Democrats, losing ground in Wisconsin, play down recall election

[villager]

WASHINGTON — Recent polls have pointed toward a victory for Republican Gov. Scott Walker in Wisconsin’s June 5 recall election. But here’s the clearest evidence to date that national Democratic party officials believe their side is losing: Democratic officials are playing down the potential impact.

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) insisted in a television interview that a loss for the Democratic candidate in the recall, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, wouldn't have any implications for other races, such as the presidential election.

“I think, honestly, there aren’t going to be any repercussions,” Wasserman Schultz said on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” program. “It’s an election that’s based in Wisconsin.”

Public employee unions and liberal activist groups have spearheaded the effort to recall Walker, who became a hero to conservatives last year when he pushed a bill through the state Legislature that ended most collective bargaining rights for state workers. Although Walker’s opponents gathered more than 900,000 signatures on recall petitions earlier this year – in a state where Walker was elected governor with just over 1.2 million votes – polls have indicated that the effort to end his tenure early will probably fall short.

Some Republican strategists believe a successful defense of Walker will put them in good position to contest the state in November. President Obama carried Wisconsin by a wide margin in 2008, but the state was among the closest in the nation four years earlier.

<snip>

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-democrats-play-down-wisconsin-recall-election-20120526,0,2760222.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed

[southernyankeebelle]

1. If the dems loose I will blame Obama and the DNC.

[SunsetDreams]

3. Why?

Scott Walker Recall: DNC Appeals To 'Millions' To Raise Money For Tom Barrett

The Democratic National Committee is fundraising directly for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin in an effort to aid Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D) in the upcoming gubernatorial election against Gov. Scott Walker (R).

President Barack Obama's campaign has also jumped in, organizing phone banks and canvassing operations to get out the vote for the June 5 election.

“The DNC is fully committed to helping Mayor Barrett win next month’s recall election in Wisconsin,” said Melanie Roussell, DNC Spokeswoman. “DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has spoken to Mayor Barrett and has pledged the DNC’s support for his successful election next month. She will host a fundraiser for Mayor Barrett, and the DNC will utilize both its substantial network of activists, volunteers and supporters and extensive online resources to assist in building the ground game that will win on Election Day.”

[SomethingFishy]

24. ROFLMFAO. yeah they were SHAMED into it..

By petitions and loud Democrats.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/05/15/1092016/-SignOn-Petition-to-DNC-Help-Wisconsin-with-the-Walker-Recall-
http://markcrispinmiller.com/2012/05/dnc-wont-help-recall-scott-walker/
http://www.thomhartmann.com/forum/2012/05/tell-dnc-contribute-campaign-recall-scott-walker-wisconsin

DWS needs to pull her head out of her ass.

[BlueCaliDem]

4. That's shortsighted. This is a grassroots operation

and it's up to labor and the people of Wisconsin to either get rid of this corporate lackey and put in a man who wants the state to return to sanity, or not. They have to decide if their vote can be bought with cheap ads or if their security as a right to work and pocket book is more important.

Meg Whitman outspent Jerry Brown by tens of millions in California in 2010, but we didn't buy her bs and he won by huge margins, as did Barbara Boxer - although the polls showed them neck-at-neck with Whitman and Fiorina.

By the way, President Obama campaigned heavily in Wisconsin in 2010 and it didn't help Barrett, remember?

[southernyankeebelle]

8. They could of sent Joe Biden. There still is time. I thought Wassman-Schultz was

going to be a good DNC chair but she turned out to be losy.

[Herlong]

26. Linda Chavez-Thompson

Vice chair of the Democratic National Committee

Google her credentials and tell me why she was not used.

Joe Biden no, but why not her?

[southernyankeebelle]

30. Gee I never heard of her. They should of sent more fire power.

[Happydayz]

7. Why?

Obama's name isn't on the ballot there.

