There’s a judicial election in Wisconsin tomorrow. A few months ago, Republican incumbent David Prosser was expected to cruise to re-election in a sleepy election, but things done changed:
Little noticed most years, the election of a Wisconsin state Supreme Court judge has become a proxy fight over collective bargaining restrictions approved last month.
[…..]Turnout could reach 35 percent this year in a state where 20 percent turnout is typical for a spring election, Lee said.
A few months ago, I would have said that ads like this were over-the-top and unfair.
Now, my attitude towards every Republican who loses in Wisconsin, now matter how nasty the political tactics, is fuck ’em, they set off the alarm, they deserved what they got.
lllphd
this one’s got me on pins and needles, i swear.
does anyone have any recent polling numbers on this? or do the confident dem claims of monstrous recall response count?
i had a sleepy dream this morning that prosser was already looking for work – as counsel for koch industries.
hope springs eternal….
cathyx
If this is even a close election, then Wisconsin deserves everything that is happening to them.
Cris
Here’s your chance, Democrats. Are you gonna bark all day, little doggies, or are you gonna bite?
kdaug
Don’t much care for the “Nuke ’em from orbit” politics either, but they’ve overplayed their hand.
Comrade DougJ
@Cris:
Exactly, may use that in a post later too.
kdaug
@Cris: Still got both ears.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
Fixed.
Why only WI Repups? This is a pass/fail game anymore. That’s the way the other guys have been playing for nigh on 30 years now, well, okay the last 11. We’re still too nice. This isn’t about being nice.
aimai
My fingers are so crossed I can hardly type. This is really a bellwether election–if the dems can’t turn out enough untraditional, special election, voters for this with all the rage in Wisconsin then we are doomed. If they can take this supreme court seat away from the Republicans than that’s a very good sign for the next two years and specifically for the recall elections in WI. I can’t take the tension.
aimai
jwest
I shall inform the forces of the right that Comrade DougJ has called for cessation of niceness in electioneering, and that all is now fair game.
4jkb4ia
I think SSP said this first. But that is a fair attack. He sits with that woman on the Supreme Court. Judicial temperament severely in doubt.
Arclite
Dems have been disproportionately on the receiving end of negative ads for decades. All I gotta say is,
PAYBACK'S A BITCH!
kideni
I don’t know if there’s been any official polling, but there was word a few days ago (from internal polling maybe?) that Prosser and Kloppenburg were neck and neck, which had the Republicans worried. It’s really difficult to beat an incumbent judge, and he pulled 55% at the primary in a field of 4 or 5, so it’s pretty big that she’s even close. I have my fingers crossed that the fact that we’ll probably have good turnout in Milwaukee County (which will be filling Walker’s county exec spot) and Dane County (where Madison is located and which will also be voting for county exec and for mayor). The Dane County election clerks have said that early voting has been unusually heavy for a spring election. TV ads have been really heavy the last week or so, and Prosser’s allies have been throwing everything they can at Kloppenburg; I have no idea how those ads go over with people outside Madison. Three years ago the conservative and his proxies were running incredibly slimy ads against the liberal incumbent, and they managed to win, but those ads seemed to be running for weeks and weeks before the election. My hope is that they haven’t had enough time to make anything stick against Kloppenburg, and in the meantime just about all the press outside of right-wing radio has been about Prosser showing what a partisan, intemperate asshole he is. I have my hopes that we’ll prevail, but I’m nervous because this is a tough thing to pull off.
Catsy
I’ve never even set foot in the state of WI, and I can tell you that WI Republicans are in for a drubbing over the next few years–and that includes Prosser. Governor Wanker has managed to single-handedly enrage not only every major Democratic voting bloc, but several of his own as well. And we’re not talking about the kind of rage that gets vented to little or no effect on blogs–we’re talking about the kind of rage that creates action.
The reps in blue districts are going down to recall, one after the other. Turnout at this point is a function of enthusiasm, and WI dems are fired up and looking for scalps. Prosser is in real trouble, and Palin’s endorsement is a net negative that adds to his growing list of problems.
