Why Scott Walker Won and the Democrats in Wisconsin lost

I was going to try avoid writing about this, but I am seeing some rather silly stuff being written about this win; So, I thought I would offer my thoughts as a former Democratic Party voter. Update: Greg Sargent over at The Washington Post hits the post a bit, but fails, as most progressives do; to see the full picture.

Putting it plain and simple, The Democrats in Wisconsin picked a fight that they could not win. — They were outspent, out-organized, and out-boxed; the Democrats had zero chance of winning this recall election at all. But yet, they still decided to fight for a recall election. They should have taken their cues from Michigan and left well enough alone. The Democrats in Michigan tried unsuccessfully to get Governor Snyder recalled here twice and both times they failed horribly. This is because residents of Michigan knew that the former Governor of Michigan was a incompetent moron who could not Govern worth a damn and they did not want a Democrat back in office again. Thus, the Democrats wisely dropped the issue and decided to try and win the 2012 election. Wisconsin should have followed their lead, but they did not and decided to try and force their hand and failed.

Mother Jones has some good ideas as well:

1) Campaign Money is King
Walker crushed his Democratic opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, in the political money wars. The governor raised $30.5 million while Barrett pulled in $3.9 million—a nearly 8-to-1 advantage in candidate fundraising. Walker banked on in- and out-of-state donors, including heavyweight GOP contributors such as Houston homebuilder Bob Perry and Amway heir Dick Devos. Walker was able to raise so much money because of a quirk in state law that lets candidates potentially facing a recall raise unlimited funds for their defense. (The normal limit for individual donors in $10,000.) Barrett did not get to raise unlimited funds in his recall campaign—which placed him at a great disadvantage.
All that money helped Walker pound Barrett in the ad wars. An analysis by Hotline On Call found that Walker and his GOP allies outspent Barrett and his backers 3-to-1 on TV ad buys in the three months before Tuesday’s recall. The dark-money-peddling Republican Governors Association itself spent $9.4 million to keep Walker in office.
Just as the political money advantage proved crucial to labor’s win last year in repealing Ohio’s anti-union SB 5 law, campaign cash appears to have played a pivotal role in the GOP’s Wisconsin wins .
2) The Candidate
Filing nearly one million signatures to trigger a recall election, Democrats and union leaders and members had their sights trained on the governor. The recall election’s Democratic primary forced them to take their eyes off the prize. A primary fight between Barrett and former Dane County executive Kathleen Falk splintered the labor movement. The major unions endorsed Falk early on, sometimes over the opposition of their own rank-and-file. Several other unions held out until late March, when Barrett entered the race, and then endorsed the mayor. This primary drama knocked the anti-Walker effort off course for weeks, if not a month, in a race where every single day counts. It divided a unified movement into Barrett supporters and Falk supporters.
3) No New Ground
Democrats and labor unions touted their massive get-out-the-vote operation, which was supposed to tip the scales in their favor. Turn-out was way up in the elections, at 2.4 million, but the left failed to win over the types of people who elected Walker in 2010. As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinelnotes, Walker’s Tuesday win is a mirror image of his 2010 victory—just with more voters. He won men and lost women; won independents and lost moderates; and won suburban and rural voters but not urban voters.
More notably, Walker won 38 percent of votes from union households—an increase of 1 percent from 2010. Remember, union members or their spouses didn’t know in 2012 that Walker planned to target them after the election with his anti-union “budget repair” bill curbing collective bargaining rights. Yet 16 months after Walker launched his attack on unions, just as many people in union households voted for him. The unions failed to rally their own ranks.

My thoughts on the Unions — One of the main reasons why the unions failed; not because of a lack of members or money. The unions failed because for the following:

They over played their hand, by storming the capital building and occupying it. This made them look like total buffoons in the eyes of the people, not mention the heavy handed tactics that were on par with communist gulags.
The second reason is a rather simple one; not all union members are on board with the progressive movement, just because someone has a union card, does not necessarily make him a Democrat. Some union members are free thinkers and some of them resent being culled in together with the socialist crowd.
The last reason is this; some union members are just not happy with the Democratic Party and with Obama. I believe Obama fatigue played a big part in the loss in Wisconsin. I believe it will also play out in November as well.

