The envelope is hard to miss, with its red, white and blue USA stamp and then, in the return address corner, these bold red letters: URGENT RECALL ELECTION. Inside is a letter with "Governor Scott Walker" written in large type on the top left. The letter is addressed to my mother-in-law, who died at age 88 last year from Alzheimer's disease. She was a lifelong Illinois resident who last donated to Republican causes at least 10 years ago, yet somehow she remains in the database for those seeking to fund conservative causes.
"I'm proud of your conservative leadership," Scott Walker tells her. "The President's Chicago Political Machine and vengeful, power-consumed Big Government Union Bosses have put a bull's eye on my back...I urgently need your help to win."
To save the republic from an Obama second term that would "devastate our economy," Walker pleads with my dead mother-in-law to give $50, $250, $2,500 or more.
Of course, any political organization can make a mistake and fail to update a database (though you would think after 10 years of non-answers, someone might make an inquiry or remove a recipient). But I think this letter is worth bringing here so people can see not only Walker's alarmist untruths and distortions but how he is positioning himself as a national candidate, linking himself to the fight against Obama, and trying to influence his statewide contest by appealing for out-of-state funds. This reinforces Mother Jones' recent piece about Walker's camp using the Tea Party nationwide to raise buckets of money to send to Wisconsin.
Though pro-recall groups may also be fundraising outside the state, I have yet to receive anything from them or from any other liberal group, though I was an Obama volunteer in 2008 (canvassed in Wisconsin) and should be listed in liberal databases for my magazine subscriptions alone. I can't compare the kind of literature that pro-recall people are sending out but I would hope it isn't as full of scare tactics and sleaze as the piece mailed to my mother-in-law by the Friends of Scott Walker (signed by him, and with his name on the letterhead).
If you'd like to see what messages Walker's marketers are sending little old (and/or dead) ladies and other Tea Partiers across America, follow below the fold. (All punctuation, including Hysterical and Unnecessary Capitalization and scary boldface, is reproduced the way it appears in the letter.)
As President Obama steams full throttle towards his upcoming re-election campaign ...
As National Big Labor Bosses are determined to make me pay for our conservative reforms ...
The National Democrats are setting up my recall election in Wisconsin as a "test case" to try out their attack ads for next fall.
Motivated by revenge because I insisted that unionized state workers pay their fair share for health care benefits and pensions, the Big Labor Bosses from all over the country are using this recall race as a pilot project to test drive and hone their all-negative, all-consuming national attack message.
If they succeed in their quest of ousting me from the Governor's Office here, they will roll out their cutthroat tactics to every state in the nation to get President Obama the second term that will devastate our economy.
I'm calling on strong conservatives like you to give me your swift and generous support because the Obama Political Machine and the National Labor Unions will spend tens of millions to beat me.
I'm proud of your conservative leadership. I know all about the key role you played in winning campaigns across America. I understand the depth of your commitment to our cause and I admire you for that.
That's the kind of commitment and leadership I need to win this recall race so I hope you decide to act today.
If your goal is to make Barack Obama a one-term President, here's your chance to do something significant right now.
The President's Chicago Political Machine and vengeful, power-consumed Big Government Union Bosses have put a bull's eye on my back. All over the country, bitter and disgruntled ultra-liberal fringe groups and Super PACs are preparing their donors to pour tens of millions into this recall race against me.
Taking their cue from President Obama, they are willing to say, do, promise and spend anything to win. Right now, the attacks are coming from all directions and I urgently need your help to win.
Make no mistake, a win in this recall election will be a huge defeat and demoralizing embarrassment to the National Democrats, the Labor Bosses, and the Obama Re-election Machine.
Elections like these lift off the mask and let voters see the real goals, the real agenda, and the real constituency of the Extreme Liberal Left.
Sadly, if I lose, our conservative reforms -- the reforms that are saving our government millions of dollars, turning a multi-billion dollar state deficit into a surplus and saving counties and municipalities millions more -- will be rolled back. And equally upsetting, our political rivals' all-negative re-election strategy will be vindicated, but ... when you help me win ... our conservative reforms will be further validated, our rivals' repugnant tacticswill be rejected, and President Obama's re-election chances will suffer a devastating blow.
That's why I can't wait any longer in contacting you; not with Big Labor, Liberal Super PACs and the Obama White House lining up against me.
Can we fight off their fiercest attacks?
Can we prove that a conservative reformer can win?
Your generous response will answer those questions.
Those on the Far Left are hoping that because you live out of state you'll miss the significance of this recall race. Big Labor is counting on you to shrug off the negative ads, letters, lies, promises and threats that are bearing down. The National Democrats are hoping you dismiss this serious threat and ignore this critical election.
In a race thick with tension, I'm hoping and praying that you'll join a groundswell of fellow conservative activists from Wisconsin and across the country, rise to meet the challenge and do all in your power to help me ... and in turn send a clear message to the country about President Obama's re-election hopes and Nancy Pelosi's blind ambition to reclaim control of Congress next fall.
It's true, if our radical rivals force me out of office here, they'll do it in your state next. The ripple effect of political challenges and unfulfilled conservative reforms will be the untold story and we simply can't afford to let that happen.
So please take decisive action to help me. Write your "Friends of Scott Walker" contribution for $25, $50, $100, $250, $1,000, $2,500 or more. Whatever you can give will be an immense help.
Don't let the Obama White House, Big Labor Unions and National Liberals win.
With respect and gratitude,
Scott Walker
P.S. I resent what President Obama is doing to our proud country and because I'm a conservative by philosophy and a reformer by instinct, I've been a different kind of leader than he has been. One after another, our conservative reforms are working! My bold actions demanding that unionized state workers pay their fair share, has earned me the wrath of the White House and the fury of the Big Labor Bosses. Will you help me fight off this recall challenge with your check for $25, $100, $100, $1,000 or more?
Paid for by Friends of Scott Walker, Kate Lind, Treasurer
The letter included a copy of a Milwaukee Journal article about a protest rally at Scott Walker's house, which included comments from Walker supporters ("He is our hero. He is saving our state. He's passed some laws that have literally saved our school systems. We're saving millions of dollars in the state of Wisconsin with what Scott Walker has done. We're thrilled.").
And of course there was a separate pitch sheet for cash, also marked urgent, and accompanied by a postage-paid envelope, marked RUSH.
So what do you think? Is Scott Walker really saving the state millions? If you're involved in the recall movement, what's your response to letters like these?