The GOP reps in the more purple and red districts are an open question, but I would not be surprised to see a bloodbath there. As for Walker: he’s got most of a year left in office before he can be recalled, but after that, he’ll be lucky if he isn’t ridden out of town on a rail. Tarring and feathering may not be out of the realm of possibility if he keeps flouting the law and giving the finger to more than half the state.
lllphd
@cathyx:
ooh, cathy, that’s pretty harsh. i mean, i’m with you against prosser, but you have to consider he’s the incumbent and kloppenberg (besides having a devilish name) was a nobody till walker inadvertently elevated this election to its pivotal position.
the dems in that state have their hands full, honestly, what with all the protests and recalls and so one. tomorrow is pretty much a standalone election, so the expected 35% turnout over the normal 20% is in itself impressive. and frankly favors prosser’s defeat.
but if it doesn’t work out that way (remember, koch is involved), i don’t think it’s quite fair to blame the citizenry.
Carnacki
@kideni: Sadly, to the tea baggers, him calling her a “bitch” is a good thing and it wouldn’t surprise me if he fund raises off this. That said, it’s long past time we hit back with how the Rs think and act in our ads because too many low information voters just pay attention to the commercials and think their votes for Rs save Medicare and Baby Jesus.
Comrade DougJ
@jwest:
Ha!
Only in these Wisconsin elections, though, I don’t like this kind of thing in general.
lllphd
@cathyx:
um, also (and better), what kideni said at #12.
cathyx
@lllphd: Pretty harsh? What will it take then to wake people up to reality? What more would have to happen to the middle class of Wisconsin before they realize that the government is actively working against them?
comrade scott's agenda of rage
Fixed.
A lot of Dems who control government might not work *for* you but they sure as hell don’t usually work against you…particularly at this level of working against you.
priscianus jr
This just in. Prosser’s own campaign manager has quit and thrown his support to Kloppenberg; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel strongly criticizes Prosser and supports Kloppenberg.
http://host.madison.com/news/opinion/editorial/article_f4c82cde-3038-58e4-a178-872ca3c50f09.html
markg
While nominally a non-partisan race, no one is even bothering to pretend that this is anything other than an up or down vote on the republican agenda in Wisconsin. If Prosser wins the far right will retain control of the supreme court, but the defeat will be far more crushing than that, given the enthusiasm and effort poured into the Kloppenburg campaign.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
Fixed.
A lot of Dems who control government might not work *for* you but they sure as hell don’t usually work against you…particularly at this level of working against you.
James E Powell
@lllphd:
I have to agree with cathyx. If every Democrat and Democratic-leaning independent does not understand how important it is to dump Prosser, then I do not know what will wake them up.
If Prosser gets dumped, it amps up the pressure on Republicans facing recall elections to separate themselves from Walker.
lllphd
@cathyx:
um, not to pick a fight or anything, but from where i sit? “reality” is a much wider street than “my way or the highway.”
now, i suspect that you and i agree on probably every single policy issue that might come down the pike, but all i’m saying is, again what kideni said at 12. s/he apparently is actually, you know, there, which counts for a lot, in my book.
ultimately it buys us NOTHING to get so frustrated with the lame responses – or lack thereof – that lead us to come off as condescending, alienating these folks who most often just don’t know any better.
i know, sad and pitiful a statement as that is, i fear it’s truly true. so, it calls for compassion, not frustration. just smile, tuck a joke behind your ear for your next encounter with a cortex, and challenge yourself to the foreboding prospect of finding the way to connect.
i swear, when you look at these folks and realize that ultimately they want basically (not in every detail, but basically) the same things we do – a fair shake, honest players, opportunity to work without endangering ourselves, education for our kids, care when we need it (like as we and our parents age, when our kids are sick, etc.) – these are the ways to get to these folks.
the republicans have been leading them around by the snake brain, but they’re ending up at the slaughter house instead of at home where they’d hoped. honestly, we really have to shift our own mind sets to stop alienating that republican base that they rely on so heavily. when we can do that, we can begin to convince them they’ve been had.
at that point, they’ll start abandoning the GOP in droves. it’s already happening. just please don’t put the brakes on it by thinking of them as stupid.
sorry if this is preachy, but it’s been a huge challenge for me, and i’m now convinced it’s our best shot at really winning. not just elections, but the circumstances.
