Should Walker Be Worried?
Does he face an unstoppable “blue wave”? Maybe.
Governor Scott Walker. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
It was back in 2012 that Democrats were ecstatic about collecting more than 900,000 signatures demanding Gov. Scott Walker’s recall, in what seemed a mighty wave of opposition to his law decimating collective bargaining rights for public workers. But Walker won the recall election with 53 percent of the vote, sweeping 60 of 72 counties.
Which is worth remembering now that everyone is touting a “blue wave” that gained a thumping victory — a margin of 12 percentage points — for Rebecca F. Dallet, the Democrats’ choice for state Supreme Court Justice.
“If Walker thought a small little Senate district up in the northwestern part of the state going Democratic for first time [in decades] was a wake-up call, this would be a Category 8 hurricane,” chortled Scot Ross, the liberal leader of One Wisconsin Now, in a story by the Washington Post.
This was in a story headlined, “Democrats just won another big race in Wisconsin — and Republicans are panicking,” which was echoed in stories by CNN (“Big win by liberals in Wisconsin is bad news for GOP and Scott Walker”), Business Insider (“Republicans are freaking out about an upset that could be the start of a ‘blue wave’”) and Salon (“Scott Walker in trouble? Wisconsin Democrats ‘feeling very hopeful’ after election win”).
But is he really at risk? Or was this just a calculated way to gain national attention and solicit campaign dollars from conservatives across the country? As the Post story noted: “For all of Walker’s alarm-bell-ringing, Republicans close to him say he’s not reading too much into losing this seat. There is plenty of data that shows Democrats winning judicial races in the spring and Republicans going on to have a good November.”
Certainly, Dallet’s victory in so many counties that supported Donald Trump in 2016 has to worry Walker. But voters in this ever-unpredictable state often flip in ways the pundits don’t expect. Trump lost the spring GOP presidential primary in Wisconsin to Ted Cruz and not one poll leading up to November 2016 election showed him winning Wisconsin. But he did.
The dynamics of the Dallet vs Michael Screnock contest were pretty specific to that race. For starters, Dallet had a long history as a tough-on-crime judge and wasn’t a classic liberal. She was also a far more attractive candidate than Screnock, both in terms of physical looks (Screnock’s oft-used photo suggested the fat-faced nerd who got picked on by the students) and her energetic personality; as veteran political reporter Steve Walters has written, “Screnock’s quiet, low-key campaign style drives some veteran Republican campaign strategists crazy.” (Screnock’s name, too, isn’t all that attractive –and yes, these things influence voters.) Finally, Screnock was a no-show at too many forums, suggesting he couldn’t handle tough questions.
Dallet, moreover, was not outspent by that much. She wasn’t far behind in campaign spending nor very far behind in spending by outside groups, as the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign reported.
The final tallies, I suspect, may show a somewhat bigger spending lead for Screnock. But Walker is likely to have a massive financial advantage in his reelection campaign. He will probably raise at least $30 million and whichever of the nine (!) current Democratic candidates wins in the August primary will have to quickly pivot to raise money for the November general election. I wouldn’t be surprised if Walker has a 10-to-1 advantage in campaign cash.
Still, money doesn’t always win elections. If the wave that has helped Democrats win seats in Republican-leaning districts across the country continues until November, Walker will have a real fight on his hands. And that’s when his unwillingness to reach out to all the people could hurt him.
Unlike former Republican Governor Tommy Thompson, who was constantly looking to expand his support, broaden the Republican tent, and drive up his voting totals, Walker has concentrated almost religiously on his base, even if that means consistently low approval ratings. His approval rating stands a 47 percent, according to the last Marquette University Law School poll, and has hovered below 50 percent for most of his second term.
Walker went all in on Foxconn, and that issue may be the most important in the race for governor. Walker has committed $4.1 billion in state and local spending to get what is touted as a $10 billion plant, but under the law could be as small as a $9 billion plant. That’s a cost of $1,774 per household in Wisconsin.
Those same rural voters who favored Act 10’s reduction in public employee benefits seem unlikely to look favorably at a plan that costs them so much to deliver jobs in one southeastern county, to an area most of them probably think gets too much government help already.
Moreover, the entire Foxconn investment completely contradicts Walker’s leading campaign factoid, the state’s historically low unemployment. If unemployment is so low, why spend $4.1 billion to get more jobs?
That issue, along with Walker’s refusal to allow special elections for two Republican-leaning districts, and which led him to be chastised by three different courts for violating the law, strike me as issues that will have traction. What they have in common is an administration that divides the state into those are for or against the ruling Republican orthodoxy.
Screnock’s loss, at the very least, suggests there may be voters who are tired of that. And Walker really can’t afford to lose any supporters. He may need all of that $30 million — and more — to convince people that it’s not time for a change.
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“Moreover, the entire Foxconn investment completely contradicts Walker’s leading campaign factoid, the state’s historically low unemployment. If unemployment is so low, why spend $4.1 billion to get more jobs?”
Seems like a pretty big deal but has anyone else made this point?
I’m also skeptical about Walker being in trouble. Need to see who the opponent is first.
