Wisconsinites’ next vote matters more than most

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday March 16, 2019 · 6:22 PM PDT

2019/03/16 · 18:22

Some elections matter more than others. We are all familiar with the phenomenon of “midterm” elections, but there are other elections that are even smaller, that have an outsized impact. These elections are a great investment for those in the business of buying them, as they get more bang for the buck.

One such election type is “spring” elections, where supposedly “non-partisan” officials like judges are elected. While most of the voters aren’t looking, their future is sold off for cheap by packing the courts with judges favorable to the investors.

The following article was in the local paper, and I print it in its entirety with permission from the author.

“A Tiny Minority of Voters Will Have a Huge Impact in the Coming Wisconsin Supreme Court Race —Mt. Horeb Mail

“The outcome of the April 2 Supreme Court Race will help shape the future of Wisconsin for years, possibly decades. At stake are crucial issues including voting rights, gerrymandering, environmental protection, litigation over Act 10 and Lame-Duck legislation that may come before the court. In spite of the fact that Scott Walker was voted out of office, his influence remains in the Supreme Court through the judges he has appointed or supported in elections.

“Although the Supreme Court race is supposed to be nonpartisan, in reality the opposing candidates usually have different political leanings. This year is no exception. The more conservative candidate is Brian Hagedorn, Scott Walker’s legal counsel who had a hand in writing the Act 10 legislation and who Walker appointed to the Second District Appeals Court in 2015. The revelation of Hagedorn’s extreme anti-LBGT views prompted the conservative Wisconsin Association of Realtors to withdraw their endorsement and ask to have their $18,000 contribution returned. Likewise, the US Chamber of Commerce who often pours money into the state to support conservative court candidates, decided not to do so this year.

“The more liberal candidate is Lisa Neubauer, appointed to the Second District Appeals Court in 2007 by Gov. Jim Doyle. She now serves as that court’s Chief Justice. Neubauer has been endorsed by over 300 judges and law enforcement officials.

“Justice Shirley Abrahamson is not seeking reelection due to health reasons; therefore, if Hagedorn is elected, the conservative majority on the court will increase 5-2. if Neubauer wins, the conservative majority would hold at 4-3. This would create an opportunity in 2020 for a shift to a liberal majority. That is when when Daniel Kelly, an ultraconservative appointed to the Supreme Court in 2016 by Walker to replace the retiring Judge David Prosser, faces an election. Kelly would be running in a year when the election for the Supreme Court coincides with a presidential primary, which is expected to attract large numbers of Democratic voters. Since such a turnout could disadvantage Kelly, the Republican legislature attempted to change the date for the presidential primary so it would no longer coincide with the Supreme Court race.

“Unfortunately, in spite of all that is at stake, on April 2 we could see a voter turnout of only 10% which is a typical turnout for spring elections when there is no coinciding presidential primary. Think about that! A tiny minority of voters could have a major influence on the future of Wisconsin by who they send to the Supreme Court. Be part of that minority. Use this opportunity to cast a vote that may have a greater impact than any other vote you have ever cast. Exercise your power and get to the polls on April 2.”

Allen Pincus, Barneveld

If you are a Wisconsinite, please talk to your friends and encourage them to vote April 2. Their vote will have an outsized impact.

View of a WI Expat: Vinehout Channel Up

garyn

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday May 01, 2012 · 9:46 AM PDT

2012/05/01 · 09:46

I am a Wisconsin expat, but have been closely following the goings on in the state I was born in (on a dairy farm, no less). In February 2011, I drove (!) with my partner and 2 kids (!) to Madison from Seattle for a scheduled 2-week vacation, arriving on Day 3 of The Uprising. We were all hooked.

My parents have thrown themselves into the Kathleen Vinehout campaign. If you see videos of Kathleen with a couple of older folks in the background wearing funny orange hats, that's them. Although I would love to take credit for introducing them to her possible candidacy (after hearing Vinehout on WORT this winter, streamed on my iPhone, I called my mom, and she said "Kathleen Who?!?"), I think their choice was probably inevitable.

Of course, the big media and the big money have other plans. If you're a powerful union, your union leadership has probably already chosen Kathleen Falk because they believe she will cut them the best back-room deal like she has in the past. (I'm a union member and have been a shop steward for the past decade--I've observed that's how union leadership thinks.) If you're the big media or the big money, you like Barrett because you like the way the political system is set up to provide you access, and if you have to switch from Walker, Barrett is very similar to Walker in so many ways. (This includes the Democratic Party, which has been half of the equation in creating the political system we now find ourselves in nationwide--and they like it.)

So needless to say, the media in Madison and Milwaukee has ignored Vinehout and it's been hard for her to get her message out. She's been crisscrossing the state like crazy trying to meet everyone in person. The best solution became obvious since the early days of the Wisconsin News Blackout of 2011: Use social media. But I'd look at the few existing videos of her on YouTube, and call my parents up to complain: "That video is 15 minutes long! You gotta have her shorten it to less than 3 minutes! Go for 2 minutes max!"

Although I've been a firefighter for the past 16+ years, I also have a Master's degree in Ed Tech from the University of Washington. So I had a lot to say about media.

So it's with great excitement that I have come to learn, the Kathleen Vinehout YouTube channel is up as of three days ago! I know, the primary is on May 8. And early voting has already started. That's why you should go there right now.

If you or your friends have any questions about her stand on access to contraception, education, mining/the environment, etc., go check it out. And it looks like the videos are all less than 3 minutes long!

As my stepdad says, "Don't just change governors, change politics!"

And as Kathleen says: "If you are really tired of money in politics, I'm your candidate. If you are tired of politics as usual, go for the unusual."

http://www.youtube.com/...

Also, if you'd like to donate so she can put gas in her car for all those drives around Wisconsin, she's on ActBlue.
https://secure.actblue.com/...

Saving the American Newspaper

garyn

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday January 18, 2009 · 4:54 PM PST

2009/01/18 · 16:54

I don't know how you view print journalism, what with all the anti-media complaints that go on around here. And I am not in disagreement. But I am convinced that if human beings are ever convinced to let go of hard copy and be force-migrated to electronic versions of history, we will be entering the digital dark ages for real.

Printing presses had historically been linked to political parties and thus political views since our nation's inception. That's where "freedom of the press" came from. But once advertisement and the profit motive started driving journalistic choices, well, those printing presses went to hell in a handbasket. And then, when our corporate laws were changed to require a profit so that corporations were beholden to their investors, this was the death knell of the Main Stream Media, which I think most of us can agree has become a despicable shadow of its former self. Such that, when hearing of the financial dire straits of our nation's newspapers, many of us can't wait for their early demise.

So what do I read in my Sunday morning paper but a proclamation from my member of Congress, Jim McDermott (Baghdad Jim, bless his heart, safest seat in Washington) that he's going to see about how to save print journalism (more after the jump).

RSS