Punchy
Unfuckinreal for a state that’s had this much bullshit, that this number isn’t approaching 80% or so.
priscianus jr
Our Republic friends are not brimming with confidence …
http://minx.cc/?post=314215
cathyx
@lllphd: I’m also not trying to pick a fight either. But I have to say that you sound like the typical dem that makes excuses for everyone and everything as to why dems can’t or won’t win. Let’s wring our hands and exclaim that we need to be compassionate and not alienating so that those who are too ignorant to know what’s best for them when they vote for more republicans to screw them at every turn, might eventually see the light.
Mary
I’m having a hard time understanding this mindset. I don’t care how civil the political discourse might be before hand, the second a sitting justice publicly refers to his colleague as a fucking bitch that he wants to destroy those comments become fair game. I honestly cannot imagine a universe in which this ad is not 100% appropriate.
jwest
Comrade DougJ,
Alas, if we knuckle-draggers had only learned the nuanced art of proportional response, we could limit the actions to Wisconsin. However, once the campaign missiles have left the silos there is no way to recall them.
I’m afraid the Death Star is quite operational.
Mssrs. Koch salute your boldness.
lllphd
@James E Powell:
except we have no way of knowing how many of those folks – even the ones who were following the protests, etc. – even know about this election. not that many people in the world keep up with such details, as they have their hands full with just getting through each day.
i just posted a humdinger preachyasallhell thing that lays out my feelings on this point. and i have to add to that you’ll not find a more snooty, geeky, smarterthanthou, eye-rolling, deep-sighing, soul-suffering, bleeding heart libruhl than yours truly. but, when i see that person in the mirror, i not only do not like her very much, i fully recognize what it is about that kind of persona the GOP luntz machinery has taken to the polls.
bottom line: nobody likes to be humiliated. it’s worse than physical torture, by the data. and like i say above, i’m in this to win, not just elections, but the circumstances. to do that, we really do have to get off our high horses and quit demanding every schlub out there be as erudite and uptospeed as we are. it is incumbent upon us to take it down a notch and try to think of their situations on their terms. it’s the only way we’ll ever be able to figure out the language they’re inclined to hear. and by that, i also mean respecting the likelihood that most of them are as sick as the rest of us at all the inflammatory vitriole.
not saying that’s where cathy came from on this, but expecting your regular citizen out there – at this point in time – to actually perform at the polls the way YOU want them to? this is not the mind set that will win the circumstances or elections.
because, ultimately, we really do have to figure out how to communicate with each other.
ok, i’m honestly done with this; disagree all you want, but i’m up to my own eyeballs with preachy for the week. work to do.
Elia Isquire
I love how bare-knuckled and ruthless the ads on this race that I’ve seen so far have been. As long as you’re using facts, then fuggin’ go for it.
jibeaux
Look, if I say “she is definitely not a bitch, she is a nice lady” and you make a campaign ad that flashes on the screen
jibeaux said “she is definitely….a bitch”
that is unfair campaigning.
If I say “she is a total bitch” and you make an ad that flashes on the screen
jibeaux said “she is a total bitch”
those are just goddam facts as far as I’m concerned.
Also too, half of Ace of Spades’ comments are spam, a number of them in Arabic, which just cracks me up for some reason.
Paul W.
Wow… that was just great! And I like that it happens to be true was well (the “destroy” part seems to be pretty typical rightwing blow-hardedness tho, and he likely won’t apologize for that).
jibeaux
Also in that article, discussion of how in 163 years, there have been four previous recall elections, and there have never been multiple simultaneous recall attempts. Conservative activist quoted in that article also noted that of the six Republicans likely to face recall, the Democrats have a good chance of knocking out two.