Excellent analysis. Bottom line, however, Dallet was a good candidate and Screnock a poor candidate. Who among Walker’s challengers is a potentially good candidate? I haven’t seen one yet.
That’s why I feel like Walker is most likely going to get reelected. There are some fine individuals running in the Dem primary, but who among them is a good candidate that can defeat Walker? Dems are a little starry eyed by recent elections, and a little blinded by Walker hatred (and I sympathize as I detest him and want him gone). But realistically speaking, he’s still near 50% approval, he’ll have tons and tons of money, and he’s an incumbent. Those are serious advantages. It’s not an impossible task, but it would be wise to not get too cocky. Then again, maybe Trump is an albatross that turns the tide in the Dems favor, as long as they have a halfway decent candidate.
There may be a wave to get on for young and attractive Democratic candidates who have won special elections around the country. But not for the candidates the Dems put up against Walker in the past. So forget guns, charter schools, and healthcare. To defeat Walker we a fit and a nice looking young person with a good name. If it is a man they should be tall with more hair than Walker.
Excellent article! I would never count Career Politician or Wisconsin republicans out. They are the most duplicitous, scheming. corrupt gaggle of charlatans, miscreants and politricksters in the country but they are Career Politicians for a reason, they know how to “win” by rigging elections and cheating ala gerrymandering as well as by buying elections with their greasy Dark Money and by scapegoating, fear mongering and of course “dividing and conquering.” Don’t be fooled Wisconsin! Democrats lost the presidency due to hubris in 2016. We can’t let that happen in November in Wisconsin or the state will be truly gone for good. Walker has done so much damage it will take many years to fix all of the destruction. November is our last hope! Let’s get busy everyone! Get involved, get your friends and relatives educated and ready to vote this bum out in November!
Dump Walker 2018
Dump ALL republicans 2018
Of course he’ll win. Vos and Ftizgerald will end early voting in Democratic areas, decrease DMV hours, strip millions of their registration, and ask Putin for some help.
I’d vote for anyone other than the Kochsucker Walker. I like all the Democrat candidates. I personally think Flynn would cut him up in a debate. Public humiliation, that would be a benefit! As a teabagger Walker knows that anger wins elections. That’s why mid-terms so often swing the other party’s direction. Even Obama with his positive hope and change campaign had a lot of angry upset people vote for him because George Bush had just overseen the implosion of the global economy. I’ll tell ya, at least up north here in Bayfield, Ashland and parts of Sawyer County, people are pissed off about FoxCON, gerrymandering, Walker’s recent special elections scheming and all the big corporate special interest money flooding the state. Not to mention the crappy roads, environemental pollution, school funding cuts etc etc.
Dump Walker
Do debates in a governor’s race sway many voters? Flynn might destroy Walker in a debate, but I wonder how much impact that would really have and if Flynn can beat Walker in a statewide election.
After the post-recall burnout, the recent turn of events are not a bad thing for progressives.
Really, Walker gives them so much to work with.
Walker is just using the #bluewave as a scare tactic to raise campaign funds and rouse his army of trolls. Screnock totally sucked but the repubs would have voted for Goebbels if he ran as a republican. But you know, the lefties are the violent ones… no wait, they’re hippy snowflakes. I can’t remember, the narrative keeps changing for some reason. Maybe because it’s hard to keep your story straight when you’re lying?
@PMD, Yeah it’s hard to say. I just like the fight in him plus honestly, all any candidate has to say (at least up in the far north) these days is”FoxCON sucks” and “legalize cannabis” and they’d win and Flynn says both of those a lot! But hey, the other candidates are good too. I, like pretty much everyone in Bayfield would vote for a ham sandwich for governor over Walker. And I hate ham!
Dump Walker
Walker would have less to worry about if he had :
-Recognized the on-going problems at Lincoln Hills / Copper Lake
-Resolved the D.O.T. road funding .
-Not given Foxconn such a sweetheart /how I can I refuse this offer deal.
-Approved the Kenosha ( minor cost to the state ; one more lawsuit ) Casino.
In Wisconsin everyone is in trouble till votes are cast. This state has tendency to go back and forth every 8 years. Scott has excellent record as has the legislature.
Left hated Nixon, hated Reagan, hate Trump and Walker, are our of power everywhere so they are desperate and energized.
See who their candidate is and if he is going to run on Bernie’s ideas, higher taxes, taxing homes, putting more money into schools with out demanding that they teach kids.
Only 15% can read, in 3rd grade, at MPS and another dozen schools. Since 1970 spending has gone up tenfold for half the kids and scores are down.
Hey Wississippi Cuckservative Indigestion, welcome back! We haven’t seen you ever since the big election. What did you think about Dallet crushing that big fat bought and paid for corporate toady the republicans hand picked because he wouldn’t recuse himself from cases involving entities that gave him huge amounts of money? Yeah, that guy LOST. Where you been? Hey, on the issue of Democrats running a Bernie type guy,
When do we get to the legalizing cannabis part? I like the free market vs the black market. Does that make me a Marxist? A communist?
Dump Walker 2018
It’s not just the left that hates Trump. That’s why he is bad news for Walker. That’s obvious to a four-year-old WCD.
