(Matt "not a journalist" Kittle crying with Robin "bitter far right partisan" Vos that an adult introduced a budget in WI for the first time in 8 years).
One thing that never fails to amaze me in modern day politics, is when someone does something stupid, their best defense is to pretend it never happened. We saw Scott Walker master that with his perpetually sticking his foot in his mouth(wall off Canada, comparing peaceful protesters to ISIS, etc..) then pretend it never happened. Luckily for them, the Wisconsin Press Corps is toothless and pandering and they never get called on it.
Unlucky for them, Capper started a blog a few years ago and invited me to join him.
The latest situation of faux outrage and terrible memories comes from our friends on the right - Maciver Institute. Tony Evers refused access to their bloggers at a press briefing, and their feels got hurt.
Gov. Tony Evers likes to talk a lot about transparency and accountability. Those two noble words, after all, were in the first paragraph of the Democrat’s campaign agenda. “For the past eight years, Wisconsin’s state government has been used to … undermine our state’s rich tradition of transparency and accountability,” the opening lines of the political document state. But it appears the governor is suffering from selective transparency and accountability. He certainly doesn’t seem to have much time for conservative journalists and critics. Evers administration made that clear — again — on Thursday afternoon, when his handlers barred MacIver News Service from attending a Capitol Press Corps budget preview powwow behind closed East Wing doors. This, despite the fact that MacIver has long been a credentialed Capitol news organization in good standing.
They are credentialed in "good standing" because Scott Fitzgerald and Robin Vos issue the credentials. Does anyone think that a dark money propaganda org, that will write whatever they are told to help the Dems look bad and the GOP look good would not be in good standing with the WISGOP?
Even Robin Vos apparently felt the need to weigh in (Edit note: i just saw this on Macivers page, could not see it on my own as Robin Vos is currently illegally blocking me on twitter. Hey Robo - my handle is JeffSimpson7, please follow the law and unblock me):
Robin Vos@repvos
Amazing that @wisgop allow liberals to attend but @GovEvers is afraid to let @MacIverWisc attend?MacIver Institute@MacIverWisc And thus ends the Open Government Era of the Walker years ... @MacIverWisc not allowed to attend @GovEvers capitol press corps budget briefing this hour despite MacIver's multiple requests and its capitol credentials. MacIver turned away at the East Wing door #wiright#wipolitics
Umm Robin, I know that no one ever accused you of being brilliant or even remotely non partisan, but you do not "allow" liberals to attend. Let me refresh your memory:
It doesn’t appear Walker is interested in improving his own image among certain members of the press, however. In an effort to block access to independent journalists, the entire media group, which was already set up in a first floor conference room, was asked to move to a more secure room on the sixth floor of the building. The move caused congestion with about twenty members of the press and all their equipment jammed up in the hall outside the elevator. State officials checked the press credentials for a second time before allowing people onto the elevators. Once on the sixth floor, several independent journalists, including Jenna Pope and Arthur Kohl-Riggs, were denied access to the room by four Capitol Police officers. These enhanced security measures delayed the press conference by 45 minutes. Once in the room, Scott Walker’s Communications Director and former Karl Rove associate Jocelyn Webster ejected a WCCA-credentialed photojournalist for not displaying her press credentials (even though she is well-known photographer in the Capitol), and scanned the room in hopes of targeting more non-preapproved reporters. Members of the public who pay for the state-owned building and to whom the governor is accountable as a public servant, were also blocked from attending the press conference.
Almost word for word the other way. I personally feel that both sides need to let in people with press passes of either persuasion. I also feel that the politicians should not be deciding who gets a press pass and who does not. The one thing though that I am certain of, is that no one at Maciver is a journalist, nor are they reporters, they especially are not investigative reporters. They are in our category of political bloggers, they are in a subset though of the Political Propagandist Bloggers, since they have a nice budget from the Bradley Foundation, so really stand for nothing but a paycheck.
I also applaud Tony Evers for keeping them out of his presser. Unless, both sides want to get together and come up with a fair and impartial way to issue press passes, then the WISDEMS need to be playing the same game as the WISGOP.
For too long they haven't been.
As a blogger, I say let the bloggers in (I have occasionally had press passes), but I have never once called my self a reporter or a journalist, and if Matt Kittle and his cohorts, continue to do so, maybe they should talk to a therapist about delusions of grandeur, before they get their blogger press pass and are allowed out in public!
The down time between election and inauguration has been way more exciting than it should have been. First off, Robin Vos, the wanna be Whitey Bulger, has decided since Walker went down in shame, to follow the age old adage - The King is Dead, Long Live the King Robin! Doing as he was told by the boys at ALEC and Scott Jensen, Robin decided, since he has a gerrymandered legislature. to transfer as much power away from Tony Evers and into his lap as he could possibly get away with, then a little more.
The problem is this is a new era in politics and the citizens of Wisconsin are paying attention and, all but the hardest core right wingers, are not having it.
Republican state leaders have struggled to publicly explain laws they enacted in a recent lame-duck session, amid a national onslaught of criticism from Democrats, nonpartisan groups and even fellow Republicans.