Judicial race is for a ten-year hitch.
I would so, so love to read a good solid gnashing of teeth and self-flagellation about the Dangers of Overreach from Republicans in the future.
jwest
Ouch! This is going to leave a mark.
http://www.620wtmj.com/shows/charliesykes/119063244.html?blog=y
cathyx
@jwest: That ad must be one of those “I guess you had to be there” ads in order to understand it. I didn’t get it.
geg6
@jwest:
Seriously? This is the best Prosser can manage at this late date?
This won’t even leave a sting, IMHO.
Ash Can
@cathyx: This is something I saw discussed here a week or two ago. I think jwest is just trying to look with-it.
JohnR
Oh, my – once again the Democrats show their hateful, angry side! Why can’t they be more like those nice, polite young men on the Republican side?
Anyway, a couple predictions:
1. Prosser will win. I believe this because we haven’t heard any preemptive accusations of vote-rigging, which tells me that (a) the GOP is absolutely confident, and (b) they don’t want to get the idea of “vote-rigging” out there too soon. Have there even been any “voter-fraud” ads by the GOP yet?
2. Even if he loses, there will be no change; Walker and his merry men have gone too far to tamely back down at this late date. Any so-called “legal ruling” that is not in their favor will be clearly a politically motivated case of judicial activism and therefore not binding. Even assuming they don’t just sneer at the judges, they’ll have the best lawyers money can rent to tie anything up long enough to make it a moot point (ie until the next news cycle starts).
SteveinSC
@cathyx: Well, the ad didn’t make much sense to me either except that, let’s see, some priest molested some kids (no news there) and someone is using abusive priests in an ad so that means that that someone is sort of using someone else’s painful experience without release of nonexistent copyright.
Spaghetti Lee
@JohnR:
Walker and his merry men have gone too far to tamely back down at this late date.
But, uh, he did back down in the face of Judge Sumi’s injunction. Sure, it took him a few times, but he is kinda slow.
I think it would work against us to paint this guy as some sort of all-powerful dictator who can crush the opposition at will. He’s a dope and a stooge who stumbled into a job he doesn’t deserve, and who will be removed from said job in 9 months.
rikryah
have no problems with this ad…at all
danimal
@priscianus jr: Great link. I love the pre-emptive “SEIU and the union thugs are stealing another election” without ANY supporting statements.
To them, if a liberal wins an election, it is, ipso facto, a stolen election.
jwest
CathyX,
Political Ads 101:
No one is supposed to know or understand the details or even the basics of political ads like this. All it is suppose to convey is that a man is admitting to being abused as a child… and Kloppenburg held him down while it happened.
It doesn’t matter that the ad doesn’t specifically say it, the message is there.
Plus, no one votes for someone named Kloppenburg, regardless of party.
cathyx
@jwest: Without knowing how Kloppenburg hindered the victim, the ad isn’t making it’s point very well.
shortstop
I really, really want to see this guy get his, and not even primarily because of the “bitch” comments. They go several dozen degrees beyond outrageous, but they’ve been sucking all the air out of even more reasons why this man’s butt should never again touch a bench.
shortstop
@jwest:
You’ve never been to Wisconsin, have you?
jwest
CathyX,
Did you notice how sad the man looked? He mentioned something about Kloppenburg “victimizing him”.
Done deal. The bitchy woman with the weird name did terrible things to this poor guy when he was a kid.
Image plus tone equals message. You do realize how few of us actually pay attention to this shit, don’t you?
NonyNony
@jwest:
The fuck? What does this even mean?
jwest
Nony Nony,
With few exceptions, no one votes for people who are fat and ugly either.
Hey, I didn’t set the rules.
Bobby Thomson
I can’t believe you ever would have considered this ad over the top.
It’s factual. Might not persuade everyone, but it’s certainly not over the top.
