Notes from somewhere on Interstate 94, driving across the Badger State. Lots of news from the DPW convention, just ended in Milwaukee today.
Some highlights and reads:
Tammy Baldwin is running for Senate.
Recall elections are on for six republican state senators for July 12, while those against Democrats… maybe later. Maybe.
We will try to recall Scott Walker, and Ron Kind wants the job.
Tammy Baldwin for Senate.
Tammy gave an incredible stump speech, with a nice callout to Herb Kohl and talk about breaking glass ceilings. I was very impressed. To those who say she’s “unelectable”, you’ve got to see and hear her.
After the formal festivities, she hosted a hospitality room with free beer and a DJ playing disco and tunes including Lady Gaga’s “Born this Way”. Tammy greeted everyone at the door, looking as prim as Barbara Bush in a turquoise suit and pearls. She was out in the morning, too, working the crowd hard. Word is she’s going to announce by mid-July.
(FWIW, Russ Feingold hosted a sloppy joe feed, but was a no-show.)
Recalls Are Go. A Madison judge ruled that the recalls of the six republicans will go forwards, and granted more time for the GAB to consider possible deficiencies in those submitted against Democratic senators. This means that we’re set for July 12 for offense.
And the big Kahuna – We WILL recall Scott Walker! Some have fretted over DPW Chair Mike Tate’s language in announcing this… I can say as a witness to the speech that I didn’t get a sense of waffling. There was an acknowledgement that the DPW is not in control of this process. The People are. And it’s gonna happen. I'm betting on winter, not next year, no matter what Chris Bowers says. ;-)
Represenative Ron Kind wants to be governor. I think he’d be good for getting the party built outstate. He didn’t exactly deliver a knockout speech, though – he was pretty hokey.
I was pleasantly impressed with Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca. He’s authentic, folksy, and I think he’d match up well against Walker in an election.
The Assembly Democrats Rock! The “Great 38” who stayed in their orange shirts and fought while the Fab 14 left the state are a great bunch. They hosted their own hospitality room with orange food (cheese and cheetos). They’re looking to expand their numbers next year and are working to make that happen.
They also told us that they feel the republicans will try to push through an early redistricting before the recall elections. This would require a complete re-do of state law, which mandates that redistricting is done bottom-up starting from the ward level. But what’s a little more overreach?
Other Flotsam and jetsam: David Obey was great. We traded him for Sean Duffy??????
Steve Kagen and Pat Kreitlow, both running for the House, gave great speeches.
To conclude – we’ve got our mojo. We’re united to take back our state (when was the last time you heard of Democrats being united?). It’s gonna be an exciting year to be a Badger.