The critics largely have offered a unified critique of the measures, signed by Gov. Scott Walker last week. They’ve called them an unprecedented power grab by Walker and legislative Republicans that defied the will of voters, who elected Democratic Gov.-elect Tony Evers and Attorney General-elect Josh Kaul. Both take office in January.
When something is unjustifiable, it is impossible to justify. That is pretty simple and easy to understand.
We are just beginning. There are still a couple weeks before inauguration and the Republicans are having a full out assault on anytime Tony Evers Sneezes. The attacks this week are going to come against every single person that Tony nominates to his cabinet.
For those that may not be aware, there are good, qualified people outside of Milwaukee and Madison. Hopefully the rest of the state will eventually be represented in this administration. https://t.co/I1ao1ImT5P
You get the idea, anyone who read the memo and does not want to upset Robin "Whitey Bulger " Vos will be in full attack and discredit mode.
When there is an all out assault on the Democrats, expect @newsmaciver to get the call and they jumped into action...
But Evers’ lofty words of compromise and bipartisanship don’t seem to jibe with his opening appointments. The governor-elect has quietly assembled advisory committees packed with some of the most left-leaning people from some of the more left-wing organizations in the state. Nary a conservative to be found, of course, and even truly moderate Republicans are missing from the far left-heavy advisory committees. The lineup includes big labor bosses, extreme environmentalists, social justice warriors, and espousers of socialism. His liberal picks shouldn’t come as a huge surprise
What our friends on the right are hoping you do not remember is some of the appointments that Scott Walker originally made(all of whom they gladly voted for).
* Dennis Smith - Smith, the married man with 4 daughters from Washington DC, was appointed head of Department of Health Services by Scott Walker. Smith who never met an uninsured person he was not proud of, used the job basically to bring his high school crush to WI and start an affair on our dime using our resources and then resigned and took off to DC abruptly after his affair came to light. Smith now works for a global law firm in DC - Dentons.
* Michael Brickman- Brickman, a degree in political science and a member of "Friends of Scott Walker" that helped get Walker elected, was named Walker's top education policy advisor. Brickman made a name for himself, by going to the bars in Milwaukee and getting intoxicated Democrats to say stupid things that they could run to the press with. He "disguised" himself as "Rich in retail" when talking to people at the bars. This experience made him qualified to set education policy in the far right world of fitzwalkerstan. Now, to the surprise of no one, Mike "Rich in retail" Brickman works for Betsy DeVos.
* Brian Deschane - Deschane, the troubled son of Big walker donor Jerry Deschane, was appointed to an $81.500/yr job with the Commerce Department. His qualifications, as one would expect from this administration were- no college degree, no work experience and 2 DUI's.
* Ryan Murray - Murray, the son of another big Walker donor, Mike Murray, was appointed original head of WEDC. Murray, whose first audit of WEDC, found that while they had created no real jobs to speak of, had invested heavily in Wisconsin Badger tickets, vacations and iTunes gift cards( you can not make this stuff up). This of course led to nothing but a pat on the back and told to continue on until WEDC actually ended up paying off a donors Maserati(that he named Nero). It took competent people actually quitting, over Murray's incompetence to actually force change. Murray currently works for the unimaginatively named "The Firm" consulting firm in Milwaukee.
As our friends on right continue to criticize Governor Evers, remember they not only have no leg to stand on, their continual hiring of incompetents has cost our state millions!
There has been some push lately, for Tony Evers to keep Stephanie Klett, as head of the Department of Tourism. I would like to state that I publicly agree with this idea, with some context.
While I have been critical of some of her decisions, I think that Ms. Klett has done a very admirable job running the Department of Tourism. In an era where her boss has been openly hostile to public employees, unions, teachers, LGBTQ community, people of color, the English language etc... she has still found a way to market our great state despite the obstacles. Stephanie has done such a good job, that it amazes me that it was a hire Scott Walker actually made.
Now some quick caveats, I am all for bipartisanship but it has to work both ways and there has to be some sanity and logic involved. I hope everyone on the right who wants Governor Evers to show some bipartisanship and keep Ms. Klett on, also calls Vos and Fitzgerald and tells them to not redefine the Governors powers.
I am on board, I thoroughly recommend keep Stephanie Klett on as head of the Department of Tourism.
I am also of the strong belief that anyone else that Scott Walker has hired or appointed in our Government, gets walked to the door the second Governor Evers gets sworn in.
It can not happen soon enough!
* Full disclosure, Stephanie and I attended Beloit College together in the 80's, and while I would not say we are friends, I would say we are acquaintances.
It is a new day in Wisconsin with the end in sight finally of the Scott Walker reign. Tony Evers and Mandela Barnes will be the next Governor/Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin. Scott Walker will be forced to do something he has not done since getting kicked out of college - find a job not on the taxpayer dime. Apparently the same fate has been bestowed upon Rebecca Kleefisch but she appears to be a comet, completely disappearing, but showing up every four years.
