Speaking the truth is frowned upon lest it sap voter enthusiasm, but being on the ground here in WI, and having a feeling of disgust as this race seems to be slipping away, I'll give it to you straight.
Everything was going fantastically well up to turning in the recall petitions. It was a good year of organized efforts and the movement was focused and strong on getting Wanker recalled. You have to remember, there have only been a couple governors put up for recall in the entire country- EVER. The effort had to be focused just on obtaining the required signatures, nearly one million. The effort was successful and should be applauded.
But here is where things went off track. The spark that lit this energetic movement was Wankers attack on working families, stripping them of their right to collectively bargain. After the petitions were turned in, which was the main focus up to that point, TPTB huddled up to decide what the next step would be and to devise as strategy for the recall election campaign. As is SOP these days, polls were conducted to gauge voters stances on issues. The very sad fact is Wankers union bashing is not much frowned upon by many a Wisconsinite.
This upsets me greatly considering WI's rich progressive heritage. Home of visionary leaders- Fighting Bob LaFollette, Aldo Leopold, Russ Feingold, and more.
But, TPTB decided they were not going to focus on the stripping of collective bargaining rights because the polls showed it was not a winning issue. Very sad. As could be expected, workers who were the soul of this uprising became somewhat disillusioned, as our main cause has been thrown under the bus.
With that spark that ignited our outrage extinguished, the primary became a blurry mess. What would the campaign issues be, if not C.B.? Our unions at first said screw the polls and attempted to remain focused on C.B. They backed a pretty good candidate in Falk who very strongly stated she would re-implement our stripped rights.
Then, as days passed, and more polls were released, more focus was given to them. Falk didn't poll as well as Tom Barrett. So, support drifted to Barrett, despite the fact he's hardly a friend of workers.
What has gone on here in WI will and should be studied. I think when it all boils down, putting too much weight in polls to decide who our candidate is sapped the energy out of the movement. We should have stuck to the main issue, and put up a candidate that stood strong on that issue and would proudly run on it.
Might not be popular to say, but there you have it folks.
= new reply since forum marked as read
