The Final Recall Lap

We can hold onto our hopes. We can work our dialing fingers to the bone. We can donate the last few dollars left over from our meager paychecks. And we can anxiously wait to cast our ballots.

However, the crystal ball is cloudy. The cards are laid out, but not speaking. The tea leaves are not settling on the bottom of the cup. And not one single person in this state can definitively predict the outcome of the June 5 recall election.

Polls only tell us so much. In fact, they say very little. The numbers from the primary cannot be counted as foreshadowing because we simply do not know who voted for whom or why. Perhaps many Democrats stayed home because they simply couldn’t decide. Maybe too many people were confused about the fake candidates. There was so much cross-over voting, you’d have to be a wizard to know the true motives of each voter on May 8.

The next 26 days are absolutely crucial and the words and actions we speak and take need to be done so carefully.

Stop the bickering!! Solidarity is a must right now. So you didn’t back Barrett in the primary…get over it! While none of us enjoy the “anyone but…” scenario – this isn’t a matter of the least worst. Barrett is a good man and solid choice to get us out of this war zone (I will talk more about that in coming weeks). And Mahlon Mitchell is a fresh face who will also help pick up the pieces. These men are not difficult to support and if you are still pooping your pants because Falk or LaFollette didn’t win – wipe your butt and move on. We have less than four weeks to get people out of their beds of apathy, get their heads out of the sand and get their fannies to the polls. There is no time for the divisive belly aching.

According to the Milwaukee Journal, Walker acquired more votes in this primary than any gubernatorial candidate in 60 years. It is no secret that Republicans – especially now with their Tea Party excitability – vote in every single election. They will brave the cold Wisconsin blizzards to vote for a single circuit court judge.  We cannot ignore or deny this fact while we prepare for the recall election. While they may not be attending rallies or banging drums – they are just as energized to vote for their Messiah Walker as we are to vote him out.

The thing is, if you bothered to read this article – you are likely prepared to vote. If you are reading this, your mind has probably been made up for quite some time. If you are reading this, you already know where you stand and why it is important to you. It is the people who are still living in marshmallow land who need to be made aware. It is those who think their vote doesn’t matter who need to be contacted. It is those who think politics do not affect them who need to be educated.

Badgercare has been slashed and is surely facing greater cuts. Public education is being gutted like a fish ready to fry. Job loss in Wisconsin is higher than in any other state. Ground work is being laid to allow for lethal pollution. The most personal rights of women are regressing back to the days of chastity belts and poodle skirts. We simply cannot bear another two years with this leadership at hand. Change needs to be made now before more harm has been done to the people of our state.

Our laws are being written by corporate billionaires and our legislators are puppets looking out only for their personal greed, power and future benefits. And my critics will say that the left has their puppet masters as well. And perhaps that is true. But before this Tea Party takeover…these new armies of extremist politicians…people were not being hurt the way they are now. And the future did not warrant such fear.

I would love to see money absent from all politics one day. Complete campaign and tax reform. No loopholes or lobbyists. But right now we are fighting more immediate challenges. Right now, we need to eliminate the reverse Robin Hood policies taking over our state. And right now we need to wake people up and point them in the right direction and that direction is to the polls on June 5.