Judas Escargot
@aimai:
Please folks, don’t invest too much emotionally in this election. This place has gotten depressing enough (not that I’ve helped).
The Meanie-Pants wing of the GOP is also energized (probably the most they’ve been since the B&W dogs-and-firehose days of the early 1960s). And since so many of the folks on the “bottom” apparently can’t be bothered to vote, no matter how bad it gets… I personally don’t expect much.
IMO, Tomorrow will be more useful as a preview for whatever voter-suppression techniques the GOP plans to roll out for 2012.
cathyx
@jwest:
That’s my point. How could she have done anything to him when he was a kid? It doesn’t make enough sense to be effective.
Catsy
@NonyNony:
It means you can safely add jwest to your pie filter of choice and not miss anything worth reading, unless you enjoy the sense of schadenfreude that comes from watching people demonstrate the Dunning-Kruger effect through performance art.
Omnes Omnibus
Voted early earlier today. Have been burning up the phone lines reminding people to I know to vote. Saw a pile of campaigners standing just outside the campaign restriction zone at Madison’s city hall, all pro-union and pro-Kloppenburg.
jwest
CathyX,
“It doesn’t make enough sense to be effective.”
That’s because you’re overthinking the ad, listening to the words and actually trying to figure out what is being said.
Less than 12% of the people who see that ad will take it to the extremes you are doing.
The vast majority will see the image – the sad man, they will listen to the tone – something bad happened, then they will associate with the name – Kloppenburg. Bad impression made, message delivered.
asiangrrlMN
@jibeaux: I’m with you. That’s what the man said. Why is it ‘too out there’ to call him on it? It’s not.
@cathyx: I’m right there with you now. A portion of union members voted Republican because they (the union members) are social conservatives. They thought they were safe because…um, I don’t even know why given the Republicans blatant desire to destroy the poor and the middle class (in other words, the not-wealthy). Anyone who votes for a Republican these days deserves whatever he/she gets. My only dilemma with that is that other people don’t deserve it.
@lllphd: I disagree with you. Many of the people there DON’T want the same thing–thus, the voting for Republicans. Many of them are anti-choice and anti-gay-marriage and apparently, these are important enough for them to want to cut off their nose to spite their faces. If they continue to vote for the Republicans, even after all that has happened, then they deserve to get their monies taken from them, and I don’t want to hear about it.
Again, the people who do not vote for Prosser and his ilk DO NOT deserve to eat caca like this, but those who continue to vote for him and Walker and the rest of that shiitake crew get no sympathy from me. They knew exactly for what and whom they were voting. Elections do, indeed, have consequences.
ETA: I would have felt the same way if Emmer had been elected governor here. People crying afterwards would get NO sympathy from me if they voted for him or if they voted third party as Dems to ‘make a point’.
Omnes Omnibus: Good for you. Please keep us updated. Thanks.
shortstop
@Judas Escargot: Sadly, I agree. And the fact that this is only a judicial election will, I suspect, have a further dampening effect on those who can’t even be bothered to vote in more high-profile elections.
I would be delighted to be totally wrong about this, obviously.
James E Powell
@lllphd:
I don’t think my mind set is the one that need changing. If those folks are just decent people who want decent things, then they are going to have to stop voting for Republicans.
The part of the electorate that votes Republican out of ignorance, bigotry, or tribal fears and the part of the electorate that doesn’t vote at all each need to be hosed down with ice water. The constant reassurance of their dainty feelings about themselves and their role in a democracy, the notion that everything is all right with them, that they don’t have to change. All this has to end or they are going to keep on doing what they’ve been doing.
And are you suggesting that they elected right-wing Republicans because I alienated them? Are you saying that Scott Walker’s Koch-financed programs are the result of something I did? That’s just crazy. Those folks voted the way they did for their own reasons. Don’t put that on me or anyone else who either did or would have urged them to vote otherwise.
In my view, so you know where I’m coming from, is that policy aims of the Republicans have been very apparent for a long time. Ignoring them and voting for them otherwise is willful ignorance.