In a corporate plutocracy of the kind Wisconsin has become, there are a number of reasons for Democrats and liberals in general to not get too giddy. First, Republicans have powerful tools designed to maintain permanent control. These include vast amounts of hidden money, which can be used to define and trash any opponent; voter suppression tools; and the racially tinged/liberal hating views of those like Wisconsin Conservative Digest, individuals and groups who are permanently mobilized.
There is also a new reason for Republicans to make every effort to hold onto power. In Wisconsin, as in Washington under Trump, there has been widespread corruption in recent years. Losing power could mean that much of this corruption would be exposed to public view. (Cue the “Democrats are worse”/fake news cards.) In this respect, there is an enormous amount at stake for people who never thought much about losing control.
For the “base,” there is no comparison between Foxconn and Act 10. Public employees and teachers are designated scapegoat groups, along with minorities, poor people, immigrants and the hated “libtards.” Like Putin, a huge shadowy foreign corporation will be defended to the death because they are sponsored by those like Walker who target the base’s scapegoats. Without these scapegoats, there would be no Walker administration.
Finally, there is the important point that you can’t beat somebody with nobody. Whatever his many flaws, Scott Walker has demonstrated the low cunning and willingness to do anything for his sponsors needed to get elected in the current environment. And he benefits from the reality that the pool of “good” opponents shrinks year by year as fewer people are willing to spend their lives sucking up to rich people for money and the opportunity to be subjected to character assassination in the form of 30 second spots.
There are hopeful signs, but it will take clarity and hard work to get these people out.
Walker is in trouble. In an ideal world he needs to square up against Tony Evers. As much as the liberal media demanded a Trump v. Clinton campaign. Ideally,I believe Walker needs to focus on Tony Evers. Dallet was a good Candidate, Screnok was not. May the political gods give us Tony Evers.
Makes me think of his first cousin, Alfred E Newman. “What, me worry???”
I pray for Tony Evers, he is the mot boring incompetent in history. Looks like Ichabod Crane. He has increased spending a lot and the kids still cannot read.
While Frank is correct that Walker will use “low cunning” to try to sneak out a win, and that sleaziness is a GOP advantage in general, he’s in a much worse spot than in 2014.
The Walker is corrupt” theme isn’t just an accusation, but is obvious to anyone outside of RW Bubble Land . So Scotty will lose “drain the swamp” voters.
Walker can’t be trusted to care about the state the moment after he would be re-elected. Remember how he abandoned Wisconsin, cut the daylights out of the UW in 2015, and basically put up a budget that had no chance of passing reality?
Job growth continues to fall and lag behind. There’s no reason to think things will get better if Scotty gets another 4 years, and likely gets a lot worse.
Scotty had a secret plan to fix the roads in 2014. 4 years later, the situation is worse.
The public Twitter meltdowns and fiasco about trying to prevent special elections has destroyed any of that “Unintimidated” image that some suckers still believed in 4 years ago.
He’s a seamy lifetime politician in a time when no one wants seamy lifetime politicians.
Oh, and Dem voters despise Walker and will turn out in big numbers to boot him, while casual/occasional voters will be voting Dem in a wave year. There are more hard-core anti-Walker voters than hard-core pro-Walker ones. Remember, Walker did no better than the nationwide GOP performance in 2010 and 2014. He is NOT a special or popular politician.
Sure, Scotty will have money behind him. But so did New Coke in the 80s- if the product is known to be a bad product, no amount of money will change people’s minds. If anything, Walker’s high name recognition is a negative these days.
It could well be argued that keeping Walker is more of a risk than getting rid of him and voting for a new person in charge. If the Dem candidate takes the fight to Scotty, much like how Dallet took the fight to the NRA and WMC and turned the spotlight on them, and keeps reminding Wisconsinites of the many failures and the embarrassments of the last 8 years (and especially the last 4), that Dem is likely to be in the Governor’s chair in 9 months.
Bad match ups for Walker.
– Malon Mitchell (polically savy,mobilise African American base),
-Kathleen Vinehout ( strong on Democratic issues, country girl, Pro life) .
Dark Horse (Rep. Kelda Roys, D-Madison)- Left wing version of Trump
Wisconsin Conservative Digest: You have a habit of denigrating others in personal terms, including their physical appearance. Could you please list your accomplishments and the physical attributes that set you above those you disdain?
Bruce : I agree with you. I support your views. Walker has little to be worried about. Even if he is not elected again. His agenda has won in Wisconsin, and most everywhere, across our nation, and in our ever more first-world countries, around our globe. Scott and his father and family, are but peons, in our international corporate financial tyranny. Of course you know, your soul knows, too well. But we fight against all current tyrannies. Thank you for your heroic work ! steve
Gwen MOore could beat him. Can you imagine?
Democrats have their flaws as well. Last month the Democrats had a governor’s debate. They allowed five, heterosexual, white, male contenders to speak on Wisconsin issues that people of color and other sexual orientations find Paramount. The African American candidate and the the two female candidates were not given a chair on the stage or the microphone time
to speak to the voters. DIVERSITY ???
In addition to the national headwinds, Walker’s bigger problem is that we’ve seen the movie from this guy, and more people hate it than love it.
