to Senator Sanders (and he won handily here) because of his sparkiling personality, award winning smile and ability to tell jokes. Senator Sanders won here because he was saying what the people in WI have been desperate to hear. Ms. Coniff pointed it out in her article, but did not recognize it for what it was.
But what do you say to young people who are willing to devote their time to local community service when, at the state level, there appears to be very little infrastructure to bolster the opposition against a right-wing juggernaut? I asked the panelists at the forum this question, and they looked pained. But then they started talking about some of their favorite candidates, and about the dedication of these young teachers, farmers and community activists to local issues. Most get involved in public work by running for nonpartisan offices, and at the very local level, they make common cause with their neighbors — including conservatives — on doing what’s best for their communities. It occurred to me that if we can bring that community spirit up the chain to higher office, it would fix a lot of what has been going wrong in our state.
What do you say to young people willing to devote their time? This:
Tell them that you understand that the Government, the economy is not working for them. That you recognize that the scale is tilted heavily against them and that is not the American ideal. Tell them that we have to stop letting Wall St and multi national corporations purchase our politicians. Tell them everything Senator Sanders had to tell them because he reached them. Not only did he reach them, he transcended the urban and rural areas(see point 7) and won 71/72 counties.
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