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All hail the time of the bunny!

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Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

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Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

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You are here: Home / Elections / Local Races 2018 and earlier / Paul Ryan Has A Challenger: Randy “Ironstache” Bryce

Paul Ryan Has A Challenger: Randy “Ironstache” Bryce

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DougJ shared Bryce’s now-famous campaign ad earlier this week, though not in a prime time slot. There’s been a rash of news reports since then, but the best I’ve seen is from Mike Elk’s Payday Report:

RACINE, WISCONSIN – Despite his 6’2 frame, the half-Mexican, half-Polish Army veteran known as the “@IronStache” on Twitter is the epitome of a gentle giant. Holding a beef brisket sandwich in his hand, he hugs, back slaps, and laughs his way through the crowd at the Juneteenth parade on the lakefront of Racine.

“I’m running for Congress against Paul Ryan,” ironworker Randy Bryce struggles to tell an African American woman over the noise of a gospel choir singing on the stage behind them.

Ryan, the Speaker of the House and a former vice presidential candidate, has more than $8 million in the bank for his re-election bid. By contrast, Bryce is a rank and file ironworker activist who has built some of Southeast Wisconsin’s best-known landmarks, including Milwaukee’s Miller Park and the landmark Northwestern Mutual Building.

However, it’s not an entirely uphill battle. Ryan’s district includes the pro-union bastions of Racine and Kenosha, as well as the suburban Milwaukee Republican stronghold of Waukesha. According to the Cook Political Report, the district is only 5 points more Republican than Democratic. If 2018 turns out to be a wave election year, some think Ryan could be defeated by a candidate like Bryce in such a marginal swing district…

“People know that the system is rigged and something has to be done, and Donald Trump took advantage of that,” says SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin’s Bruce Coburn, who serves as the union’s Vice President for Politics and Growth. “Randy, though, is someone who really believes in people and has shown it in all the years he has been in the labor movement.”

I first got to know Randy through the #wiunion hashtag during the Occupation of Wisconsin Capitol in 2011, and since then we have become personal friends. Bryce was part of the tens of thousands who occupied the Capitol in order to stop Scott Walker’s anti-union agenda.

Bryce sips Limeaid in the living room of his small two bedroom apartment outside of Racine as he recalls that battle.

“Walker’s strategy was to divide and conquer,” Bryce says. “His strategy was pointing out people and saying they are being the reason that the others didn’t have it as good as they possibly could. Now that’s being taken to the national level with Donald Trump.”…

If elected to Congress, he sees his role there as being more of a shop steward than a politician, and that he aims to run a campaign that amplifies the voices of others. “For an African American woman, there is no possible way that I can put myself into that woman’s frame of mind, the struggles she faces on a daily basis,” Bryce says. “I could do something to pretend, but I can’t experience it myself, so I need to rely on other people.”…

Reader Interactions

26Comments

  1. 1.

    trollhattan

    If Ryan isn’t so self-absorbed he can’t envision a perfect opponent, then Ironstache is that guy. Go man, go!

  3. 3.

    Immanentize

    there is no possible way that I can put myself into that woman’s frame of mind, the struggles she faces on a daily basis,” Bryce says. “I could do something to pretend, but I can’t experience it myself, so I need to rely on other people.”…

    I can’t think of a better description of the Democratic platform.

  4. 4.

    Gretchen

    That’s very true that R’s divide and conquer – you don’t have nice things because that person over there is taking your stuff. It’s great that we have a candidate who can speak to that.

  5. 5.

    Mike in DC

    He seems like someone straight from central casting, if the call was for “someone WWC voters can identify with “.

  6. 6.

    Immanentize

    This is an open thread so … here is some good news, indeed.

    A couple of years ago, I became co-counsel in a case in the Supreme Court: Montgomery v. Louisiana. We won on the issue – that the eighth amendment prohibition of mandatory life without parole sentences for juveniles applied not just going forward, but also to all kids so sentenced in the past. By our count, that applied to about 2,500 kids (most now adults).

