After fifteen months of rallies, recalls, and canvassing, the goal Wisconsinites have been pursuing – removing Scott Walker from office – is only a few weeks away. It is really looking as if neither political party has any concept of the real reasons Wisconsin citizens joined together to turn in almost one million signatures to recall our TEApubliCON Governor, 1% Scott Walker.
Political endorsement ads for Tom Barrett show that the national Democratic Party has chosen him as their golden boy. Their reason for this cuts like a sword to grassroots activists, because they are endorsing him for the amount of money he can raise to fend off the millions our Governor has collected for his recall campaign from out of state corporate donors such as the Koch Brothers.
As a Wisconsin Party of Lincoln and Fighting Bob La Follette Republican, I feel that Wisconsin needs to show the rest of the United States that our constitution and laws should not be compromised by any politician who is collecting special interest money. This should apply to both major parties, not just the Republicans.
Grassroots activists did not sit out in the cold, wind, rain and snow to elect another politician whose agenda is dominated by special interest groups. This includes our beloved unions, which blew us all away by endorsing Kathleen Falk before the recall was even certified by the GAB and before their members could weigh in with their votes.
We rank and file members raised our voices loud and clear to ask how it is that a candidate can be endorsed before we even knew who all the candidates were. As more progressive Democrats like Secretary of State Doug La Follette, state senator Kathleen Vinehout, or even Independent Hari Trivedi announced their intentions to run their campaigns solely on small individual donations, we were astonished to see them actually dismissed as irrelevant because there would be no huge war chests amassed by a people based campaign. Thus these candidates could not possibly be contenders in this crucial race.
I was pleasantly surprised by Arthur Kohl-Riggs entering the Republican Primary against Walker as a representative of the progressive Lincoln/La Follette wing of the party. But the supposedly non-partisan We Are Wisconsin groups refused to invite him to our recall candidate meet and greet events. If this is a non-partisan group, why not bring in some rural Republicans to be educated on the candidates from all party platforms? Instead they blew the chance to gain the confidence of voters. They did nothing to quell the suspicions that Democratic Party leadership would attempt to take over this grassroots movement we started during the senate recalls last summer.
Republican, Democrat, Independent, union and non-union – we Wisconsin citizens need to prove that this time money will not determine our politics. We can demonstrate that true feet-to-the-street grassroots activism can recall Scott Walker and bring an end to the Fitzwalkerstan Regime. We can do this, but we need to start right now – TODAY – to promote those candidates who have chosen to answer to the people of Wisconsin rather than to big money and big party interests. We can show that Wisconsin recalls belong to We the People, not to those politicians whose special interest money donors require them to do as they are told.
This is OUR recall folks, not theirs, so start promoting the candidate you really want – instead of the one people are telling you can win – to make it a success!
Wisconsin Citizens Media Cooperative 
Well framed, Dee. Thank you. The two money-powered Democrat candidates don’t even begin to get it. They are doing their level best to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. We need to neutralize them ASAP.
If you are undecided about who to vote for and plan to stay home for the May 8 primary, I suggest you come to the polls and vote for Arthur Kohl-Riggs. This allows you to at least vote against Walker. Who knows. Maybe we can get rid of him in May instead of waiting for June.
I am a bit surprised by some of the statements. You say Falk got in before GAB certified the election and imply that it was wrong to do so. Why do you then praise Vinehout, Trivedi and LaFollette who all got in before GAB certified the election?
I would point out to the best of my knowledge Arthur was at the Racine forum and was invited once he had the signatures in by We Are WI and so was Trivedi.
Also on the union endorsements many were done by rank and file voting, in fact most of them. It also ignores the women’s groups, environmental, and progressive organizations that all endorsed Falk. Isn’t that what a candidate should look for – endorsements by membership grassroots groups?
I agree with the parts about the grassroots deciding this election and one candidate so far has gotten that type of backing on a statewide scale.
Dave, at the time I wrote this Art was pointedly NOT invited to the Portage forum…something I took up with my WE Are WI group. As to Falk, no , it was not her announcement to run but rather the UNION endorsements supporting her as the best candidate before all the candidates running that dismayed me. Yes, endorsements are fine, but many union grassroots activists were upset that their unions endorsed early. I praised Vinehout, LaFollette & Trivedi as running a non special interest sponsored campaign…something we in WI should consider if we truly want to get special interest money out of our politics
Big money got us into this pickle in the first place. Maybe our biggest political problem today is that the candidates are ultimately loyal only to the big money interests who pay for their campaigns. Big money influences the people’s vote so to get elected, all you need to do is to court the money. And money always expects a return.