And there are a lot more failures now than in 2014. Remember that Walker was claiming in that campaign that he didn’t want right-to-work (for less), and that he wouldn’t pass further restrictions on abortion. He lied on both of those.
Heck, Scotty claimed he would serve his full 4 year term, then ran off to Iowa 5 minutes after he was re-elected to fail miserably at running for president.
4 years ago, Walker was an “Unintimidated” political celebrity in some circles. Nowadays, he’s a whiny little grifter who makes Trump-like Twitter meltdowns.
He covered up the Lincoln Hills mess for 6 years, and schools are still massively underfunded today.
And he isn’t facing a hand-picked, unchallenged and unknown opponent like Mary Burke. Whoever wins the Den primary will have earned it, and will have recognition and good will built up among voters.
There’s also no Black Man in the White House for weak-minded white people to “send a message” to. Now, it’s the corporate slime and NRA gun nuts that people want to “send the message” to.
This isn’t 2014, and we know things won’t get better if Walker stays as governor. Bruce’s last sentence nails it – among casual voters, change is a positive. And Scotty is not the change they want.
So much to work with it. Unfortunately with progressives, they need wind in their sails. Now with these elections, there is wind in their sails.
And if we win those two special elections or come close, Walker sinks deeper.
We have neglected to mention the dweebs in the GOP legislature. They will have a lot to answer for, including that they have allowed the pollution of the drinking water outstate.
Nothing is a for sure in politics as we saw in 2016. But with enough effort from the grassroots, our time can beat their money.
The hate on this page is incredible. Hate never wins. Walker has saved Wis. from being illinois.
Ichabod Crane is a legend that lost his head. Evers is a SS of Education who has never solves a problem.
We give education more money and our scores go down. Spending up tenfold sincee 1970 for far fewer kids.
At MPS kids cannot even read. They can read In Bangladesh.
Evers has no solutions to anything.
“The hate on this page is incredible. Hate never wins.”
Says the man who for years now has spent all day, every day here calling liberals names and accusing everyone of being a racist (among other things). Conservatives literally have no sense of irony. Is it funny or sad?
WCD up his customary BS today, bemoaning “hate” to support his favorite politicians Walker and Don the Con, who made their living by demonizing others, dividing and conquering, and encouraging hate of “those people”. Classic case of a far right extremist knowling and wrongly chastizing others for what they love to do, drive up the hate thermometer and encourage fear.
@Wississippi Cuckservative Indigestion, Stop crying snowflake! This is what you get after sleazy Walker and repukeagains crap on half the state for eight years! Deal with it. You like those Supreme Court election tesults? That was almost 60% of Wisconsinies talking, show some respect. There os MORE losing in your future. If people are mad, good, they are paying attention. It’s the hate that hate made! Walker and rebarfagains have destroyed the state. They have gotten drunk on power after decades of mooching of the taxpayers. They got rot-gut liquor drunk and drove the state right into the ditch. Health care premiums are sky rocketing, but not in “socialist” Minnesota! Republicans sold themselves and the state off to the highest corporate bidder and corrupted the state with their Dark Money. They stole our voting rights by gerrymandering the state as well as trying to BLOCK ELECTIONS, republicans and Wallker trashed the environment, Walker failed at creating real jobs and a real economy so he tried to buy one by handing 4.5 Billon of our tax dollars over to a foreign company in Corporate Welfare for some crappy tv screen maker jobs. They are far right-wing charlatans, miscreants, tricksters, evildoers, thugs and goons. They all must be dumped in November.
Dump Walker
Dump ALL Republicans
Walker has saved Wisconsin from a functioning road network, sharing revenue with municipalities, and a rainy day fund when the next recession hits. Thanks!
As for education, what’s the solution WCD? More accountability? There is already a glut of administrators in public schools doing…something. I’m not sure exactly. More choice in schools? Voucher and Charter schools are some of the worst performing schools in Milwaukee.
How ’bout we start busing kids to Brookfield and Mequon? They seem to have that secret sauce (hint: it’s $$$ in schools and at home).
I can just picture Scottie in his bubble bath up at the fancy governor’s mansion we pay for, hamming it up with his billionaire corporate donors on the phone, tweeting about how it’s all the “far left”, “unions” and poor peoples’ fault. Meanwhile the roads and schools in Wisconsin are collapsing.
Thoughtful article, Bruce! You’re probably accurate about the amount of money Walker will have available for negative advertising. That’s why Democrats must consider a candidate who has sworn off big money and the corruption it buys.
Mike McCabe’s “people powered” campaign is the antidote to the legal bribery that currently poisons Wisconsin’s politics.
I worry that even if the blue wave extends through November, a traditional Democrat–especially one who has accepted big contributions him- or herself–may not be carried into the Governor’s mansion. Like Bernie Sanders, McCabe is an independent. Like Sanders, he accepts only small contributions from ordinary people. His vision for clean and fair government in Wisconsin offers the starkest contrast to Walker’s catering to corporations and other big money interests. In fact, McCabe won’t even live in the mansion when he’s elected!
Really stupid comment. Billioniares are all Dems.