The Democratic Party also won the US House but lost seats in the US Senate. The Blue wave turned into some occasional heavy rain storms but in too many other areas no rain in sight. It was like being in the winter in Alaska, no sun, no rain and hell mostly froze over.
However we need to look at Wisconsin, what went right, what went wrong and how do we fix it.
The first thing we need to do is acknowledge the successes. Very few seats were uncontested(although still room for improvement) and there were some incredible candidates on the Democratic Ticket, who unfortunately did not win, but it is important that they do not disappear from the fight.
Secondly and best news of the night, Tony Evers/Mandela Barnes are the new leaders of Wisconsin. Along with Josh Kaul, Sarah Godlewski and Doug LaFollette swept the statewide races (More on this later).
Gone are the days of Scott Jensen having final say on all maps, and bills. No matter what else happens, that was a net positive.
Josh Kaul winning is also a net positive for the people of Wisconsin. Brad Schimel might be the most partisan person ever born. He is the former Waukesha Attorney General that the GOP changed the law for, so they could move their trials. to his court room. Schimel is known for giving Republicans a slap on the butt and saying "Go Get Em Tiger" to any major Republican that crosses his path. That and not being bothered to test rape kits.
Doug Lafollete also won easily, but I knew that when Nation consulting decided to find a Democrat to primary him, ensuring his victory in this election cycle.
Not a terrible night but things could/should have been so much better. Let's dig a bit deeper.
1. I love that we beat Scott Walker as much as the next person, BUT we need to stop declaring total Victory. No one won last night. When the nation projects a Blue Wave and we pick up one seat it is not a successful night.
2. The Democrats are still using the Gerrymandered seats to dismiss the numerous defeats across the board. Yes, I am not naive enough to think that gerrymandering does not make a difference. It was unbelievably unethical how they gerrymandered the state.
It is also impressive.
The GOP nationally, and locally, realized that power is fleeting and elections are cyclical and decided to change the rules. They had a multi level plan, but one of their main action steps was understanding the importance of local elections and in turn, being able to rewrite the maps. You can be so much more successful when you pick your voters, instead of relying on the voters to pick you.
The problem though is this is the fourth straight election where we have had to play by the same rules and lines The Democrats have a good number of people who make alot of money, and have during every one of the last four elections, and yet they can not seem to figure out how to win an election anywhere. In Wisconsin that is - seems our brethren in Kansas have figured out some secrets.
3. The WISDEMS have never been able to stop chasing the money. Moneyed donors are pheromones to Wisconsin Democrats. Understanding that you need money to run (unfortunately) but if you chase the money you are running from very thing that you need to win. The real winners of this election cycle are the consultant class once again. Their checks are in the bank. They will be on vacation, enjoying some much needed downtime, while we sit here and watch the lame duck session bring Wisconsin even further down the rabbit hole.
How do we win? We can break that down also!
1. Look Deep Inside.
The first thing to do is form a committee and take a deep deep inside look into what happened. Nothing off the table, do not worry about feelings hurt and ask and demand raw honesty. A few years ago, the WISDEMs did form a committee but it was laughable as it was mainly intended to push the blame on everyone but themselves. On this committee you need some WISDEM party members and some people who refuse to pay dues but are liberal/progressive activists etc.
Then they need to interview and listen to, every candidate on the D side of the ballot, activists, party members etc... With such questions as What re your impressions of being a candidate, what were the successes, what were the failures, what would be your advice to future candidates, what would you need to run again, what were the success and failures of the help you received from the WISDEMS, etc...
Then let's start building an infrastructure that uses the advice given.
2. Get over yourselves. We still, even after the fiasco of electing the Donald, have too many party party members that think because they pay their $25 that have "stars upon thars". They truly believe that paying $25 makes their opinion matter more, they are more liberal/progressive/smart/logical/pragmatic etc... We have to understand that if we rely only on the dues paying members of the party then we will continue to lose every single election.
It is time to welcome all people in. I understand that you pay your $25 and you want extra privileges, you get to vote for the chair and attend meetings where people talk down to you, and can attend an annual picnic. Take those privileges and enjoy but when it comes time for election, lets open the doors and welcome everyone. Here is a suggestion, maybe open the door for a $5 membership fee, it allows you access to so many more people.
3. Chill on the direct mailers. We have to stop running elections like its 1972. We can reach people in so many more (less expensive) ways than killing trees and filling recycle bins.
3. STOP PAYING CONSULTANTS! What in the world have they won? We have to have this conversation after every single election, for some reason. Its like Groundhogs day every two years in WI. We run a campaign, exactly like the last campaign and then when we get beat and whine about the maps and tell each other how great we are.
A consultant is by definition, a professional who provides expert advice. The rules for the last 8 years have been the exact same, and so have the results. You would think that having four straight chances at something you could eventually start having some success.
Hire the right campaign coordinator and go from there. Get someone with skin in the game, instead of a mercenary. Stop with the conflicts of interest. I documented numerous times that Mary Burke's campaign was run by someone who owned a lobbying firm. Nothing to see here. A partner at Nation Consulting is the DNC Secretary. We can not keep having so many Blurred Lines and wonder why we fail.
