The race wasnāt even supposed to be all that close.
[Sigh.]
āBut in a result eerily reminiscent of the 2016 presidential election in the state, liberalsā heavy focus on social and culture war issues they believed would be disqualifying rather than hammering the right-wing candidate on pocketbook issues appeared to backfire.ā
As we begin the process of choosing our POTUS nominee,we need to keep our eyes on that quoted section above. Social and cultural issues donāt put food on the table and money in the checking account.
Wisconsin has some of the most successful voter suppression laws in the country. Post-2016 analysis says they probably cost Clinton 200,000 votes and the state in 2016.
So between WI, PA, and MI, PA and MI seem more hopeful for Dems in 2020 than WI. So why in the hell do PA and MI have such restrictive voting, with virtually no early voting and absentee allowed either place? With Democratic governors in both states, seems like pushing for early voting and no excuse absentee voting in PA and MI is job one for banking Democratic votes.
There is a big need to pick this apart. Who did what when? Who among the consultant class was involved and were their ideas for ad buys vetted by people with good sense? Did they carefully target peopleās true needs such as healthcare, which is why the Dems won the house, or did they, as the article implies, try to be too liberal and go farther into the culture wars, giving the conservative ammunition to lob back like a hand grenade?
I harp on the consultant class because they are I think a big part of the problem. They make big bucks, as evidenced by the fact that they get a percentage of TV ad buys. They no doubt had lots of money and so they spent it on various campaign ads and themes to pepper the people with too many ideas. But thereās a need for common sense and careful thought, and from what weāve seen, they donāt usually appear to have the right perspective and accompanying tools.
what was the turnout ? I bet there was no effort to get people to vote. This is the sad state of democrats machinery, they cannot get the puerto ricans in florida to vote, they cannot get any of their constituency to consistently come out and vote
Honestly, these āon random datesā special elections need to be stopped. Voting should happen on predictable dates twice a year. If Democrats want to stop getting disappointed, they need to go all-out on voting reform wherever and whenever they can.
Unfortunately, the most powerful Democrat in the country, Nancy Pelosi, wants voters to have fewer choices, not more.
Access to the ballot is just as important as voting rights.
No democracy, no justice.
Which is why the 2020 race is so important with it being a Census year. Repubs knew that all too well in 2010. As someone who votes in every election no matter what,years like 2010 are damn aggravating. Our side just let this shit happen.
A bit off-topic but Mitt Romney sure learned that the hard way. I forget the name of that company that he paid millions to and didnāt really do shiite.
Disappointing if it holds up, but it is NOT indicative of 2020āapart from showing that Democrats need to work their tails off. Duh.
This is what happens when you spend more than two years engaging in Neo McCarthyite, Cold War 2.0, spy-novel-cosplay flights of fancy instead of working your asses off to re-enfranchise voters (with hundreds of thousands of Democratic voters in the State of Wisconsin aloneā¦)
I know youāre a Biden fan
Stories like this are just the tip of the iceberg with his worthless son Hunter:
Biden is not the guy you want to depend on to win against Trump,
Another link:
He is to me.
This is a pet peeve of mine too. The consultant class and PAC ads in my competitive races in Maine over the past decade have done far more harm than goodājust clueless about the local culture and needs of voters. And the incestuous nature of Democratic ad agencies being run by campaign coordinators is disgusting. Itās a huge problem. One of the reasons I only donate directly to candidates.
That was his GOTV app/operation and it was a total fail. But at least from what Iāve read, Democrats have been far worse in terms of the consultants/TV ads link and fees in the past 10-20 years. Hopefully they are cleaning up their act. I think itās one reason why the national congressional committees are doing so poorly in fundraising. Small dollar donors donāt want their money going to that corrupt system.
Lisa Neubauer should have campaigned more in Wisconsin.
(Sorry, Iām in a bad mood)
Glad we agree on the consultant class, and youāve honed in on a great example. Iāll bet candidates would pay for a top-level analysis of the effectiveness of recent campaigns run by consultants. Time to start a consulting firm to evaluate the consulting firms. But who will evaluate the evaluators?!
In the end, good candidates ought to be found who can control all this crap. But itās a money problem. If the money isnāt spent by the end of an election or election cycle, that looks bad, so they commission ads without really thinking about what works. Whole warehouses outside of DC are filled with equipment that will never be used because it had to be purchased before the end of the fiscal year by various firms getting government money. There should be rewards for not spending money!
As a liberal Madison voter, this is a head-scratcher to me. Hagedornās bigotry appeared to be disqualifying even among some industry groups that have backed conservative judges regularly. I didnāt follow much of the coverage on tv, but I did see ads calling attention to Hagedornās bigotry. If thatās a losing strategy, then itās a sad commentary on our world. Kind of like confirming a rapist to the US Supreme Court