Joel
The first skirmish sounds about right. I’d put money on Prosser winning this one, but that doesn’t mean the Democrats won’t be able to make major gains in the state next year.
Ash Can
@cathyx: I guess it makes sense if you’re brain-dead.
Says a lot about the types jwest hangs with, doesn’t it?
JustMe
bottom line: nobody likes to be humiliated.
That’s true. So if you want them to pipe down and stop pulling this crap, you have to humiliate them.
Legalize
@James E Powell:
Your comment reminds me of the bit in Pulp Fiction when Harvey Keitel hoses down Sam Jackson and Travolta with cold water to get the blood and guts out of their hair. Keitel says, “better you than me, gentlemen.” This might be what the American electorate needs.
Omnes Omnibus
@shortstop: That fact that this is only a judicial election helps the motivated voters. Madison has County Exec and Mayoral votes as well. County Exec is between a solid liberal and a teabagger. The mayoral election is between two left of center candidates, the current mayor (Mayor Dave) and a multiple term former mayor named Soglin. In Dane County, this election is almost perfect to bring out the left and discourage the right IMO.
cathyx
@Ash Can: Or it says a lot about the people of Wisconsin. But I don’t think most people see it JWests way. I’m betting it doesn’t make sense to most people. Who knows, JWest probably produced it and that’s why he’s defending it so much.
shortstop
@Omnes Omnibus: I get that it helps the motivated voters, but are most of the people who could vote Democratic in that category? A lot of the people with the most to lose typically do not come out for judicial-only elections, no?
Then again, Madison is full of very high-information and high-commitment people. I’d be thrilled to be worrying over nothing and I defer to you locals.
asiangrrlMN
@James E Powell: Or, what you said. This is pretty much what I was trying to say. I should have waited ten minutes until after you posted.
AAA Bonds
That is a totally legit tactic. He called an old lady a bitch in earshot of the press. There’s no reason not to use that against him. He fucked up.
AAA Bonds
He called an old lady a bitch in earshot of the press and then ran for office. It’s totally legit to use that against him.
I mean, come on, people, this isn’t Nuke ‘Em From Orbit, this is barely getting your hands soiled. This is not some pointless crap about his kid’s ex-wife’s dog, or his maid, even. He said it, out loud, and someone wrote it down.
piratedan
@jwest: and yet, your empire was defeated by sentient Teddy Bears, you did read the script all the way to the end, right?
Cerberus
@jwest:
I know, I know, feeding the troll and all that, but I felt this line:
“I shall inform the forces of the right that Comrade DougJ has called for cessation of niceness in electioneering, and that all is now fair game.”
needed this retort:
“I’m dead certain they will find that message quite unnecessary.”
I mean, seriously, after “Hands”, the shit thrown at Max Clelland, the Swift Boaters, and the “Friends of Medicare” bullshit from last cycle, it’s quite clear that “fair game” in electioneering from the conservatives has been the status quo for a good long while. Fuck, you shot a congresswoman because you didn’t like how that election went.
So yeah, run and tell all your other conservative fucks that yeah, the liberals have noticed and are responding.
And as we know from the whiny screeching bullshit your Dunning-Kruger brains throw up every time the powerless decide to stop taking it on the chin and start speaking up for themselves, that you’ll wail and weep and punch the corner screaming how it’s not fair, it’s reverse tyranny, it’s thug tactics, and completely out of step and so on and so on.
But you know what?
We have to eat. We have to live. We’ve stayed stagnant on rights long overdue, losing further and further and even the dopey-eyed privileged white male middle class is starting to notice their inclusion on the victim list.
So yeah, “niceness” seems to have ended. By which the left goes “easy, easy” to itself and urges everyone to be understanding and moderate towards their enemies while they punched them in the face repeatedly. Now, we yell back. Now we mobilize. Now we call out your bullshit.
Yup, just like you whine with gay rights, desegregation, and feminism:
It’s Armageddon.