4. Use Wisconsin Businesses. How many candidates are spending tens of thousands of dollars on Amazon, Uber, Printers in DC or New York, Firms from DC, New York, San Francisco, etc... The message of I am going to protect small business in WI, I just have no interest in using them, is one that does not play well. Yes Republicans do the same thing, make sure and point that out as often as possible.
The deadbeat dad meme and multiple arrest record of Randy Bryce was too much to overcome as Bryce lost to Paul Ryan's Chauffeur by 13 points. The problem was that these overcome able problems should have been addressed at the beginning of the campaign and not made it look like the campaign was trying to hide something or surprised that the allegations came out. Making the impact of the ridiculous accusations substantially more than it should have been,
As someone who used to work for a multi national company, we all know that when ever Wisconsin comes up in a conversation at the GSG, they all have plenty of redneck/hick jokes ready to go. It is hard to then from thousands of miles away, tell someone who they would never associate with in public, how to win over voters in Janesville, Racine and Elkhorn WI. Bryce's comms director grew up in DC and New York, and now was in charge of communicating with people in Clinton, Mukwonago and East Troy. Which leads to Bryan Steil in Congress and I would guess some very nice holiday bonuses at GSG.
Yet the real resistance in the Dem Party these last few years, have been the Democratic Insiders resisting anything that Progressives no party approve have done. I know as being part of a Progressive blog(there are not many of us left), we get more pushback and resistance from inside our own party than anything the Republicans throw at us.
As I have pointed out on more than one occasion, the GOP has their network of radio, tv and blogs and use them all. At anytime you will heard a perpetual stream of candidates on their shows or giving interviews. Anytime they want to push something or start a message for the echo chamber there they are. No questions asked.
If you want to be a Republican, be a Republican. You are not going to get that from any of the blogs I know or Crute. However we are all progressive, have similar goals and can help push the right message. If your feelings get hurt because we criticize something that we disagree with, then you are in the wrong business. Instead of having the lets work together when we agree attitude, it comes back to The Sneetches. How dare you question us, we have "stars upon thars" and you need to know your place!
When they do take a break from fighting With progressing outlets, it is usually to complain that they do not have enough money or exposure.
Crute spent an extended period explaining this recently on his show. I highly recommend checking it out for an insiders view of what happens within the party.
It is hard to complain about lack of coverage and people not knowing your candidates when you have built in outlets to reach people and you treat them worse than your opponents because they are mad that you do not agree with them 100% of the time.
6, Study successes all over the country (there were some).
In Kansas they beat the Trump candidate easily, and the best advice they gave is "run your campaign" not always chasing and responding to your opponent(which I felt the Evers campaign did a very good job of).
In Texas, Beto O'Rourke unfortunately lost his race, but there are lessons to learn from his enthusiasm and positivity. He also emphasized no corporate PAC money.
In Kentucky, Veteran Amy McGrath had a very high profile in this election thanks to her original campaign video.
Ms. McGrath, was urged by the DCCC to got hard and negative at her opponent and she refused to get slimy. Congrats on her for that, but there is a difference between going slimy and answering BS attacks. Good for Ms. McGrath, we will hear from her again. One thing that I have always found interesting, the reddest states and thee hardest core Republicans who wrap themselves up in the flag and have changed their middle name to "support the troops" are never scared to smear a veteran if it will help them win an election. It was Paul Ryan's SuperPac that did the smearing of Ms. McGrath.
Boy are we quick to anger at Pete Davidson for making a joke about a Veteran but then hold The Donald and Paul Ryan up on pedestal as they attack vet after vet. Party over People.
7. PROMOTE the Hell out of the bottom of the ticket.
Notice that the four candidates that the Democratic Party outright supported won. That is not a coincidence. Check out their generic lit piece and wonder why we only picked up one seat.
If the down ballot member running is an afterthought to The Democratic Party, why wouldn't they be with you? Another example, President Obama came to Milwaukee for a GOTV rally and look who was on the stage.
Know who isn't on stage? Julie Henszy. Who is Julie Henszy you ask(and shouldn't)? She ran for Leah Vukmirs old Senate seat outside of Milwaukee and lost to Drunken Dale Kooyenga by around 2000 votes. A few kind words from Obama, could have gotten more people out to the polls for her and maybe been the last minute adrenaline shot need to push even further across the finish line. We will never know though because the bottom of the ballot is insignificant to party insiders.
For example, while Julie Henszy wasn't on stage, our old friend Tonya Bjork was backstage getting pictures with President Obama and her kid. It is much more important to pat each other on the back, and tell each other how great they are, than it is to win elections. Until that changes we will continue to be in the minority.
The correct response here would have been to have it go as it did and at the end bring up everyone who is on the ballot that could make it there that morning and introduce them and let them get a team picture with president Obama. We ran some great candidates and a team pic with Obama would have shown the Dems to be a much different party than their opponents.
Drive big turnout in the lower ballot races, and that will trickle up. Drive big turnout in the top of the ballot and the Democrats win, and no one else does.
