Assembly Democrats Stand Up Against DINO’s

At 8:00 pm on primary election night Tuesday, the John Gard congressional campaign and conservative Democrat Robert Ziegelbauer released a television advertisement boasting an endorsement from the Manitowoc Democrat for Republican John Gard. Since then, a lot of Democrats have voiced their frustration with Ziegelbauer’s actions.

I made my position heard today, along with the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee, the organization that works to win seats for Democrats in the State Assembly across Wisconsin. We do not condone his actions and further will not support his candidacy anymore.

Let’s face it. Bob Ziegelbauer epitomizes why the Democrats are in the minority in the State Assembly. Throw a D behind your name and claim you are a Democrat. Ride the yellow line down the middle of the road, and hope no one realizes you stand for something. Coast to victory by barely differentiating yourself from your GOP opponent. And protect your own ass at all costs. God knows helping out the team might affect your comfortable life.

That attitude has helped the Democrats lose ground since 1994.

And we’ve had enough.

Look we are a big tent. However, when you would rather be in a gated country club instead of the tent, we have to let you go on your own.

Assembly Democrats stand for a whole lot more and stand a whole lot more unified than ever before. We fought hard for several bills to address accessible and affordable healthcare. We championed funding for public education and higher education. We fought for good paying jobs and an increase to the minimum wage. We fought the reactionary bills brought by Republicans, from putting discrimination in our state constitution to banning birth control and more. We led the fight to pass SB-1, the ethics reform bill, as John Gard and the GOP killed the bill, weeks after their former leader Scott Jensen received a sentence requiring prison time.

And now we stand for helping elected Democrats - real Democrats - to the State Assembly. But we won’t stand with those who don’t stand with us.

The point is not to trash Bob Ziegelbauer. He is a smart legislator, who is considerably more conservative than every other member of our caucus. He opposed raising the minimum wage. He supported the civil union ban. And he opposes stem cell research. That’s just for starters.

But the only way Democrats will retake the majority is to stand FOR SOMETHING.

The public agrees with us on most every issue. But if we are afraid to piss off the few to support the many, we will continue our downward spiral.

Instead, this is one small stand to show we have values and we will fight for them.

If you agree, help me show what we did was right. Go to the Assembly Democrats webpage, and consider contributing to our cause.

We are featuring Democratic candidates in 85 of the state’s 99 districts, the most in over 22 years. We are fighting hard to win the majority, with real Democrats. But the only way we can win in November is with your support.

Please help me prove that by being proud about being Democrats, we can and will win this November.

Give to the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee. Give $84 dollars. A buck for every race with a Democrat, except for Bob Ziegelbauer. We need your help now more than ever.

Please give $84 or whatever you can afford today. Thank you.

What to Do About Ziegelbauer?

Jeff Hall has a great in-depth post about conservative Democratic State Representative Bob Ziegelbauer's television advertisement he cut on behalf of REPUBLICAN Congressional candidate John Gard.

Ziegelbauer was silent about the ad until the polls closed yesterday, after HIS primary election was over. The ad was released just after 8pm.

Sure, as Hall shows, his voting record probably matches Gard's more than mine. But Ziegelbauer is supposed to be a DEM.

What do you think about this? Should Ziegelbauer pay a price? Or is he just doing this to save his behind in November, so lay off?

I'll post my thoughts later Thursday, but I'd love to hear yours now.

Primary Election Observations

Here are my personal observations from last night's primary elections.

Attorney General's Race:
GOP Primary - Bucher may suck after all, according to a majority of GOP voters. Van Hollen won, as I expected, making him one of the least experienced people to seek the office of AG. But he does have a few bucks to spend on the race.... Van Hollen brought us the campaign highlights of saying his opponent "sucked" and that a terrorist cell was in your basement right here in Wisconsin. The far right should be pleased.

Democratic Primary - Kathleen Falk wins. Falk ran hard and won, alleviating fears of many Democratic voters that Peg would be chopped up and spit out by the negative GOP spin machine this November. For the record, Peg Lautenschlager is a good person and a good AG. However, those of us who have watched campaigns for years know what the GOP would do to her from airing footage of the drunk driving arrest to raising the personal use of her state car to asking why there were hit-and-runs in her vehicle, including one in her driveway. Then they would really start their attacks. Peg deserves better, and I hope the Democratic powers-that-be recognize that and assist her in any way in the coming months. Kathleen is a superb candidate and will win this fall, ensuring a better Wisconsin for the environment, consumers, civil rights and more.

Secretary of State's Race: The people of Wisconsin truly love "Fighting Bob" La Follette. They love him so much that one hundred years after he was elected Governor, five-thousand people still show up annually at a festival named after him. And trying to beat anyone with a name even remotely close to his is close to impossible to do, which Scot Ross found out last night.

Lt. Governor's Race, GOP Primary: For the hand-picked Lt. Governor nominee Jean Hundertmark to only win a primary with 56 percent of the vote against a non-campaigning nobody, shows the GOP would rather elect ANY man to statewide office than a woman. Yikes. It is 2006, isn't it?

8th Congressional District: No surprise to political observors, but John Gard and Steve Kagen won their respective primaries. One GOP lawmaker told me if this is the match-up, Kagen will win. I hope so. It would be fun to see John Gard doing a job he's more appropriately qualified for....I can't wait to get my car washed in Peshtigo November 8. Kudos to Jamie Wall, who outperformed virtually everyone's expectations in the Democratic primary.

State Legislative Races: Strong candidates came out of the primaries, making the State Senate closer to taking the majority for Democrats and the State Assembly closer to picking up a significant number of seats. Watch this blog for more about this in the very near future.

Overall, it was a fun election night. But I have to admit I am glad the primaries are over. Too many people get irrational over their support for one candidate versus another in primaries when the real focus should be on defeating conservatives in November. The differences between Peg and Kathleen on policy, for example, are very minor compared to the differences between either Democrat and J.B. Van Hollen. I hope everyone can rally appropriately for a victorious November.

Blog Lite & Your Predictions

Sorry for the lack of blogs the last few weeks, but my responsibilities at my business, the Capitol and helping candidates outside the building have got the best of me.

The peak at my business is winding down, so I promise to post more often in the very near future.

So, what are your predictions for next Tuesday?

Van Hollen (aka You Suck) or Bucher (aka No I Don't Suck)? Lautenschlager (I'll Go Negative First But No One Will Call Me On It) or Falk (Falk Is Attacking, Read All About It)?

Kohl or Masel? (There you go Ben, sorry for the lack of attention) Ross (Hard Working) or La Follette (Of the La Follette Tradition, Give or Take a Few Name Changes)?

Nusbaum, Wall or Kagen? Gard or McCormick? (OK, anyone who actually thinks McCormick will win should probably find a new line of work)

Travis or Saunders? Carol Owens (Yes She Is Still Alive) or Her More Alive Opponent? Other Legislative Races???

Post your comments. I'll leave 'em all on to read unless you slander. That means even you Todd Rongstad can post...if you're not too busy putting together GOP attack pieces for the Assembly Republicans.