[southernyankeebelle]

14. Dems need to start talking to these Reagan dems like they are 10 graders so they

understand what our party can do for them.

[still_one]

21. Labor is where they are today because those "reagan" dems votes for reagan /nt

[scribble]

28. Right ..

and we need to define the term "reagan democrat. "


We need to get specific: Who, precisely, are these "reagan democrats?" What specific issues do they care about? Who do they listen to, in their own lives? Why do they vote against the Democratic Party candidates presented to them?

... and we need to discover the list of words that cause them to listen to information about a social issue and then react favorably to what they have just heard. We need to use those same words when we talk to them. We aren't doing that today.

And in most Northern States, we need to reform our State Democratic Party organizations. Moderate or Progressive, too many of them are out-of-touch with their own voters, including those "reagan democrats."


sc

[AtomicKitten]

19. Of course you will. Some here have spent a lot of time setting up the "fall guy."

Last edited Sun May 27, 2012, 02:19 PM - Edit history (1)

But if truth be told (and it often is obscured here purposely), the 39% of union households that plan to vote for Walker seem to be the largest obstacle in this attempted recall.

[scribble]

29. Damned true ...

.... But I'll bet many of them are police officers. Police Departments are quasi-military organizations that enforce rigid conformance, and attract personalities who are comfortable in a working environment like that. Progressives probably need to professionalize and reform most departments, before their members will see the political light-of-day and then incidentally start voting for Democratic candidates.

In general, I have been dismayed at how out-of-touch most Wisconsin Union officials are with their own memberships. When the protest effort started in February 2011, it didn't begin to see Union officials speaking up in support for more than six weeks. Disgraceful.


sc

[still_one]

20. I will blame the people of Wisconsin, in fact I blame the financial collapse, the wars we are in,

and the slow destruction of our civil rights, social security and medicare, on the stupidity of the American people

That they have such short memories what george w bush and his cronies did, and they potentially will still continue to vote for the same policies says volumes about the humanity of the country

[Larkspur]

2. Wasserman Schultz is not a Progressive. She's a centrist at best.

And I think she's an idiot for thinking that a Walker victory won't give the Repukes bragging rights that Citizen United works.

I sure do miss Howard Dean as chair of the DNC.

[southernyankeebelle]

9. For her to say it won't make a difference is a lie. She knows better. I swear the

where the hell is the old Johnson dems who used to stand up to these people.

[spanone]

10. Wisconsin recall's a 'test run,' DNC chair says

don't buy into the b.s.




Washington (CNN) – Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Sunday classified Democratic efforts in the Wisconsin recall election as a “test run” for the presidential race.

“It’s given the Obama for America operation an opportunity to do the dry run we need of our massive, significant dynamic grassroots presidential campaign,” the Florida representative said of the battleground state on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Wasserman Schultz, who is scheduled to campaign with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett on Tuesday, said he has a “real opportunity” to oust incumbent Republican Gov. Scott Walker in the June 5 election. But she was quick to add it will also test the Obama re-election campaign and the grassroots operation in the state.

Recent polling shows Walker with an edge over his Democratic rival heading into the recall election, the culmination of a two-year fight following the passage of a law that moved to curtail the collective bargaining rights of most Wisconsin state employees.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/27/wisconsin-recalls-a-test-run-dnc-chair-says/

[BlueCaliDem]

16. Thank you for posting this! I was beginning to lose hope for our party

but thank god for you!

[SpartanDem]

13. What hell is she supposed to say

if Walker wins that Obama is doomed?

[BlueCaliDem]

15. I wouldn't be surprised she had something to do with Booker

being booked for MTP to play a surrogate for Obama where he basically attacked the president. Not all Democrats are really Democrats.

Although Wasserman-Schultz talks a good Democratic talk, she is more of a Republican in deed. For example, Democratic Florida State Rep. Luis Garcia dropped out of a race to challenge Republican congressman David Rivera amid accusations that DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz “betrayed” him.