8. Can we finally admit, that many people are left behind in this economy?
I have found, since the Hillary campaign really started this, that too many good liberals want to show everyone how "Woke" they are. It usually starts out with someone saying something that is not politically correct but comes from a good place. Then instead of having a conversation about it, the WOKE superstars start attacking. They save their venom for people that are mostly on the same team because they all their friends to know how inclusive they are and want to be at the forefront of flogging the "bad liberal".
Let's look at it another way. We are all in this together. If you are an African American female, you head out into our current world with alot of strikes against you. If you are a single white mother who is trying to work and raise kids on your own with the rising costs of healthcare etc...you also have strikes against you. Instead of comparing "woes", lets join together and start eliminating those strikes against everyone.
White Privilege is a very real thing, but not everyone who is white has the same amount of privilege in this country. If you are living in a mostly rural, mostly white area and the factory, your family has worked at for generations, just closed down, you do not want to be preached at about white privilege. Sure you can send your son out into the world and be pretty sure he will come back if he gets a speeding ticket, but you also send him out knowing if the car breaks down you do not have the money to fix it.
The white family, that was working at the closing Beechworth Windows in Ladysmith, and the African American family in Grover Heights Milwaukee and the Latino family in Cambria all have more in common than not. Let's focus on our commonalities - healthcare, good education for the kids, a roof over your head, a job that pays a fair wage and where you can be safe at, the ability to buy healthy, fresh food, have transportation and can maybe take a vacation every year or so. These things transcend race and each of the families have too many obstacles, although they may be different, to get their slice of the American Dream pie.
9. Grow with the times.
I admire that so many Democratic candidates worked so hard doing doors upon doors. I question the effectiveness of it though. I would guess that except for maybe some married women whose husband was gone, Robin Vos has not knocked on a door in years, yet he runs the show. I think doors are still important but there has to be more. I do not have the answer but it is out there.
We also need to figure out more ways to reach people in (free) social media platforms.
Stop fighting yard signs. Yard signs do not vote but they are like mini billboards that you can place all over your district,. Which beats actually having to spend limited resources buying billboards. They also help start conversations between neighbors. The conversation between neighbors is what will change the world.
Use the WISDEMS platform to push all candidates not just the top of the ticket.
I am one to criticize the Dem party when they deserve it, so I want to praise them when they also deserve it.
The Dem party, statewide has done a great job standing together, being consistent on their messaging that the Democratic Party is the party that will protect pre-existing condtitions clause of the ACA (Obamacare).
That message has resonated (imagine the effect a consistent message has) and it has caused Scott Walker and the GOP fits.
The WISGOP even had a vote earlier this year where all Republicans voted to remove Pre-existing protections in Wisconsin. The proof is in the pudding!
Walker, if he has one strength, it is that he is politically savvy. The fact that he realized the voters were on to him, so he decided to jump on the ACA bandwagon(while he is still suing to end it).
Which at this point, people saw it as the desperation move it is and were not buying it. Like the boy who cried wolf, the Governor who has attacked anything Obama for 8 years now wants us to believe he supports it. Like any product "As Seen On TV", no one is really buying it.
Hence even more desperation:
Our friends at OneWisconsinNow checked into and had a new Note to Media and Scott Walker: There is something very very new about you talking about pre-existing conditions protections.
In the immortal words of Homer Simpson
Please, whatever you do, whoever you vote for on the rest of the ticket ...we need to get this Governor on the unemployment line and quick!
After all of that, and plenty more, an endorsement from me is far from a surprise. However, this endorsement is different. It is not I endorsing Tony Evers, as much as it is some of the people who know him the best.
Even early on, however, I noticed that not everything was as it should be. At more than one Cabinet meeting, the secretary of the Department of Administration, Mike Huebsch, told us never to send him or the governor any electronic documents of consequence, and to avoid the use of our state-issued cellphones. “If you send me an important report electronically, I won’t open it,” I remember him saying, “and if you call me on your state phone, I won’t answer it.” If we had any important documents, they were to be “walked over” and hand-delivered to the governor’s office. As a result, open-record requests by the media or political opponents would be almost futile. This lack of transparency would be a hallmark of the Walker administration.
Evers may lack polish and seem boring at times. But electing a lifelong educator instead of a professional politician should appeal to many voters tired of the bickering and partisan games at the state Capitol. Change is needed at the top after eight years of Gov. Walker sowing division, undermining good-government protections, and skimping on basic services such as roads while running up debt. The State Journal endorses Evers for governor in the Nov. 6 election.
Even though, some of the most qualified people in his administration endorsing his opponent should be enough, however, as we know there is always more.
As 7 investigates has previously reported documents show one of the governor’s main aides in 2012, Alex Ignatowski, received a letter from Racine County Judge Richard Kruel expressed shock over the treatment of a Racine County juvenile housed at Lincoln Hills, and held onto that document for more than one month.