Needless to say, Scott Walker won big and the Unions and Democrats lost big. The results of this will be far-reaching and the Democrats in Wisconsin would be wise to lay low and try to hang on in 2012. But if they do not, they should learn the lessons of the massive over-reach that took place in Wisconsin and with the Democratic Party as a whole. However, knowing Democrats like I do; they will not learn a thing from this.

Artur Davis writes one of the most honest articles I have read in a long time

If I ever had the chance to meet this young man, I would thank him for his bravery. This man gets it, and he sees that the Democratic Party is totally broken. I saw it in 2007 and decided that I just could not support them any longer. This was way before the huge economic melt down of 2008. After that, the deal was sealed for me. Never again would I vote for that party.

So, my hats off to this man for seeing that too:

And the question of party label in what remains a two team enterprise? That, too, is no light decision on my part: cutting ties with an Alabama Democratic Party that has weakened and lost faith with more and more Alabamians every year is one thing; leaving a national party that has been the home for my political values for two decades is quite another. My personal library is still full of books on John and Robert Kennedy, and I have rarely talked about politics without trying to capture the noble things they stood for. I have also not forgotten that in my early thirties, the Democratic Party managed to engineer the last run of robust growth and expanded social mobility that we have enjoyed; and when the party was doing that work, it felt inclusive, vibrant, and open-minded.
But parties change. As I told a reporter last week, this is not Bill Clinton’s Democratic Party (and he knows that even if he can’t say it). If you have read this blog, and taken the time to look for a theme in the thousands of words (or free opposition research) contained in it, you see the imperfect musings of a voter who describes growth as a deeper problem than exaggerated inequality; who wants to radically reform the way we educate our children; who despises identity politics and the practice of speaking for groups and not one national interest; who knows that our current course on entitlements will eventually break our solvency and cause us to break promises to our most vulnerable—that is, if we don’t start the hard work of fixing it.
via A Response to Political Rumors | Official Artur Davis.

I have to agree with the man; he is right. The Democratic Party used Barack Obama to get elected, because they had no one else. They threw off Clinton, because they chose identity politics over experience. You see, I remember 2000 and 2004. In 2000, the Democratic Party used a elitist out of touch buffoon, who could not get elected Mayor of a City; much less a President. Al Gore might have been from the south, but he lacked Bill Clinton’s likeability. In 2004, The Democratic Party ran a out of touch, elitist, limousine Liberal who, again, was seen by most as stiff and not of the people. Which he really is not, John Kerry is an incredibly wealthy man.

So, in 2008, the Democratic Party basically had Clinton, Edwards, Biden and yes, Obama. There were people in the Democratic Party, who did not want the Clintons back in the White House at all. So, the party rallied behind Obama for a number of reasons. Yes, race was one of the bigger reasons. Also too, I tend to believe that there were people, who Clinton “did dirty” back during his term in office and they wanted revenge; and revenge they got.

It was with the election of President Barack Obama that the Democratic Party went from being a party of the “New Left” to being a party of the “Neo-Left.” That was the whole changing of the guard within the Party. Saul Alinsky’s dream was finally realized. This is the change that Artur Davis is referring to and it is one that is only going to drive more and more people away from the Democratic Party and I do not mean just white people. Minorities, including blacks, are going to wake up and see that they being played like fiddles in that party. The quicker the better, if you ask me.

All what I wrote above, Reagan knew, long ago — he saw the changes that were happening behind the scenes and promptly changed his political stance. Mainly because he saw what was coming down the pike. Reagan saw that the Communists were changing tactics and embracing “social justice” as opposed to party loyalty. So, he left and embraced his Midwestern upbringing. The truth is Reagan did not change; The Democratic Party changed and they have since gotten totally worse.

Again, Kudos to Mr. Davis and I hope he comes to embrace what he knows to be right.

Audio: Pattrico’s swatter calls into show, insults Patterico and Michelle Malkin

This is unreal and it is the same person. Via Patterico:

This dude is obviously off his rocker. Accusing Michelle Malkin’s cousin of “offing herself” and Malkin of covering it up? How sick! 😡

Patrick Asks:

Two questions come to mind as you review these supremely creepy audio clips:
First: why did the caller make that call now? What does he have to gain?
And second: why did Erick Erickson get swatted last night?

