I just caught this piece in TPM previewing Debbie Wasserman Schultz's attempt at damage control in Wisconsin. I think this sucks. Rather than playing to win, we are playing not to look to bad if we lose. Correction -- she appears to be setting the table for WHEN we lose. Somehow, I don't think that Howard Dean would have been taking this approach.
DWS is probably right making a calculated bet -- Wisconsin has gone blue pretty regularly at the presidential level the last few elections and it will probably go blue again this year. But this is definitely not assured and definitely not by the same margins. Wisconsin is a different state now than the one I grew up in.
The insane right wing is larger and bolder and more empowered than I ever saw before. The Milwaukee Journal used to be a moderate to liberal organ, one that opposed the Vietnam war, and a good investigative paper that did the right thing. Years ago, the Journal Company acquired the right wing Milwaukee Sentinel and for a long time kept the 2 papers separate. In recent years though, after the 2 papers were merged into a single publication, it has morphed itself into an enabler of the crazy. So this week Wisconsin's largest paper, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel endorsed Walker. No surprise really, just more than a little hypocrisy since it ostentatiously refused to make endorsements in last year's recalls in protest of the recall process.
The paper's parent company, Journal Communications' greatest profits come from radio broadcasting. Its most recent quarterly report reveals some interesting facts about those profits. Profits from TV and radio broadcasting rose 12% over the prior quarter and, at 6.7 million, allowed the company to absorb a million dollars in losses from other operations. Profits from radio broadcasting totalled 2.9 million, half the company's profits, and had risen by 29% over last year.
Most fascinating is the fact that the 32 company's radio stations only received 100,000 in political advertising this quarter. The flagship station WTMJ is in the largest media market, Milwaukee; the other stations are in predominantly red states. Why don't they get more political ads? They don't need to. If you ever drive thru Wisconsin, and listen to WTMJ, be prepared to pull over and throw up frequently. It is among the most virulent right wing talk radio stations you have ever heard. Liberal ads would be laughed at by its listeners and the right need not pay - the station is giving it away. Is it possible that the parent's greatest profit driver would influence that paper's endorsement? I'm shocked, shocked.
But I digress.
This is about our side accepting losing, not about how the right plays to win. Despite the obscene amount of right wing spending for Walker, over 20,000,000, Barrett has managed to pull even. A poll released yesterday from Garin Hart Yang, shows the race essentially tied. You'd think that the DNC would be whipping up excitement rather than bracing for a loss. Even if the DNC went all in and we lost, there would be ample justification after the fact. We were, after all, outspent about five gazillion to one. We can talk about that on June 6, not a week and a half before the election.
In last year's statewide Supreme Court race between JoAnne Kloppenburg, a terrific lady who ran a good campaign against a real conservative jerk, David "the Strangler" Prosser, our side lost by 7,000 votes out of 1.5 million cast. Milwaukee turnout was abysmal. The race was "non-partisan" so the parties did not participate (overtly) and the inner city basically did not show up. If it had in even a fraction of the turnout for Obama in 2008,Wisconsin's liberals now would have a 4-3 majority in the Supreme Court. Instead, we don't.
Thankfully, Tom Barrett, Walker's opponent, is a popular mayor of Milwaukee, and a good guy. Hopefully Milwaukee turnout will be better this time around, especially since statewide turnout will be over 2 million. What would really help, though, would be an appearance next week by the President -- in Milwaukee, not Madison which is already experiencing a huge early turnout. Debbie, please start calling the White House, rather than waving the white flag.