Judge Kruel’s letter to Gov. Walker was written one year after the governor’s 2011 budget closed most of the state’s youth prisons, causing all of the state’s juvenile offenders to be moved to the Lincoln Hills/Copper Lake Schools in Irma. Opponents of the move have argued this decision led to years of problems inside the youth prisons, including inmate and staff injuries, under Walker’s leadership. Full statement from Gov. Scott Walker to 7 Investigates 7 INVESTIGATES : You have personally said you did not order a cancellation of the independent review into Lincoln Hills? GOV. WALKER: I did not. 7 INVESTIGATES: You did not? And no one on your staff did, as well? GOV. WALKER: To my knowledge, no. 7 INVESTIGATES: Have you Investigated that at all. GOV WALKER: No.
After eight years, we see that Scott Walker has an interest in, and does one thing very very well - Fundraise!
Wisconsin, we deserve more!
Please join me in voting for Tony Evers and Mandela Barnes on Tuesday November 6th.
Time to restore, honesty, character, decency, morality and virtue back to the Governors Mansion!
PS: One last observation. When was the last time you saw Scott Walker and Rebecca Kleefisch working together? Could it be that he does not respect her and she does not fit into his Republican climbing ambitions?
Add one more name to the list of old Scott Walker friends who have come out saying they won't vote for him ever again and neither should you! This time it is Paul Jadin, who resigned a job where he was making $208,000/yr, so he could satisfy his conscience and speak his truth. Jadin, along with former colleagues Ed Wall and Peter Bildstein sent out an open letter today explaining why they are endorsing Tony Evers!
The letter writers say they will not be voting for Walker because of his handling of transportation, education and safety issues as well as "pervasive questionable practices within the administration."
"Governor Walker has consistently eschewed sound management practices in favor of schemes or coverup and has routinely put his future ahead of the state." the letter states. "The result is micromanagement, manipulation and mischief. We have all been witness to more than our share of this."
The letter doesn't list specific examples of "mischief" or "coverup" but said when Walker was traveling the country in 2012 to raise money for his recall election he stopped attending cabinet meetings and delegated responsibilities to his chief of staff.
"When he decided to run for President in 2015 he subordinated Wisconsin interests to those in Iowa and New Hampshire and his policy/budget proposals started to clash with members of his own party who still would have to stand for election in Wisconsin," they wrote.
Jadin, Bildsten and Wall described themselves as having "served our state and local governments in many capacities over our careers and have voted for and supported Republicans." They said the decision to endorse Evers comes with "a great deal of reflection and discernment."
We have seen two different kinds of people emerge in the Republican party. The conservative Republicans (like these letter writers) who have a set of values and want to make society and our state a better place (even if we disagree at times). The second kind of people are the ones who have no room for values because they are loaded with personal ambition and do not care what it takes to get more money and power.
Enough time with group 2 and group 1 was completely fed up and could not stay quiet any longer.
While Scott Walker will go into pure smear mode on anyone who speaks up, let's take a quick look at the realities behind that.
The people speaking truth to power about Walker, like Jadin, a former Mayor of Green Bay, are people who have held major non partisan jobs and will again. While Walker criticizes the job that Jardin has done, remember that Walker himself hired Ryan Murray to run WEDC, despite the fact that he was incredibly incompetent, because he was a donors son.
These brave people are doing Wisconsinites a service, and yelling from the rooftops that Scott Walker is not worthy of running the Great state of Wisconsin.
Before we begin, let us start with the phrase that Scott Walker opened his campaign with.
"we’ve done positive things for the people of WI and we have an optimistic vision for the future."
Captain Positive has an optimistic vision for the future but he can not seem to stop obsessing over porn. Luckily, for Scott Walker, the media continues to obsess over it also and continues pushing the story like there are two sides to it that are open to interpretation.
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IN THE "TEACHER PORN" CASE AT THE HEART OF WISCONSIN'S GUBERNATORIAL ATTACK ADS?
I've had a lot of questions about this and thought I would just make shareable what I know. Happy to answer additional questions and welcome insights from others more familiar with the case.
In 2010 a Middleton teacher was found to have received and shared racy emails at school. These are called "porn" in the ads and in the press and were totally inappropriate (as was his showing them to a female colleague), but I reviewed the files a few years ago when Tony was running for reelection and none of what I saw was what you would call hardcore porn (or what people are probably thinking of when they hear a teacher was watching porn at school). It was a lot of forwarded emails - very inappropriate, sexually explicit and sexist "jokes" and graphics (not funny, dude). The teacher was removed by the board and his union fought the decision; an arbitrator was brought in and sided with the teacher. The district objected to the decision and the case went all the way to the State Supreme Court, which in 2014 refused to take up the district's case, and he kept his job.
MEANWHILE, the district had asked DPI for guidance and was upset that legally there wasn't much DPI/Tony Evers could do. In the year that followed, Tony Evers was instrumental in changing state law so that DPI COULD revoke the license of a teacher in instances involving pornography. By 2011, the law was changed.
BUT in 2014 when the case made headlines again b/c of the Supreme Court case, Walker called on Evers to revoke the license, which of course DPI could not legally do b/c the case occurred before the law had been changed.