Good questions. Although I will say one thing. Glenn Beck warned us; for that, he was called crazy by the left and by some on the establishment right. Andrew Breitbart warned us too. That this sort of stuff was coming and some dismissed it as fear-mongering. It is not. This is what happens when the left begins to lose the war of ideas; this is what happens when leftist fascists see that they have lost control of the conversation. This is what happens, when Liberals see their President weakened and losing the election. They stoop to this sort of a level.

My advice is simple. Girt your loins, arm yourselves. Prepare for the worst. Keep your faith; if you are truly saved and washed in the Blood of Christ Jesus the Lord. The Devil and his minions on the left cannot destroy you, unless God gives them permission. Let me assure you, that if the Lord continues to tarry, this will only get worse. The left knows no honor any longer and they will stop at nothing to destroy those who disagree with them. As the Christians who were fed to the lions and destroyed; we are standing for that which we know is right. The blessings will come in the life to come.

It is scary, I will admit that, but we must not fear them; that is what they want. They want to silence the right, they want to see the Conservative/libertarian opinions silenced; they want control — just like Al-Qaeda did in 2001. We must not allow that to happen. We are Americans, we have looked in the face of tyranny before and said, “This shall not stand!” We did this in 1941, we did this in 2001 and we can and will do it again. We have the truth, we have the facts and we are right; and they are wrong. We will not submit to their fear.

To the swatters, I have a message for you sirs!

God Bless America.

UPDATED: This is a textbook reason why I stopped voting Democratic Party for good

Back before I ran my old blog, which was called “Political Byline”; I used to run a blog called “The Populist.” Well, that blog was hacked, either by some people, who call themselves Conservatives or by foreign entities. I suspect the former, but I tend to think it was the latter. Either way, by the time all that happened; I had become totally disillusioned with the Democratic Party. To be fair to myself; I never much did care for the Democratic Party establishment, this especially after the idiotic Clinton Administration’s nonsense. especially during his second term. Plus, as a Christian; I had not forgotten about the Waco incident.

Anyhow, one of reasons for this disillusionment was the Democrat Party’s treatment of our Military. It has been tepid at best. Proof of this, can be seen right here: (H/T NewsBusters)

Quoting this tool:

CHRIS HAYES: Thinking today and observing Memorial Day, that’ll be happening tomorrow. Just talked with Lt. Col. Steve Burke [sic, actually Beck], who was a casualty officer with the Marines and had to tell people [inaudible]. Um, I, I, ah, back sorry, um, I think it’s interesting because I think it is very difficult to talk about the war dead and the fallen without invoking valor, without invoking the words “heroes.” Um, and, ah, ah, why do I feel so comfortable [sic] about the word “hero”? I feel comfortable, ah, uncomfortable, about the word because it seems to me that it is so rhetorically proximate to justifications for more war. Um, and, I don’t want to obviously desecrate or disrespect memory of anyone that’s fallen, and obviously there are individual circumstances in which there is genuine, tremendous heroism: hail of gunfire, rescuing fellow soldiers and things like that. But it seems to me that we marshal this word in a way that is problematic. But maybe I’m wrong about that.

I don’t write this to trash Chris Hayes, but to pose a question to the Conservative Democrats that actually read this blog and yes, I happen to know that a few of you that do, in fact, read here. Could you imagine a Democrat President giving a speech like this here?:

Not only can I not see a Democratic Party President giving a speech like this; but I would tend to believe that FDR would be chased out of the Democratic Party as a warmonger today! This is my issue with the modern-day Democratic Party; it is as if they are “Brothers-in-arms” with those who crashed those planes into the trade center buildings in 2001. The Liberal Democrats in this country have the attitude that the United States of America is the “great capitalist Satan” of the world and somehow or another deserved the attacks on 9/11. Who else has this attitude about America? oh yes! It is the Islāmic terrorists!

This is the reason Chris Hayes cannot call our Military dead Heroic men and women. Because it goes against his entire leftist DNA. Because the left hates our Military, hates the values that our Military stands for and quite frankly hates this Country for what it truly is.

That is the Democratic Party of the 21 century and I want zero to do with it, at all. 😡

The really sad thing is; is that Ron Paul and most, if not all, of the Paleo-Conservative right agree with this guy and his furry Progressive friends. Which is why Ron Paul never, ever be President of the United States. Ron Paul and the Paleoconservatives want to take us back to prior to World War 2 and leave the Jews to Hitler and put the WASP’s back in charge. Sorry guys, we lost that battle. We have to come to the 21 century. The quicker the better, I say.