    But there is one guy it particularly applied to – Henry Montgomery, the petitioner in the case. Henry’s case was amazing. When he had just turned 17, in 1963, he was charged with shooting a truancy officer in Louisiana. In 1964, he was sentenced to death, but his trial had been such an egregious miscarriage of justice, even the Louisiana supreme court of the 1960’s had to overturn it. Henry was retried for the capital crime but the jury found him guilty of not- capital murder so he received a mandatory life without parole sentence which was upheld in 1969. Well, on Tuesday, at his post-Supreme Court resentencing the Judge sentenced Henry to “regular” life which means he is immediately parole eligible which should mean Henry could be released in a month or so.

  7. 7.

    Corner Stone

    @Mike in DC:

    He seems like someone straight from central casting, if the call was for “a crooked union thug who steals hard working people’s dues to give to lazy blacks “.

  8. 8.

    RoonieRoo

    I’m wondering if the DNC will get behind him or leave him to twist in the wind. Sorry but I’ve lost all confidence in the party actually supporting viable Dem candidates anymore.

  10. 10.

    James Powell

    “For an African American woman, there is no possible way that I can put myself into that woman’s frame of mind, the struggles she faces on a daily basis,” Bryce says. “I could do something to pretend, but I can’t experience it myself, so I need to rely on other people.”…

    Showing this kind of empathy toward anyone other than white Christians – the real victims of bigotry – is going to cost him about 46% of the vote, 52% in the midterms.

  11. 11.

    Mike in DC

    @Corner Stone:

    Possible. Not sure what 3rd party would put that out there, though I am sure that Ryan would be both “troubled” AND “concerned”.

  12. 12.

    rikyrah

    @Immanentize:

    A couple of years ago, I became co-counsel in a case in the Supreme Court: Montgomery v. Louisiana. We won on the issue – that the eighth amendment prohibition of mandatory life without parole sentences for juveniles applied not just going forward, but also to all kids so sentenced in the past. By our count, that applied to about 2,500 kids (most now adults).

    BRAVO.

    BRAVO.

    WOW.

    Your work has helped all those people.

    Good day indeed.

  13. 13.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @RoonieRoo: Sorry but I’ve lost all confidence in the party actually supporting viable Dem candidates anymore.

    Why?

  15. 15.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    MSNBC chyron says “protesters removed from outside McConnell’s office”. Pictures look like it was a pretty good size group

    Just called Senate switchboard: jammed.

  18. 18.

    frosty

    Thanks for this. Looks like a good candidate and positive news. Nice to hear with all the other crap coming down day after day after day after …

  19. 19.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?

    “People know that the system is rigged and something has to be done, and Donald Trump took advantage of that,” says SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin’s Bruce Coburn, who serves as the union’s Vice President for Politics and Growth. “Randy, though, is someone who really believes in people and has shown it in all the years he has been in the labor movement.”

    That is such a good message and needs to be repeated again and again. I think as time goes on, it will resonate with more people

  20. 20.

    cain

    @James Powell:

    Pretty much. I think as democrats we need to forget about the DCCC and focus only on our local races and our own local community if we want to accomplish anything.

  21. 21.

    cain

    I just noticed that we have a pie filter thingee at the bottom! Neat! But as a rule I never use it because if an ass should have a voice, and I’m happy to abuse them or ignore them by scrolling past.

  22. 22.

    Tokyokie

    @RoonieRoo: That the Democrats haven’t been able to find and fund somebody to knock out that mean and stupid fartknocker Blake Farenthold in a majority Hispanic district in the Valley is proof of that.

  24. 24.

    Mnemosyne

    @RoonieRoo:

    Commenter Elie got involved with her local party in Washington state last year. She is now in a lower-level leadership position that is helping pick local candidates. The DCCC is not involved in any way until the local party does that process of choosing candidates.

    So, as Jim said, if you don’t like the candidates your local party is picking, you need to get involved in that local party to help them do better, because the DCCC only gets involved once the local party picks one.

  25. 25.

    Amir Khalid

    Not to be trivial, but that safety helmet sits on Bryce’s head like The Little Tramp’s tiny bowler hat did on Charlie Chaplin’s. He’s a big guy with a big-sized head, sure, but couldn’t his employer provide a helmet that fit?

Comments are closed.