So this case has been used by Evers' political opponents in every race against him since 2010, and Politifact keeps calling foul on everyone who tries to use it against him.
In short: the Superintendent of Public Instruction did his job as allowed and required by law, and was succesful in changing that law to allow him to do his job better, and the Governor is grasping for straws and playing to people's emotions and disparaging views of educators with a grossly misleading ad campaign, because when you run against a squeaky-clean opponent, you try to find people near him who look muddy.
We know now, that captain positive, is smearing Tony Evers for something that Tony had nothing to do with, and no power whatsoever to change. Who knew that dishonesty was so positive?
As you know from reading CogDis, there is more, there is always more, and when it involves Scott Walker it is never good.
First, we need to go back to Scott Walker's past where we check in on his right hand man and good friend Tim Russell:
Next of course, is former @wisgop Assembly leader Wild Bill Kramer. If you remember, Kramer was the serial sexual assaulter who every one knew was drunken trouble but no one said anything about it. No one wanted to bring bad news to a Republican take-over of WI and it subjected countless women to not being safe at Republican drunk fests. Senator Ron Johnson knew and did absolutely nothing to protect these women and even one of his staffers. I have added up the number of tweets that Scott Walker sent, outraged over this predator and have come up with none.
Scott Walkers sudden bit of caring for Wisconsin children starts and ends in Middleton. Walker is in charge of the mess at the Lincoln Hill Boys School, and he has authorized thousands of dollars in payments to guards who abused Wisconsin kids. Scott Walker's response:
Gov. Scott Walker said Tuesday he sees "no value" in visiting the Wisconsin prisons that he runs and that cost taxpayers more than $1 billion a year.
Then there is the 2014 State of the State address, where Scott Walker brought a Wisconsin worker out to showcase someone who had turned a seasonal job into a full time welding job.
Christopher Barber was one of several people mentioned by Walker in his remarks as examples of "people hired since I took office" and who represent "the faces of an improving economy."
Christopher Barber is also:
The Journal Sentinel reports: "Records show that he is a registered sex offender with two felonies and three drunken-driving offenses. Because of his checkered past, Barber has been in and out of jail and prison for much of the past decade, with his probation having been revoked at least twice."
Who can ever forget his love of this serial sexual assaulter either:
Now back to the Middleton case. Scott Walker is so upset about the case, and wants to protect the children in our state so badly, that he sent this flyer and blanketed television with a TV ad that included this:
Yes there is Mr. Positive blanketing everywhere with "Blow Job".
So Classy.
But wait there is more. Walker also came up with this commercial where he focuses on middle school girls breasts.
Scott Walker is not fit to be trusted with our state again.
Labor day is typically the home stretch for election season and baseball season. Unfortunately in Wisconsin, we have too much election season and not enough baseball.
While I believe the Milwaukee Brewers will end up in the wild card game, lets focus on the election season and what to expect.
The race between Tony Evers and Scott Walker will steal most of the headlines, with just a few left over for the Tammy V Leah race.
The race that will be the most interesting is the Governors race. I truly believe, at this moment, that this race can go either way.
Let us take a look at what to expect.
* Why Scott Walker can win:
Typically the incumbent always has the best chance to win. Walker is a two term incumbent and a career politician.
While not having many, one of his strengths is to perpetually stay on message and never stray. Walker has the ability to speak and speak without ever saying anything and the incredible ability to say things that are patently false without ever breaking a sweat.
Walker has also learned how to play the media. After 8 years as Governor, he knows that they will print anything he wants them to print, no questions or fact checks asked.
Walker also has a humongous advantage in money. When you add the "Friends of Scott Walker", Club for Growth, Republican Governors Association, WISGOP, and countless other PACS, SuperPACS, out of state billionaires, slimy casino owners, etc... all spending money hand over fist to make sure their employee continues running the state.
The right wing echo chamber. While Chuck Sykes isgone from the radio and an imbecile is running his old website, there is still a right wing echo chamber pushing hate, ignorance and racism that too many people listen to. The Mark Bellings, Vicki Mckennas and Dan O'Donnells of the world are still there whipping up the fear to far too many people.
Finally, apathy. Wisconsin has been stuck in perpetual election season, and now that we are in the final stretch, the negative and disgusting ads will be flying non stop. They are meant strictly to turn people off from voting and getting involved. If they did not work, they would not spend millions running them. Voter apathy has helped many a crappy politician continue in their careers.
* Why Scott Walker can lose:
Scott Walker is a career politician and people are sick of career politicians. So sick of career politicians that they have started electing reality TV "stars".
Walker, has been on the state stage for 8 years (and on the national stage for 8 seconds) and people know him. To know Scott Walker is not to love him. You realize that once you see beyond the incredible ambition that there is no there there. An empty husk that stands only for Scott Walker and what is best for Scott Walker, Wisconsin and its citizens are not even in his radar.
Public employees, and unions. Scott Walker has made a career of making enemies of public employees and union members. Eventually the chickens come home to roost.