Others Covering: Wizbang, Right Wing News, Booman Tribune, The Right Scoop, The Daily Caller, American Power, Examiner, The Gateway Pundit and Fire Andrea Mitchell! — via memeorandum

Update: This liberal blogger comes right out and says it. Hey, at least he is honest about it. Although, I tend to suspect that the irony of what he wrote is lost on him. It is because of the deaths of soldiers past; on battlefields domestic and abroad, he is free to even write that sort of tripe. Again, just another perfect example of why I told the Democratic Party to piss off and voted my principles — and no, I do not mean Republican either. Hell, the Republican Party has not been a true, small Government Conservative Party since Reagan left office and the Neoconservatives took power. Even Reagan was not truly a small Government Conservative either. He believed in small Government; when it was convenient.

Update #2: Chris Hayes has given a half-assed, non-apology apology.

The BEST article on the Republican Party and True Conservatism…ever

My friends, this below is the most likely the best article ever written about true Conservatism and the Republican establishment. It is really worth the click through and the read.

It should come as no surprise that the Republican National Committee has been “covertly” supporting Mitt Romney throughout the primaries, as POLITICO recently “revealed.” It was the worst-kept secret in Washington
The RNC has always been the center of Republican insiderism — what the insiders call pragmatism. Consider, back when Roger Stone was at the Young Republicans, in 1975, he hung up a portrait of Ronald and Nancy Reagan in his office. Within hours, the order came down from the chairman’s suite: Take the picture down. At once.
(****)
Many conservatives have, in fact, decided that their beliefs have become permanently inconsistent with Republicanism. This may be more apparent in 2012 than ever before. No offense to Romney, but he is the perfect nominee for the Republican Party in 2012 because he — like the GOP — has adopted a variety of positions over the years in order to acquire power. The Etch A Sketch comment was stunningly accurate.
The “lesser of two evils” argument is now settling over the landscape. Perhaps. The “conservatives have no place else to go” storyline is being pushed. Maybe.
On the other hand, some conservatives now view this election as a clear Hobson’s Choice or possibly a Morton’s Fork. One choice is bad or nothing; the other between two bad options.
Conservatives should be clear-eyed, though. The job of the Republican Party is to deceive conservatives into handing over their support. This does not mean that conservatives can’t arrive at the conclusion that this choice is between the lesser of two evils.
But they should prepare to be disappointed.
via Conservative-GOP marriage over? – POLITICO.com

In this writers opinion, the Republican Party has not been a real Conservative party since around the time that Senator Berry Goldwater decided that the lobbyists were a bit too much and decided to not run for another term. Since that time, anyone who dared run as a true conservative, like Pat Buchanan; has been cast as an extremist, a racist, an anti-Semite and so on. Only reason Ron Paul lasted as long as he did, is because he was the only person in that part of Texas that actually could get elected. Besides that, Ron Paul’s supporters in his district know him well and have voted for him for years. That is because his district is filled with true Conservative Christians.The reason why Ron Paul never got elected is because the Neoconservatives or the Rockefeller Republicans have controlled the Republican for many years.

Either way, the article is great and it tells the truth about the Republican Party. Sad thing is, the Republican Party will never change; this is why Sarah Palin was quickly kneecapped. She was running against the Republican establishment in Alaska and when you that, you pay the price; same goes for Paul, Buchanan, and many others. I will not be voting for Obama, that is for sure. But, I will not be voted for a RHINO like Mitt Romney. He is very much a Republican establishment candidate — or as I like to call him, George W. Bush — with really nice hair. 😛

Needless to say, I am voting libertarian; because I am not about to be blamed for either of these piss poor excuses for Presidential Candidates, least of all the one who claims to be a Conservative.

Michelle Malkin is wrong about racism in the Tea Party

First off, let me say this; I do not believe that the Tea Party movement itself was racist at all. In fact, it never was a centralized movement. In most movements, like the Tea Party movement; there will be people who do things that do not represent the movement as a whole.

So, when I see Michelle Malkin blatantly denying the fact that there were racists in the Tea Party movement, I have to say, “oh really?”

