I have been watching what has been going on in Wisconsin with pride and exhilaration. Our people are courageously speaking out for their beliefs and standing up to the right wing infrastructure that has become tremendously powerful, especially with the Citizens United decision. Don't kid yourself; this is not a Democrats vs. Republicans spat. This is a naked power grab with Scott Walker acting, very effectively, as the front man for a parade of hard right idealogues: the brothers Koch, the Grebes, the Bradley family, insane right wing John Birch Society types, all. Thank goodness, recent polling discussed at pollster.com today indicates that the people of the state are seeing through this charade. In my view, now is the time to channel the energy created by this outrage into concrete action. Some thoughts as to specifics:
1. Identify a spokesperson. As much as I loathe Walker, he is very effective as a spokesperson. If you can stomach watching Chuck Todd lob softballs for 10 minutes check out Walker's dead on parroting canned talking points ("Balance the budget" "long term solution" "no short term fix" "get back to work"). He doesn't even BLINK, for crying out loud. Scary.
I'm not in Wisconsin, and I'm not seeing a lot of the national coverage due to work hours, but from what I saw over the weekend, I don't think our message is getting out as well as it could with state senators giving random interviews from parts unknown. I think the protest groups should coalesce around a single spokesperson (preferably a woman, for contrast, and to show that this is a bread and butter issue) who can concisely articulate what the stakes are in sound bites. Let this person become the face of the protest movement. If we don't have a natural among the protesting teachers, hire a PR firm to supply such a person or identify one or train one. Sorry if this sounds cynical, but that's life in the modern media circus.
2. Move on recalling the senators NOW. I loved the diaries from fcphantom and from LaurenMonica last week raising this possibility and giving signature numbers needed. And yesterday David Nir gave a comprehensive chart showing the three Republican senators most vulnerable to recall: Alberta Darling, Randy Hopper and Dan Kapanke. But I really am not finding anything on line showing any organized effort along these lines. We have to strike while the iron is hot. If there are any efforts starting, please tell me about them so I can help. I also have friends and family in Wisconsin that I could enlist. We don't heve the luxury of waiting a year to start Walker recall efforts. And, if any Senators get recalled, the Walker recalls will have more credibility and momentum.
3. Take a cue from the Tea Party. Again, as loathesome as these people were, they showed us how an energized constituency can move mountains. Look at what happened in Wisconsin. We lost a bunch of congressional seats and did not win any statewide office except for the innocuous LaFollette as Sec'y of State (I'm sure he's a good guy, but from what I've read he's not the guy to take on Walker). We have a galvanized movement right now that meets or exceeds what was going on during the anti-war days. I know that the economy played a big role in the November results, as did Koch money, etc, but still the Teabaggers certainly helped. This movement now that is infinitely better than anything that happened on the right over the last couple of years: smart, intelligent, committed rputting themselves and their jobs at risk to fight a blatant injustice. Let's keep it alive. Identify candidates. Identify voters. There's a special election in LaCrosse coming up. Let's blow the doors off that campaign. We have a good candidate there and her daughter is a kossack!
4. Even if we lose we win. If we can't reach a deal with Gov. Hosni, and the budget passes, the increased efforts needed to keep the state employee unions alive will provide an energizing force that will carry us for the next 2 and 4 years. The act of recertifying every year will create a focus on what your union will try to do for you. The act of every union member writing a check every month and the act of collecting that check will remind everyone what we have lost and what we must do to win it back. Nothing can be taken for granted so the process of 're-winning' the battles of the past will create the occasion to keep the bonds tight.
Maybe I'm being too optimistic, or even naive, but I think the events in Madison this week will prove to be a pivotal point that will help us retake the momentum that was lost in November and advance a strong agenda for social justice.