He gambled hard on divide and conquer. It worked well, but after 8 years the people of Wisconsin have come to realize that their neighbor the teacher or snow plow driver is on their side and the politicians in WI, especially the Governor are not.
Finally jobs. While Scott Walker runs around touting his amazing unemployment stats, people in WIsconsin are not seeing it. Yes people have jobs, sometimes they have 2-3 jobs at a few hours a week desperately trying to make ends meet., The ones who do have good living wage paying jobs, are both working too many hours and are scared that the next communication from their company is the one that says they are closing the doors.
By the way, Scott Walker still has not created the promised 250,000 jobs in WI.
* Why Tony Evers can win.
This is a public education election, and Tony Evers personifies public education in Wisconsin. There is a reason Scott Walker has tried to rebrand himself as "the education Governor", and has run ad after ad about how much he loves public education.
The people in Wisconsin, much to the WISGOP surprise, have been passing education referendums at an almost 80% clip and now they are understanding what the damage of Scott Walker $1.5 billion cut to education has done to their local school.
Scott Walker, basically enacted Tony Evers education budget, because he was worried that Tony would be his opponent and wanted to neutralize the public education part of the race. He failed.
Secondly, Mandela Barnes. Mandela is an up and coming star in Wisconsin politics and the perfect partner on the Tony Evers ticket. I would highly recommend that Tony come up with some actual responsibilities and make Mandela a true partner, and not the figurehead, money sucking position it is now.
Tony also has a huge advantage in character. Unlike his opponent, Tony is a good man of character, ethics and integrity. Tony is not full of ambition, Tony is not using Wisconsin to run for President, advance his career in the party, or use it to fundraise and increase his bank account.
Tony wants what is best for Wisconsin. period. End of sentence.
What is best for Wisconsin right now is electing Tony Evers Governor.
* Why Tony Evers can lose:
M O N E Y. Money makes the world go round, and it also buys hours of negative nasty ads. Scott Walker has unlimited money, Tony will have a decent amount but nowhere near as much. It is not insurmountable but it will be an obstacle.
The Democratic Party. In a state which leans blue, where Progressives were born, which has a history of being involved in politics, the Democratic party has a history of losing elections.
Now they have done it again. They hired the campaign manager for Russ Feingold's latest loss, to come up with a strategy to win WI. Yes they decided to hire the campaign manager for one of the most popular politicians in Wisconsin history, who led his candidate to a loss to one of the dumbest politicians in Wisconsin history to help Tony Evers win.
While there are no words for the perpetual rewarding of incompetence, it is also not surprising. You see lots of people being hired onto the Evers team, whose experience comes from the Hillary or Burke campaigns. Without relitigating those candidates, their campaigns were run horribly. Why anyone would think this is a good idea, is beyond me but it is.
The media is also an obstacle to overcome. They are used to 8 years of taking dictation for Scott Walker. The night Tony won, Walker put out an ad falsely claiming that Evers should have taken a license from a teacher in Middleton that he had no jurisdiction to take.
The media, instead of asking why his first ad was negative against his opponent when Walker has said he was going to run a positive issues oriented campaign only, treated the story like there were two legit sides to this story. There is not.
Voter apathy. Anger gets people to vote and get involved. Hard core Republicans are always angry. They, with the help of right wing radio and politicians, understand that every thing bad that ever happens to them is the fault of the PC liberals.
They get a sliver, a flat tire, lose their job, run out of gas, burn their toast and it is the liberals fault and they need to get out and vote to make sure they never burn their toast again.
The Democrats on the other hand need a reason to vote. They need to be in love with someone who mostly respects their views to get out and vote for them. The ads Scott Walker will run will mostly be made to keep you from falling in love with Tony Evers so you stay home on election day.
Now my advice, on how we win in November.
Decide today that you like Tony Evers, he is not perfect and there will be things that he has done and will say(we will really consider tolls?) but understand that no matter what he does or says, he is better than Scott Walker on his worst day. |
Secondly, ignore the party. They will do and say things that are head scratchers because too many in power care about staying in power, and not winning elections. We care about winning elections, so ignore the stupid things the party does and will do and work to get Tony/Mandela elected the best way you know how. Talk to your friends and family about how important it is to vote and especially how important it is to elect Tony.
Finally, and this is the most important way to change our state, if you are going to work for, or donate to a candidate, pick your local (or a local) race for state Assembly or Senate.
If you have a race in your district for either Assembly or Senate(or both), understand that it IS a competitive race.
Your candidate can win. Period.
There will be many people who think they are experts, who will tell anyone who listens, that only certain seats are winnable. That is not true. We will not win them all but we absolutely can win some of the "unwinnable" seats.
The best way to win statewide, is to win district wide. If we can steal some seats we are not supposed to with local candidates that no one expects, not only will Madison be more representative of the people, but the increased Democratic turnout in these districts are what will push the upper part of the ballot over the edge.
Like an economy, we will win these races from the ground up not the top down.
We will be addressing some of the down ballot races between now and the election here at CogDis.
Stay Tuned but for now, lets be prepared to talk to our neighbors like our kids futures depend on it!
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