One thing I've learned, if you feel devastated over last night's devastating result in Wisconsin, you don't get what this game is all about.
Politics is unfortunately a zero sum ruthless endeavor. The stakes are high and the competition is fierce. I'm still a zealot and an idealist but having been emotionally crushed by losing some seriously important elections and having seen just how entrenched the system is, I've come to realize that feelings are secondary and even damaging. I don't feel bad about last night. It is what it is. Every election is a learning experience. What works, and what does not work. How can we successfully build? It really is all about brass tacks.
Also relative to Wisconsin, it is important to have perspective. The original goal was to return the Senate to Democratic control. If this was not accomplished, the hail mary alternative was to remove Scott Walker. HOWEVER, THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED. These were bruising senate recall races. And we won. Yes we lost the Governor's recall and we lost the Judge's race, but ultimately we accomplished what we wanted to. We stopped, for now, everything the corporatists want to do in Wisconsin. Absolutely everything. To my friends who whine that the legislature is not in session and so on and so on. Seriously, get over yourself. You're crying too much. THE POINT IS NOT THAT THE LEGISLATURE IS NOT IN SESSION!! The point is how do we hold this advantage in November. The election is over. We won the Senate. Now we start thinking about how to hold it. Because if we hold that advantage and continue to build a strong infrastructure, Wisconsin will be ok. We are in good shape. I applaud the people who worked so hard and through so many elections to return some measure of stability to Wisconsin. Thank you for going through two recalls. You are wonderful. And we need to learn from your persistence. I deeply respect your victory and I will try and help you maintain it.
Wisconsin has activists. Wisconsin has built nation wide support. Wisconsin has built awareness. This needs to be cultivated. A strategy needs to be developed. Local elections need to be focused on. We will lose, expect it. But ultimately we have huge advantages. The battle is between money and demographics. The Republicans have the money, but we have all the people. Women, youth, minorities to name a few. The point is not to win one election. The point is to build a formidable coalition. And don't let your feelings get in the way.