For 16 months we've protested, gathered recall signatures, gotten the voters out to the polls, recalled a radical Governor and his Lt. Governor and 4 more State Senators with a million signatures. We've done it during 2 winters, standing out in the cold and snow. We've done it while being outspent in a state saturated with RW memes and talking points. We've done it despite a media so friendly to the GOP they promote stories like this one and this one, but dismiss numerous cases of violence against recallers as "both sides do it". They allow blatant lies to go unchallenged and don't ask tough questions of Republicans.
We can't do it alone.
Scott Walker became Governor of Wisconsin due to GOP-friendly media, spending more campaign money than anyone else in Wisconsin history, and promoting friendly ads of himself promising jobs while outside RW groups relentlessly attacked Tom Barrett, his opponent in 2010 and now. Barrett was massively outspent in the non-stop barrage.
It's worse this time. While Walker sources are going door to door putting up signs in the yards of anyone who consents, Barrett can't even afford to provide signs for supporters (we have to buy them). We also have to buy buttons, bumper stickers, or any other campaign materials. We don't have the money on our side.
We're not whining. Not one second of it. We always knew that this would be People Power vs. Money Power. And not just Money Power. It's RW leaning Media Power, RW Hate Radio Power, Lying Emails Power, and the plain old-fashioned Power of the Lie. The Big Lie that Republicans tell over and over and over again until people believe it's the truth.
The American Federation of Teachers recognizes the importance of this election. They just provided 500 large to the recall effort. Not because their own members have been affected by Walkers union stripping law, but because they understand that this one election will set the stage for the GOP everywhere if Republicans prevail here.
I couldn't believe it when some brave and honest anonymous source reported that the Democratic National Committee won't write a check to help out the ground game here in the final couple of weeks. We're going to need phones, voter materials, and other forms of support for GOTV. We've got the volunteers - tens of thousands of us, but we can't do it with nothing.
We've been fighting and will continue to fight in this war, uphill, against vastly superiorly equipped forces with our bare hands. If the Democratic Party can't see the importance of winning this war, right how, how can they ever hope to prevail anywhere?
If they allow the Republicans and monied interests to keep Scott Walker in office, this strategy will be used everywhere. Our elections will truly become auctions with elected offices being sold to the highest bidder. And extremist governors will feel "safe" to proceed with their radical agendas knowing that Money Power and Media Power will ensure there are no consequences.
If a governor with a John Doe Probe hanging over him, who has been exposed again and again as a tool of the monied elite, with a radical extremist agenda can survive a recall election, there is no limit to what Money Power and Media Power can do. The Republicans know this and, it seems, the national Democrats don't. National Republicans and billionaire funders are 1,000% behind Walker because they know how important this election is.
If Walker wins the recall, President Obama can kiss Wisconsin goodbye. Mitt R-Money and the GOP will roll out the same Big Money and Media campaign this fall because it will have been proven to work. In fact, it will be rolled out nationwide and November, 2012 will become an auction rather than election with candidates buying elected offices all over the country.
The DNC needs to get the moths out of their wallets and start writing a great big check - even more than the request. $500,000 is chump change compared with what Republicans are spending. Time for the DNC to wake up and realize that this is the first domino for the GOP. Let it fall and the rest of the dominoes will fall, too.
Yes, it's THAT important.
You can donate to the Wisconsin Democratic Party here which will help Tom Barrett and the 4 Democratic State Senate candidates.
You can donate to Tom Barrett here.
You can donate to Mahlon Mitchell here.
Remember to add $.01 to your donation as a signal that the funds come via Daily Kos (I understand that's the "signal" that's been in use).
Thanks for your support.
DNC contact data (from the comments)
Phone Number: (877) 336-7200 (h/t alguien)
Twitter: @DWStweets (h/t RhodaA)
Bonus: Barretts new ads:
Update: Ouch.
The new PPP poll isn't a good one, but, taken over the weekend with Barretts ads just hitting the airwaves, it means we need to work harder to get our message out over the roar of all that RW money.
And Debbie Wasserman Schultz, head of the DNC, is aparantly coming to Wisconsin to "help fundraise" and "get volunteers". How nice. She seems to think that the tens of thousands of volunteers and organization haven't scraped up every last nickel possible in the state already.
Here's a link to the petition that's being discussed in the comments. The origins of the petition are unknown.
Update 2: The Democratic Governors Association is following, to a lesser degree, in the footsteps of the Republican Governors association bysending $700,000 to the Greater Wisconsin Fund for an ad buy.
Our newscasts contain wall to wall Walker ads with a very occassional one from Barrett (none today that I saw). His lies and propaganda are being spread not just by his own campaign, but the monied interests as well. We need to counter at least some of that ad buy and money is the only thing that buys ads.