April 5, 2012 2:29 pm

State Rep. Luis Garcia, who had struggled to raise money and accused top Democratic leaders of double-crossing him, left the congressional race for a Miami-Dade County commission bid at the urging of a top financier.

Garcia said he’s planning to leave the Democratic Party following a dispute with Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Steve Israel, who both recruited former Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas to jump into the race. Wasserman Schultz, a Weston congresswoman, disputed Garcia’s suggestion that she was rude or mean to him. She added that she didn’t betray him.

Meanwhile, Penelas hasn’t jumped at the chance to get back into politics. There are no other big names weighing a bid, putting Democratic leaders in a bind.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/03/2729999/garcia-quits-congressional-race.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/03/2729999/garcia-quits-congressional-race.html#disqus_thread

[tularetom]

5. I'm sure Debbie W-S is a fine person and a capable representative for her district

But as a DNC chair, she stinks. No implications beyond Wisconsin? My ass. Does she not realize how much Democrats all over the country have been watching what has been going on there for the past year? The uprising that began in early 2011 inspired labor and other real Dems in other states to take action and led to some real accomplishments such as in Ohio. It could also be credited with providing the push that ultimately led to the Occupy movement.

To downplay this recall election as some little local controversy with no national consequences tells me that W-S is badly out of touch with the party that she purports to lead. If Walker survives this recall attempt, and Wisconsin progressives realize the lack of support for their efforts from their national party there will be hell to pay.

I can understand Obama's reluctance to involve himself in this election. He has his own problems and he needs to concentrate on his own re election. But the DNC has a real obligation to provide support for its state organizations and it has dropped the ball badly in Wisconsin.

I think it's time for Wasserman Schultz to find another job. Maybe she and Rancid Penis could partner up and give seminars on how not to be a party chairman.

[EFerrari]

6. Maybe I'm just paranoid but I hope WI isn't being set up as a pretext for chicanery

the way FL was in 2000 and OH was in 2004.

[AverageJoe90]

11. I wouldn't be surprised if Walker's handlers DID steal the WI election.

[SpartanDem]

17. You expect her to say this publicly?

To downplay this recall election as some little local controversy with no national consequences tells me that W-S is badly out of touch with the party that she purports to lead. If Walker survives this recall attempt, and Wisconsin progressives realize the lack of support for their efforts from their national party there will be hell to pay.

I'm sure W-S understands that there are national implications for the election. I swear for a board that is supposed to be full of politically knowledgeable people, the expectation that the DNC chair should publicly be running around with her hair on fire at the prospect of us losing this election is mind boggling.

[tularetom]

22. I'm not clairvoyant

I don't know what she's thinking, I can only judge her by her public comments.

And one of hats she wears is to be sort of a cheerleader for her party's candidates at all levels not just in national elections. Howard Dean understood this but I'm not sure any DNC chair since him did. And W-S's most recent statements sound almost defeatist, like she has already written off Wisconsin.

I'm surprised that somebody with a UAW avatar isn't more pissed off at the lack of national party involvement in this election. It has major implications for labor. W-S and Obama may not think it matters but I guarantee you that the Koch brothers do.

[Herlong]

23. Agreed

n/t

[Fire Walk With Me]

12. At least the people of Wisconsin have completely proven themselves both patriots

and willing to participate in Democracy...they can turn that power to self-representation and horizontal democracy if "leaders" won't help. All power to all people!

[Poiuyt]

18. Walker said essentially the same thing a couple of weeks ago.

I forget exactly what he said, but it sounded like he was trying to soften the blow too.

[book_worm]

25. thanks for posting another MSN piece that is supposed to disspirit democrats!!

We have tremendous grass roots/ door to door GOTV effort and Barrett creamed Walker in their first debate. The party which gets their voters to the polls will win.

[Herlong]

27. With you and all of of Wisconsin!

Let's win this thing!