Schools spending in Wis. up tenfold since 1970 for half as many kids and scores are down cause of inept leaders in education.
Just wrote a comment about Mike McCabe’s candidacy.
Wondering why it’s not been published….
Oops. I see it now. Hope Patrick Dunphy (above) sees it too.
WCD must pull facts out of his ass the same way Walker and Trump do. Check the facts and you’ll see you are completely wrong. Conservatives run from the facts and truth constantly.
Tony Evers? He’s a nice-enough guy, but I can’t imagine swing voters or young voters standing in line to vote for Evers, or for any of the usual suspects, for that matter. I think Dems make a mistake if they run the same old kind of candidate in 2018. Don’t get me wrong. Mary Burke was a good candidate who came close to success, but couldn’t overcome the conservative wave sweeping the state. This year’s Dem candidate won’t have to climb the same obstacles in the same way.
If Dems want to drive turn-out, they’d do better to advance a younger candidate who is willing to run a grass roots campaign fueled by ideas rather than big money. Mitchell, McCabe, and Roys might not have name recognition, but they’re fresh faces with new ideas. And they seem to understand how to use earned media to counter-balance big advertising dollars.
Anyway, it feels like the winds of change might be picking up speed. It’ll be really interesting to see how the primary shakes out in August.
@ Sam, Your comments on the schools are dead on. Visit the John Birch Society website and look at Scott Walker promoting the privatization of our public schools. 244 charter schools in Wisconsin all over the State and growing rapidly. Sucking money out of the public school coffers. That is what these administrators are up to. Germantowns superintendent privatized the entire Montello School District, then promptly left for Germantown. He and the Board of Education Director are actively speaking at John Birch Society forums. All funded by the Bradley Foundation.
Yeah right WCD, Walker cut a billion from education over his eight year reign of terror but in an election year he raised it just a little, just enough to make it seems like he cares. Sorry you nor he can fool Wisconsinites anymore. And Scottie is dismayed by this of course. Sorry Scottie, Wisconsin is smarter despite your massive cuts in education!
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/scott-walker-dismayed-that-wisconsin-apparently-smarter-despite-cuts-in-education
I agree with everything you say, CS! Especially your mention of McCabe! (See my comment above if you haven’t already read it.)
WCD (33) Happy to educate. 61 percent of billionaires are Republicans https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/gregoryferenstein/2016/02/26/a-lot-of-billionaires-are-giving-to-democrats-heres-a-data-driven-look-at-their-agenda/amp/
Yet more LIES from Wississippi Cuckservative Indigestion! Here you go folks. Here is a quick list of Billionaires that have donated to Career Politician Scott Walker’s campaign(s) in the past. Remember, the liar WCD claims they “are all democrats.”
The Koch Brother of course, they are BIG democrats and Sheldon Adelson too, total democrat, John Menard, Joe and Marlene Ricketts, Diane Hendricks, all democrats, super far lefties, then there is Christy Walton, Arkansas resident, Wal-Mart heiress and world’s richest woman, she pitched in for Walker’s campaign.
Thomas Peterffy of Interactive Brokers donated to Walker.
Robert McNair, billionaire owner of the Houston Texans, gave to Walker.
Joseph Craft of the billionaire Tulsa oil family donated $25,000 to Walker’s reelection.
Rich DeVos, founder of Amway and billionaire resident of Michigan, offered up $250,000 to Walker.
Stanley Hubbard, the Minnesota billionaire behind DirecTV, wrote Walker a nice check.
Bernard Marcus, billionaire Home Depot founder is a Walker donor.
Joe Ricketts, patriarch of the billionaire family who own the Chicago Cubs, donated $100,000.
Trevor Rees-Jones, a billionaire oil and gas mogul from Dallas, pitched in to Walker’s campaign.
Bruce Kovner, a New York hedge fund tycoon and billionaire as well as Louis Bacon, also a New York billionaire and CEO of Moore Capital Management, they are also are Walker donors, as are Patrick Ryan, founder of insurance giant Aon and resident of Illinois, all these Billionaires donated to Walker and that’s just scratching the surface of Walker and Wisconsin republican’s mega-rich donors. But of course as Wississippi Cuckservative Indigestion claims “these Billionaires are all Democrats”. Yes, that’s why these hardcore democrats gave tons and tons of money to a far right-wing Republican extremist like Career Politician Scott Walker. Makes sense, to an idiot like yourself.
You see WCD, this is exactly why nobody believes jacksh#t about what you say because it’s all LIES.
Dump Walker 2018!!
Dump ALL republicans in 2018!!
I’d vote for McCabe in a heart beat! He’d be sooo good for Wisconsin after years and years of republican corruption and destruction.
Dump Walket
“Walker has saved Wis. from being illinois (sic).”
And he has unfortunately prevented it from being Minnesota!
Well said Ed! Thank God for Minnesota! They have a real economy, fully funded schools, a fantastic affordable health care system, a giant budget surplus, decent roads, free and fair elections, respect for civil rights, gay rights, abortion rights, a medical cannabis program etc etc AND the social fabric of the state hasn’t been torn apart by a republican and Walker devised strategy to “divide and conquer” aka sh#t on everyone in the state except corporations (preferably foreign ones) and the mega-rich.
