Tuesday, April 2, 2013

DPW would do well to learn from the spring election results

Incumbents have huge advantages in Wisconsin elections

What did we learn from tonight?

The spring election results demonstrate a simple notion, that incumbents do really well in Wisconsin. So well that people are willing to engage in cross-ticket voting just to keep the familiar office holders in power.

Tony Evers and Pat Roggensack were the liberal and conservative candidates for office, respectively. Evers won his race, and Roggensack won hers. Both candidates won by the same percentages, relatively speaking.

Which means that the people who determine the outcomes in Wisconsin elections -- i.e. the moderates -- are content with incumbents keeping the office they hold, so long as they don’t “rock the boat,” so-to-speak.

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin needs to heed the outcomes of tonight with this special warning:

Scott Walker, being the incumbent governor, has a huge advantage already for 2014.

It's going to take one helluva candidate to defeat him next year.

6 comments:

  1. I think your analysis is off here. The pro-voucher candidate for schools got destroyed, same-day registration and overturning Citizens United were overwhelmingly approved of.

    Roggensack's win was more due to name recognition and buying the election. DPW has the edge on the issues IF THEY GET THAT MESSAGE OUT. Walker is on the wrong side if most Wisconsinites with a failed record, and this whole bitching and moaning about how tough he'll be to beat is a self-inflicted wound that shouldn't exist

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  2. Jake, perhaps Ever's win was also due to name recognition and buying the election. We all know who has bought and paid for him! LOL

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  3. Actually Chris is absolutely right and it's something I've worried about. Who on the democratic side can stand toe to toe with Walker? No one from the legislature - all of them are too damaged. There's no tread left on Barret or Falk or (insert retread here). It either has to be Ron Kind or maybe Obey OR it has to be someone like Herb Kohl who can self finance. Unless they get a first class, high quality candidate we'll get four more years of the same. Heaven help us.

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    1. Walker still has time to turn things around for his 2014 campaign. He was foolish to promise 250k jobs; even if 249k were created, the Left would still denounce him.

      The public union goons keep forgetting that Walker made sure their pensions were fully funded unlike pensions in Illinois. The upcoming budget shortfall could be made up for by NOT fully funding the pension. Walker might as well do this at the left wing union's expense. He won't lose any votes as a result.

      Whoever the Demorat candidate is, it doesn't matter. Walker only has to rope-a-dope him/her. Even Feingold couldn't beat Walker b/c Rusty only has a taste for national office--not the governor's office. Feingold would become Wisconsin's version of Jimmy Carter: worthless. Furthermore, Feingold doesn't know Jack Schidt about state politics. Herb Kohl--no, he's out-to-pasture on his Montana raunch. He looks very frail.

      Riff Rafferty Germantown Wisconsin

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    2. Sorry G-town, but outside of 262 bubble world, Walker's a massive failure. You'll feel it soon enough (you probably already are, but your weak-minded self doesn't want to admit it). The GOP is dog food as a party, both in DC, and they're one bad election from being so in Wisconsin.

      The Dems hold majority positions for Wisconsinites in jobs performance and policy, Medicaid and health policy, fairness issues, marriage equality, guns, and education. Walker holds fringe positions on all of these issues, and holding his feet to the fire and telling the truth about what this doofus stands will probably be more than enough.

      The only concern I have is having a strong message and messenger say it. Kind would be a good choice because he'd kill Walker on education and health insurance, but others in the party can also lay it out well. They just need to stay away from retreads like Falk and Barrett. The other challenge is making sure that message be given equal strength to people when it's competing with the 9 hours of Walker spokespeople that pollute AM radio in this state.

      All of this overthought inside baseball BS on money and how Walker won in 2012 is exactly why Dems lose elections when they're the real majority. This is where the Dems should be firing off hard the next 12 months- show that Walker is unacceptable REGARDLESS OF WHO RUNS (and he already is for 40-45% of state voters), and actively doing ads and billboards that draw attention to the RW lie machine. Do that, and stop wasting time whining and worrying about who might run. That guy/gal will get plenty of money and support, no matter who it is.

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    3. "The public union goons keep forgetting that Walker made sure their pensions were fully funded unlike pensions in Illinois."

      Except WRS pensions were *already* fully-funded under the status quo, for many many years before Walker's name was even known statewide. The 'public' part of the pension contribution in fact was always a part of public employees' compensation (see Wisconsin Supreme Court case number 94-0712), not some freebie gift.

      Act 10 was nothing more than a great big wage cut thinly dressed up as some kind of fairness-inducing law for those too simple-minded to do anything other than take Walker at his word.

      Then, if you dare to recall, Act 10 was the FY11 "Budget Repair Bill", not the FY12/FY13 Budget. Owing to the transfers within it actually took money out the General Fund in FY11. That is how much Walker insults your intelligence.

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