Cerberus
@Cerberus:
And yes, I realize that jwest is probably just somebody parodying a right-wing moron, but frankly, that’s what I’ve been wanting to scream at every concern troll since the Giffords shooting.
VidaLoca
I’d bet on Kloppenburg but I sure wouldn’t bet the rent money — if she wins it’s going to be real close. This election is going to go like a lot of other elections in Wisconsin — if you get a strong progressive vote from Milwaukee and Dane counties, plus a few others, you can squeak out a win against the more conservative rest of the state. What I see in Milwaukee this time (as opposed to November) is that the forces of good are a lot more united and more mobilized while the right wing isn’t showing much of a ground game at all. So, there’s room for optimism.
That said, the point about this being only the first skirmish is exactly on the money. There’s a lot more to play out here than just one election.
Judas Escargot (aka "your liberal-interventionist pal, who's fun to be with")
@Omnes Omnibus:
In Dane County, this election is almost perfect to bring out the left and discourage the right IMO.
Awesome, if true.
How’s the anti-union buzz out there, though? If any…
I have older relatives/acquaintances here loudly wishing Charlie Baker had won MA Gov because “he would’ve shown them who’s boss here, too” (which is quite likely true– he basically campaigned on how many state jobs he was going to cut if he got in).
And Scott Brown is now a ‘Liberal Progressive’. This is an energized bunch.
But, I keep forgetting that my state’s local-cranky-old-white-people aren’t necessarily identical to everyone else’s cranky-old-white-people.
Good luck tomorrow.
WaterGirl
@Cerberus: Love what you wrote, I’m all for you screaming that at every one of the concern trolls, even if it’s just a cut & paste every time, starting with: I mean, seriously… and ending with: It’s Armageddon.
cthulhu
@Cerberus: Well, jwest’s point about emotional valence in ads often trumping cognitive content is certainly valid but I find it hard to believe an unusual election like this is so susceptible to a simple “Willy Horton”-type approach. First of all, not enough time for Kloppenburg to be defined by this and second, low info voters most likely to be affected also won’t be all that likely to turn-out anyway. This will all be about special efforts for turn-out. Hopefully the Dems have the pressure here.
The Raven
Ya gotta mob ’em before they set off the alarms–then you’ve got a chance of keeping them from doing harm.
Omnes Omnibus
@ Judas Escargot (etc.)(with the nonfunctional reply button):
I don’t know much about the anti-union forces. I live in the heart of the People’s Republic (literally 6 blocks from the Capitol). If I go by signs, bumper stickers, and buttons, pro-union wins big. From outside of Madison, most of what I get is from my rabidly pro-union parents and their friends in central Wisconsin. In other words, I don’t really move in anti-union circles.
Judas Escargot
@Omnes Omnibus:
Fixed. FY,WP.
Triassic Sands
@lllphd:
Then, who on Earth would you blame? Until January 2011, Wisconsin had had two Democratic senators since 1993. It had a Democratic governor for the last eight years. The voters exist to elect Democrats.
VidaLoca
@Triassic Sands:
Sadly, that’s no small part of the reason we don’t have one now. While not nearly as bad as the current incumbent, the guy was almost unimaginably unimpressive.
jenn
@priscianus jr:
Wow, that’s insane. I hadn’t heard that. Yeah, when you’re so awful your campaign manager quits to endorse your opponent, I’d say that’s a pretty good sign you need to take a long hard look in the mirror.
soyaki
Them’s some good lookin’ folk in that there ad.
karen marie
@cthulhu: I skimmed the comment thread and got the impression that the Prosser ad was in response to an earlier ad by Kloppenburg that, I assume, involved the young man’s abuse case.
But even so, if that’s all Prosser’s got, he’s scraping the bottom of the barrel.
karen marie
@VidaLoca: Yeah, it’s really a bitch when your crappy governor can’t even be bothered to do a little self-dealing, hand out jobs to children of large donors and arrange to sell state property at cut rates to bigger donors. I bet he even managed to not bankrupt the state.
Ho hum, indeed.