Dump Walker
Move, we are better our schools get just as much money as they do, anyway money is not reason to have bad schools like w e do. Jersey spends 50% more and theirs are worse. Catholic school spend 50% less. and do better.
Honestly I think WCD is a terrible human being as I do of anyone who supports Walker, Trump and the Republican party.
It’s the party of white supremacy and murder, voter suppression and homophobia, and destroying the middle class.
There entire philosophy is based on division and hatred of others.
Lucky for the rest of us millenials and the generation after don’t care about skin color, etc…they were screwed by trikle down economics, and get murdered at school because of the NRA and Republicans.
WCD confuses success of his scum bag side with theft.
As his generation generation passes on, the filth of the right will become a lesson on totalitarianism.
WDC — why should we believe you? For all we know you have pulled these figures out of your ass.
Link up or shut up.
You move WCD. It’s our state as much as yours. Real Americans don’t run like chickenhawk republicans like Trump aka Cadet Bonespurs. We have every right to stay and fight for our state and we will DUMP WALKER IN 2018! So deal with it!
Terry, Jake. I cannot thnak you more for the endless humor yu give me daily
WDC — you do great hostage notes.
WCD – You have absolutely no credibility.
All those you support are grifters and criminals, white supremacists and xenophobs, homophobes, and thieves.
What does that make you WCD?
Your welcome Bob! I haven’t stopped giggling myself since Dallet won! Heading back out west for a few days. I’ll swing by the Kush Mart and burn one for ya in celebration. Ah, sweet smell of…success!
Dump Walker
Is this what republicans mean by “family values?” Yuck!
http://www.wisn.com/article/political-advisor-with-ties-to-walker-ryan-accused-of-keeping-sex-slave/19694029
Terry have a toke for me. Enjoy!!!
Well at least reading WCD’s posts…we know he has first hand experience on schools failing to educate!
After Walker The Headless Horseman actually sounds pretty good!
Hey WCD Wisconsin spends more on its prisons currently than we do on our schools! That is all anybody needs to know about Walker and republican priorities.
Vote Walker and all these GOP bums out!
Walker will win again in 2018 because he will go back to the message that ALWAYS works in Wisconsin: Divide & Conqueor.
For the past 8 years, every Republican that has won big in Wisconsin has spent big money on one message; that they will smack down those whining bee-yotches overpaid, lazy, POS, (women) school teachers. Ripping public employees, especially female ones is a 100% recipe for electoral success in Walker’s Wisconsin.
In Walker’s Wisconsin, a little girl can be anything she wants to be when she grows up, as long as she understands that she has no control over her own body, and has no right to live a life independent of marriage to a man whom she will dutifully serve the rest of her life. Act 10 was really about putting a bunch of uppity bee-yotches in their place. By cutting teacher pay 20% since 2011 and making teaching into a low paying dead end job, Walker has cut off a major route to middle class independence for women.
Look for Walker to return to demonizing public employees, especially women, in the fall election on his way to a huge victory margin by dividing Wisconsin even more. All as young, educated people flee this hateful state in ever-increasing numbers. Young men and women don’t want to live in a state that embraces such hatred for women, but that hatred is going to elect Walker and a lot of like-minded Republicans this fall.
Walker will come
Totally irrelevant figure. Thugs cannot be educated. Catch and release like we have in Milwaukee does not work. Spending on schools educators is way up and scores are down.
The proveb problem in Milwaukee is poverty.
Poverty the WOW counties conservatives support and foster.
Walker uses his supporters bigotry of minorities to divide and conquer and give blood sacrifice of inmates to the for profit prison industries that give campaign dollars.
WCD supports this enslavement of black people.
Tom- Scotty will try the “divide and conquer” game, but demonizing public employees and poor people doesn’t work with people in 2018 like it did in 2012.
The other problem is that Scotty is on the wrong side of some key issues that wide deaths of independents and even Republicans support, such as:
Outlawing gerrymandering
Calling special elections when seats come open
Money in politics and being an NRA/Koch puppet
CAFOs and related pollution of rural waterways.
Stealing money from public schools with vouchers
Divisiveness and button-pushing only works for so long. At some point, people turn around and say “We stuck it to all those people, and my life still sucks.” And the groups left to stick it to are ones liked more than the politician trying to stir up hatred, so “divide and conquer” becomes a loser.
Tony Earl taught the GOP how to gerrymander as did Dems in the 1800’s like Jackson. Silly to have elections 5 months before the next election.
Koch/NRA are way down the list from Soros and the big Dems contributors.
When the public schools cannot teach kids to read, the state has the responsibility of finding ways to teach the kids to read.
Funding for schools, public, has gone up tenfold since 1970 for far fewer kids yet in 12 districts only 15% of kids can read after third grade.
Salaries for educators are way up, pensions are fat, they not work too hard.
There for state constitution requires the state to find alternatives to teach kids to read..
When the Left controlled Wisconsin, Milwaukee city/county they prove daily the they cannot run a whore house in Alaska at height of Gold Rush.
WDC — did you make that up all by yourself?
