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I hope the guy with the vuvuzela leaves the Square now.
I half-apologize to my Twitter followers, as I retweeted the shit out of election coverage, ;_; At least the blog entries were way fewer?!
I do agree with this tweet. For those who don't want to click-through, it's Alex Burns of Politico saying, "I really don't see how you can say that money alone buys a 7-point win in a polarized, highly informed electorate."
And...yeah.
There is no question that Walker out-fundraised Barrett by a massive margin.
But I'm really suspicious of all of the cynical "this election was bought!" statements.
Exit polls from last night showed that 90% of the electorate had its mind made up over a month ago. That is a huge percentage for any election.
I literally cannot think of a single person in my life who has not formed a strong opinion about Walker and his policies. People who agree with Walker's policy aren't misinformed, I don't think. Misguided, sure, but I don't think a saturation of Barrett TV ads would have swayed the people I know in my own life.
For me, the "election in miniature" moment was during the last debate, when Barrett was asked about his economic plans for Wisconsin by the moderator. Barrett spouted off some anti-Walker rhetoric.
Walker: Just to be clear, so everybody's clear here: The Mayor doesn't have a plan, so all he's got is to attack me."
And....yes. Running against rockstar Scott Walker, who's claiming to have economically save the state, our Democratic candidate couldn't make his own fucking economic plan. Somehow, nobody viewed this as a problem!
I'm more angry at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin than I am at Walker, for running such a shitty campaign.
Then again, I might have my own opinions about the DPW, :)
My own personal conclusion from the election: Trust the polling data pre-election; deeply distrust the exit polls. THE EXIT POLLS WILL ALWAYS BETRAY YOU.
My favorite Marquette Poll, conducted by one of my former favorite professors, predicted the final results right on the nose, I think.
Walker's union-busting isn't about the philosophical "right to collectively bargain" discussion. It's about taking away the financial power of unions, who previously donated to Democrats on the same level as GOP millionaires.
Between this and Citizens United, the GOP and their Super PACs have shit in the bag. It is purposeful, and to be honest, masterful.
It is as systematic as the way that Voter ID laws disenfranchise people who are likely to vote Democratic, while making people like my father believe that voter fraud is rampant.
It is sobering, and I for one feel just about wholly incapable of doing a damned thing about it.
ETA: Taking a step back, looking at this post, it might seem incoherent, like I'm saying, "Money doesn't decide elections....except that it does!"
I guess what I mean is that money did not decide this election. People who think it did are looking for something to blame, in my opinion. It's hard to accept that so many people support Walker and/or don't think his actions are worthy of being recalled (that the recall should only be used for misconduct, etc).
I do think money can make the difference in closer races, and it absolutely determines the types of candidates we have in the first place - faceless jackholes, instead of real, authentic people.
I do agree with this tweet. For those who don't want to click-through, it's Alex Burns of Politico saying, "I really don't see how you can say that money alone buys a 7-point win in a polarized, highly informed electorate."
And...yeah.
There is no question that Walker out-fundraised Barrett by a massive margin.
But I'm really suspicious of all of the cynical "this election was bought!" statements.
Exit polls from last night showed that 90% of the electorate had its mind made up over a month ago. That is a huge percentage for any election.
I literally cannot think of a single person in my life who has not formed a strong opinion about Walker and his policies. People who agree with Walker's policy aren't misinformed, I don't think. Misguided, sure, but I don't think a saturation of Barrett TV ads would have swayed the people I know in my own life.
For me, the "election in miniature" moment was during the last debate, when Barrett was asked about his economic plans for Wisconsin by the moderator. Barrett spouted off some anti-Walker rhetoric.
Walker: Just to be clear, so everybody's clear here: The Mayor doesn't have a plan, so all he's got is to attack me."
And....yes. Running against rockstar Scott Walker, who's claiming to have economically save the state, our Democratic candidate couldn't make his own fucking economic plan. Somehow, nobody viewed this as a problem!
I'm more angry at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin than I am at Walker, for running such a shitty campaign.
Then again, I might have my own opinions about the DPW, :)
My own personal conclusion from the election: Trust the polling data pre-election; deeply distrust the exit polls. THE EXIT POLLS WILL ALWAYS BETRAY YOU.
My favorite Marquette Poll, conducted by one of my former favorite professors, predicted the final results right on the nose, I think.
Walker's union-busting isn't about the philosophical "right to collectively bargain" discussion. It's about taking away the financial power of unions, who previously donated to Democrats on the same level as GOP millionaires.
Between this and Citizens United, the GOP and their Super PACs have shit in the bag. It is purposeful, and to be honest, masterful.
It is as systematic as the way that Voter ID laws disenfranchise people who are likely to vote Democratic, while making people like my father believe that voter fraud is rampant.
It is sobering, and I for one feel just about wholly incapable of doing a damned thing about it.
ETA: Taking a step back, looking at this post, it might seem incoherent, like I'm saying, "Money doesn't decide elections....except that it does!"
I guess what I mean is that money did not decide this election. People who think it did are looking for something to blame, in my opinion. It's hard to accept that so many people support Walker and/or don't think his actions are worthy of being recalled (that the recall should only be used for misconduct, etc).
I do think money can make the difference in closer races, and it absolutely determines the types of candidates we have in the first place - faceless jackholes, instead of real, authentic people.