A quick search of Google Images brings up quite a few racist signs and images:

and this is not racist Michelle? (even though it is misspelled...)

Here is the one that really bothered me, and this dude ended up in jail for this too:

A "Death to Obama" sign... But, that's not racist, so says Michelle Malkin

tea-party-racist-signsback-to-kenya — Nope, No racism here! Only thing missing here is the N-word and that makes okay, according to Michelle Malkin

This image was used on signs and passed around in e-mails, by Tea Party supporters. (I know, I used to see it on facebook and in e-mails I would get from other Tea Party supporters. That until I told the idiots to quit sending me racist crap like that….)

But this is not racist according to Michelle Malkin (Willful blindness much Michelle?)

There is more, much more to see, just click this link to look at the results of a Google Images search.

Again, let me be clear; I am not calling the entire Tea Party movement racist as a whole, that is collectivism and this blogger is not a collectivist. In other words, I do not dismiss the movement in it’s entirety, as racist; but I will say that there were people who were carrying racist signs, not to mention doing stuff like this:

This is Chris Broughton, and yes, he is black, and he is a Ron Paul fan and yes, he was carry an assault rifle at a Obama event. My question is why? I think I know the reason and I think you do too. But, the Tea Party is just peaceful people... Most of them anyhow...

My point to this posting is this; The OWS crowd are a violent group and yes it does include anarchists, who do try and blow up bridges. However, the Tea Party is not without its own individual nuts and looney tunes, who did bring a tarnish to the good name of the Party. Not to mention all of the infighting that went on with various groups.

However, my more intellectual point is this; to what end was all of this even done? I mean, the Republican Party did not change one wit. Oh sure, there were a few Senators who were elected as result of the grassroots surge. However, the Republican Party’s coronation of a Mormon George W. Bush is telling; and let me tell you something, if you think for one second that Mitt Romney is going to rip out Obamacare, you are crazy. Oh sure, he will remove the mandate and anything else that seems to infringe on basic American rights. However, I do not believe that he will remove the entire package.

Which makes me have to really wonder aloud, what exactly did the Tea Party accomplish; outside of the rhetorical flourishes? Absolutely nothing. Government is still there and it is still imposing upon our basic human rights. All of those borderline racist signs, all of the verbal clashes, all of the excitement were for naught.

This was not to hurt Michelle Malkin herself; but it was to point out the Republican/Conservative/Fox News/Sean Hannity right’s willful blindness to the racism of the Tea Party — which was, and is still there very much so, to this very day.

Remember Samantha Power?

It seems that Samantha Power has gotten a new job.

“Yid with a Lid” reports:

Only Barack Obama! Today the President tried to show he was a friend of the Jews with a beautifully crafted speech Holocaust Museum. Showing his words mean nothing, also today Samantha Power began work today as chair of President Barack Obama’s new Atrocities Prevention Board. If you don’t remember Ms Power she once called for a US force to invade Israel and force through a “peace settlement.” Powers also had some unflattering things to say about about America’s Jewish population during the 2008 campaign
How long do you think it will be before Powers uses that board as tool to de-legitimize Israel?
via “The Lid”: Obama Selects Woman Who Wanted to Invade Israel As Chair of Genocide Panel.

This lady is a real piece of work; head on over and check out the video over at Lid’s site. Previous Samantha Power offerings at my old blog here.

Did the Barack Obama Campaign threaten Chelsea Clinton’s life to keep Bill Clinton quiet on Obama’s Eligibility?

This is wild.

Check out the video:

The Story:

Most people in the US, especially Democrats, believe that the Obama Birther Movement was started by Republicans and or the Tea Party. They believe it is a smear campaign aimed to tarnish the image of their hero of change. But they may be shocked to learn that the Birther Movement was actually started by former President Bill Clinton and Hillary back in 2008.
Bettina Viviano was a vice president with Amblin Enterntainment, Steven Spielberg’s company, before launching her own film production company in 1990. In 2008, Viviano was asked to produce a documentary about voter fraud within the Democratic Party. At the time, she says she was not a Democrat or a Republican and in fact had never voted in an election. She went into the project with the sole purpose of producing the best and most accurate documentary possible.
During the documentary process, Viviano says that she quickly became aware of just how dangerous and insidious the Obama campaign was. A number of the Democrats she interviewed refused to appear on camera and told her that their lives and property had been threatened by people working with the Obama campaign.
She also heard former President Bill Clinton say that Obama was not eligible to be president because of his lack of birth records. In fact, she said it was common knowledge around many top Democrats. Bill Clinton has often said that he would go public with the information when the time was right.
Before that could happen, his close friend and head of the Arkansas Democratic Party, Bill Gwatney was murdered in his office and then someone told Bill that he was next if he said anything about Obama’s eligibility. In the video below, she said that Clinton was not intimidated until someone associated with the Obama campaign told him that his daughter Chelsea would be next if he opened his mouth. From that point on, the Clinton’s remained silent about Obama’s birth certificate or lack thereof.
via Did Barack Obama Campaign Threaten Life of Chelsea Clinton to Keep Parents Silent on Obama’s Ineligibility? – Godfather Politics.

Normally, I would not give a story like this the time of day; but I put nothing and I mean nothing past Barack Obama. I remember that murder story and at the time, I sort of thought about what was said above, but I figured maybe it was explainable. But, I have to say; no motive? Something stinks here and I believe this might be actually true or at least partially true. I believe an Congressional Investigation into this is warranted, however, I will not hold my breath, least I turn blue and croak.

I really think that it is time that the Republican Party finally grew a pair of gonads and actually started taking this whole eligibility thing seriously. Because if this President actually did this; who is to say that another President, like a Republican one could not do it. An investigation by the FBI should be conducted; unless of course, the FBI is in on it too. Which would have to be, seeing they are the ones who clear someone to be President in the first place.

Either way, it’s time for answers.

No, President Barack Obama is not going to enact martial law

It is things like this here; that make me want to stop writing about politics. However, because I want try to stop mass PANIC! I will address this.

Now, about this order signed by the President on Friday. It is a big nothing burger. It has been around since the 1950’s and has been updated ever since. So, no, Obama is not going to impose martial law or a police state.

But, as usual, the usual suspects starting ringing alarm bells, either motivated by a genuine concern for the Country or maybe because we have a ~~black~~ socialist President — or both. Anyhow, they started hollering from the rooftops about this order. Now, let me say this; I am not calling everyone that wrote about this racists, okay? Admittedly, some of the writings are a bit paranoid. However, some of the actions of the President do give cause for everyone on the right to be on a hair trigger and a bit overly cautious.

People — Relax. The big-eared Democrat is doing something right for a change! Protecting the Republic, which is what America truly is; which happens to be a part of what Barack Obama’s duties are, as President of the United States. For this, he should be praised, not condemned. Again, more of that brain-stupidity that has invaded the Conservative movement and the Republican since 2008.

The MUST READ Blog postings on this are found at HotAir.com, Ace of Spades HQ and Legal Insurrection.

So, everyone chill out. Like Eugene Volokh said in his posting about this subject; if there was a power grab, it was made decades ago; most likely when President Obama was still riding his tricycle — and possibly long before that.

Just to be clear; I do not fault anyone, especially everyone on the right; for being watchful of the President, that is a good thing. However, in this cause, this is just routine Government stuff. Obama is just doing his job —- and for once, that is a good thing.

Others covering this nothing burger — with mixed results: Outside the Beltway, Wake up America, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Israpundit, Israel Matzav, Pirate’s Cove, Atlas Shrugs, The Volokh Conspiracy, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Lonely Conservative, iOwnTheWorld.com, protein wisdom

Also too, all the people above mean well; they just panicked over the language of the Executive Order.

The latest on Sandra Fluck

I have not really blogged on this much; the kudos goes to this blogger for his fishing out the story on Sandra Fluck’s connections in the progressive movement.

Now the Democrats are crying antisemitism. Where were they when Alan Dershowitz was pointing out to everyone that Media Matters for America was antisemitic? These same democrats are now whining about privacy. The same people who dug up Joe the plumbers private records and exposed them.

Difference is, Joe’s info was private; this info on Fluck was ALL public info. Besides all that, this stupid woman put herself out there as some sort of victim; when in fact she is a professional activist and she got exposed. Boo hoo, crap happens. Take two mydol’s and call me in the morning.

Again, I love it when the left gets exposed like this. The hypocrisy is stunning.