Walker is toast. His only hope is that Evers is the nominee. Liberals came out for Dallet. If the Conservatives showed up only for Screnock. The left side has a 56-44 edge similar to the primary when you add up Burns total with Dallot. Walker needs two groups to show to make up for the Blue Wave. The Trump voter (questionable) or three quarters of Independence. Walker needs to go nuclear and send Trump to Green Bay, Wausau and Minneapolis or any airport near Superior.
One big flaw not pointed out above is the voter make up in November. Dallet won with only 22 percent of elgible voters. November could be 60 percent elgible voters. Last week’s election saw weak Milwaukee numbers and that is not good for Walker. If Madison and Milwaukee vote 80-20 in November. Walker will have to carry the rest of Wisconsin 66-34. Hard to do with Foxconn lingering and it’s lack of enthusiasm outside of southeast Wisconsin
It’s funny that trump fan wcd brings up a whore house.
Churchill: :Facts are funny things, there they are”.. Here all we get is Lefty opinions.
Never thought I’d be saying this, but WCD is absolutely correct. One cannot base their views of the political climate in Wisconsin based on the opinions expressed here. Fact is, the majority of voters in Wisconsin, most certainly in the red counties that put Walker and Trump in office, hold views exactly like WCD and even more extreme.
Last summer, a national union did some polling across the red counties of Wisconsin. One question in the poll was to express the first word you think of after a prompt. The prompts were: fireman, policeman, nurse, teacher. The results were horrifying to anyone who is thinking of a teaching career in Wisconsin. While top 5 responses to policeman, firefighter and nurse were words like, “Brave, kind, nice, friendly, compassionate, hero”, the top 5 responses from male survey participants for teacher included, “lazy, stupid, thug, and in some counties, “bee-yotch”. That poll has never been released, but I’m betting the right wingers have done similar polls and gotten similar results.
Based on the response rate, there are probably between 300,000-500,000 males in the red counties with complete hatred of teachers. WCD’s views are really mainstream views in Walker’s Wisconsin.
Leah Vukmir’s numbers are up since she began running the ad touting her standing up to the hordes of union thugs that had besiged the Capitol. In every successful school referendum on Tuesday, Superintendents went to great pains to say that “not $1” would ever wind up in the pockets of those greedy school teachers. Some superintendents listed how many lazy school teachers they have fired since Act 10 to show taxpayers that they know how to treat these lazy union thugs. The more anti-teacher the message, the more likely the referendum was to pass.
Ripping public employees, especially women school teachers is still a winning formula in Walker’s Wisconsin. Looks for Walker to find more ways to hurt teachers and their families as the election ramps up this fall. Wisconsin still is a very bad place for women in general and school teachers in particular.
A picture of Barack Obama still hangs in my child’s school. No respect.
Funny. My wife is school teacher. the problem lies with the union: “Shanker”.. We have nothing to do with education it is all salaries, bennies, political power”.
That attitude wrecked the teachers in Wis.
Fact is that we have spent billions on education, big salaries, bennies no one else has, with no results. Scores down.
We actually got better education in one room school houses.
In 12 districts the union has blocked all efforts to fix problems.
It’s worse than when I put together plan to bust it up in 1974.
People want results for their money. Where has the effort to fix these districts come from: Conservatives. Educators have defeated everything, made life so miserable for Supers they can never get anything done. Why do they leave every other day???
Thornton told us that Barrett, left, unions, Admin, stopped him everywhere.
A competing local media source wrote another pro-teacher MPS story discussing the upcoming MPS budget and how teachers may have to pay more than 7% of their medical coverage.These poor teacher. The face of the working poor. Cuts,cuts no where did it state the average MPS student cost $15,000 A year versus about $10,000 for choice school. Tony Evers 2018…run a pinhead-teacher against Walker.
It’s incredible how much “talk” Bruce’s article has generated. I can’t help but wish that more of that time and energy were spent on actual “work” trying to get a candidate elected who will bring real, progressive change to Wisconsin government. If you’d like to help Mike McCabe in that effort, go to his website or Facebook page and sign up for whatever you’d like to do. Or you can contact me at the Washington County for Mike McCabe Facebook page or at denuhlig98 at gmail dot com. Thanks.
W.C.D.
-Superintendent Thornton WAS F I R E D by the board.
-Or facts not matter to your arguments ??
-“We actually got better education in one room school houses.” ( Where is there is a one room schoolhouse recently beside the ones at Old World Wisconsin) ????
-Me make argument like WCD : Run off at mouth. No like facts & reality. Live in conservative pipe dream.
drink scoptt walker Kool aid all day long.
Thorntons appraisal of Milwaukee :
“:Thornton, in a rare moment of candor, compared the “less complex” Baltimore to Milwaukee, telling Baltimore’s City Paper “you don’t have 34,000 children in vouchers, you don’t have a charter system that’s supported by the governor, supported by the mayor, who can charter schools, supported by the UW system that can charter schools, by every community college that can charter schools—and God only knows what the legislation is this year.”
Why is it all the educators talk about is their bennies, vacations, salaries, but no one worries about the fact that the kids cannot read.
MPS and another dozen districts, have gone straight downhill, the last 40 years, and all we get is whining, no answers, solutions.
