November 13, 2012
Karl Rove--we hardly knew ya
The New York Times carries a story today about a PGA pro who suffered a panic attack on the practice tee just before the third round but with lots of medical help played the rest of the tournament and won! Imagine if Karl Rove had been diagnosed with a panic attack on Election Day. Romney would not have won, but Rove might have avoided making a damned fool of himself.
I have to admit I loved watching the fall of Rove. Campaign consultants remind me of player agents. Former Packer great Ken Bowman was asked to name some good agents. "Can't," he explained. "All the good ones are dead."
One of our members explained the reason Democrats and Republicans have trouble: "The Republicans have been cursing the darkness for decades while the Democrats hold unlit candles."
Should be educational. Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Mike Tate is annoyed with my column asking what the role of the party is or should be. I would like to see Tate run for office. Any office. It is sobering. He and I will meet next Tuesday. Your comments are welcome.
I am reminded of the story Mo Udall told about the guy who got drunk and insulted another guy's wife. They agreed to hold a duel the next morning. In the morning the rascal was now sober. He sent a note: "I am running late. Start without me."
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I was disappointed with Mike Tate's absence in two of my local races. I cannot understand how Obama and Baldwin could win in Wisconsin and at the state level the Democratic candidates would get whopped so badly. It is time for new leadership in Wisconsin's Democratic Party.
-Carol Cate | Ripon WI | November 13, 2012
What meeting is next Tuesday? If it is about who is going to run against Walker I would like to be kept informed. I am willing to work on that campaign.
-Kathleen Hart | Muskego, WI | November 13, 2012
Ed writes in the Cap Times:
"Now that we have a moment to think, it is time to figure out the role that we expect our Wisconsin Democratic Party should play. Should the party vet candidates? Recruit candidates? Focus on Assembly and state Senate candidates? Should the party endorse candidates? Should the party run its own polling? Should the party staff campaigns? We have a right to expect that the party will do more than condemn the Republicans."
These are some valid questions and it is not too soon to ask them.
As a former long time resident of MN and now a five year Wisconsin resident just across the St. Croix River, I see a huge difference between the DFL Party in MN from the Dems in WI.
The biggest difference is that the DFL wins elections. It cleaned out the TEAPublicans from the MN Legislature last week and sent another Bagger packing from Congress (Sorry can't explain Michelle Bachmann other than a highy gerrymandered district).
Should Mike Tate consider resigning? He has a consistent string of losses during his tenure as head honcho. Is it Mike's fault? Probably not, but something seems to be missing.
Did the contentious recall elections poison the atmosphere completely?
During a Presidential election, the GOTV effort worked and President Obama carried WI. Why did that result not go down ticket to the state Assembly and Senate?
Ed, you are right on target in asking these questions. If you ruffled a few feathers; so be it.
Perhaps some type of gathering should take place where these questions can be aired should take place.
What do others think?
-Jim Kubiak | Huydson, Wi | November 13, 2012
What would help the Democratic Party? That's an easy one: distinguish themselves from the Republican Party. We have a president who favors Wall St, over Main St. homeowners, we have a congress full of democrats who supported an illegal war like their republican counter-parts, supported an assault on our constitutional rights (Patriot Act) like their republican counter-parts. The democratic party refuses to side with or listen to labor, but is more than willing to take their money. A democratic party who ran a candidate against Walker who used "the tools given him" by Walker to weaken the union. We need a democratic party that has the "cojones" to use the republicans failures against them. In general, Yes, I'd rather the dems had my back vs. Romney, but that's about all.
-Dole O'Mite | Waukesha County | November 13, 2012
We will not move forward if we continue to rely on the Democratic party, which is beholden to the same corporate interests as the Republicans. Both of the corporate parties are thoroughly corrupt and have long outlived their usefulness. The political and economic systems in this nation have been rigged to always benefit the obscenely wealthy thieves. If we are going to pursue electoral politics as a path forward, then we must cultivate organizations and candidates that are not owned by the thieves who are sucking everything they can out of the people who actually work for a living.
-Ron | SoCal | November 13, 2012
The Democratic Party has gone from the "party of the people" to the party of "me too, just less so" when it comes to being a counter to the GOP. It has decided that it is smart to hedge its bets forgetting that when people have the choice between a Republican, and a real Republican, they will vote for the real Republican every time.
I remember being at a Democratic Leadership Conference and listening to a talk from a top campaign guru. He droned on and on. I finally asked him why, if they were so smart, we kept losing elections. He had no answer.
Time to clean that rats nest out or form a liberal/progressive third party that will run for legislative seats.
After all, we now have Dems crowing about how they won this election but the House is still GOP and Obungle is already telling the base to expect to get the shaft over the Fiscal Cliff and what comes out of any deal. Just proves once again that a Dem is someone who sees a Christmas stocking full of horse turds and comes to the conclusion that he is getting a pony from Santa.
-Griebnotz Doerkpfester | (Glad) I Escaped, WI. | November 14, 2012
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