My Dad used to say: “well if you cant do it find someone that can”.
Tommy has: CHOICE.
Please explain what Barak did to hell race relations, and kids to read?
It’s incredible how much “talk” Bruce’s article has generated. I can’t help but wish that more of that time and energy were spent on actual “work” trying to get a candidate elected who will bring real, progressive change to Wisconsin government. If you’d like to help Mike McCabe in that effort, go to his website or Facebook page and sign up for whatever you’d like to do. Or you can contact me at the Washington County for Mike McCabe Facebook page. Thanks.
What si progressive change?
Something we should all be interested ni.
List it?
Eric, not one word about the kids. That is liberalism it is all about them the hell with the kids.
Left cannot solve any problems or un anything look at Doyle/Barrett.
“What is progressive change?”
As if you aren’t just going to argue against every single element of progressive change, regardless of what anyone types. That said, I’m falling for the bait:
*BadgerCare for all, at minimum make it a public option
*Further implement a progressive tax structure (rich pay far higher rates than they currently do)
*Reverse gerrymandering; creating neutral third party to handle redistricting
*Restore funding to UW system
*Legalize recreational marijuana; invest receipts in education and treatment
*Reverse Act 10; pay teachers what they are actually worth to society
Then again, you know what the left wants, and you don’t like it. So why ask the question?
Nice to here from the McCabe fan club. He could of scored a homerun at the lat debate if he granted his microphone time to a candidate of color or opposite gender maybe questioned the candidate format. Instead we white, grumpy, old, men discussing abortion and race relations.
Badgercare for all. Right there is an additional 5 percent state sales tax what is next, socialist? No more prisons….every illegal immigrant gets $15,000 a year to catch up to the white race.
What I thought: Raise taxes, chase out the wealthy, seniors businesses, Legalize pot send our kids to the morgue, like California/Colorado.
Give more money to the UW. College spending has risen 65 times what i paid in 1962. Economist, NY Times has said that the colleges have fatted up on kids cause they could get loans. Outrageous.
reverse Act 10 and chase out seniors from home with big tax increases.
Always more taxes for the working families, few rich in this state. Drive seniors from their home.
Joe, you stated badgercare as an option to the average taxpayer. Since badgercare is a better option than almost any coverage in the private sector how will it be funded? Interesting, that 13 percent of are workforce works two jobs and the unemployed or Friends of Joe get better health insurance.
WCD
“My wife is school teacher.”
Fire bad. Food good.
WCD, it seems pretty simple all those felons with guns we lock up that are used in assaults, robberies, drug deals and auto theft. We have to let them out because we have to many gun laws. The national rifle association wants to lock up bad actors and the left wants to set them free.
WCD: I wouldn’t bring up drugs and killing Wisconsin’s children if I were you. You and your peers have been killing plenty with all of the opiods you have happy been dispensing. Or are you just upset that you can’t get your hands on marijuana revenues too?
Thanks, Joe. Straight from Mike’s platform. Where are you? I’d love to have your help–and the help of anyone else on this site who believes that an independent candidate–with no party loyalties to worry about–no big money bribes to pay back in sweet deals to contributors–no qualms about getting a redistricting plan in place that has voters choosing their representatives and not the other way around–a candidate who wants common folks to get back in control of their government, and who believes that trying to convince people like Troll and WCD of anything positive is a waste of time and energy.
Mike believes–like I do–that we should be talking about our vision for improving Wisconsin and working to restore the clean and progressive government that once was a hallmark of the state for people all across the country. My email address is in the comment I wrote above. Get in touch, if you’d like to help get him elected.
Since badgercare is a better option than almost any coverage in the private sector how will it be funded?
I always hear this argument. You do realize that Americans currently spent $3.4 Trillion a year on healthcare (with worse health outcomes than most civilized nations), much of which could be diverted to a public option without seeing a change in take-home pay. Unless you are an insurance company CEO i fail to see why you wouldnt support this.
Progressive change means raising taxes for the Middle class cause we do not have enough enough rich to buy much, rising property taxes, if they revoke Act 10, for more school spending without any demand for improvements, raising sales taxes to 10% AS THEY would have had to do in Vermont and California to pay for Universal health care, raising taxes to give the Universities more, even thought they have done quite well without any tuition increases by cutting admin and consolidations and what other goodies do the progressives want? Universal breakfasts?
Ed, I have been fighting Opioid use, misuse, Pot, meth, barbs, and more, for 50 years, have written thousand articles, started the Methadone clinic with Tabak. It is bipartisan epidemic that both sides need to fight.
Easy Solution Wississippi Cuckservative Indigestion…
Dump Walker, Legalize cannabis!
Then use the 200 million in annual new taxes to finally fix the roads and schools Walker and republicans have abandoned and left to rot, all while creating 18,000 new homegrown jobs, hundreds of new businesses brought above ground and simultaneously saving millions on republican prisons and wasted criminalization efforts and instead creating a much more vibrant economy and healthy, egalitarian, fair and equitable society in the process. It’s time for republicans to get the boot so Wisconsin can embrace the free market, not the black market!
Dump Walker
Legalize Cannabis!