Maybe tonite was a good thing. Hear me out.

[jillan]

Maybe tonite was a wake up call for the Democratic Party.
I mean - the DNC really didn't do all it could.

Maybe it was a wakeup call for the Democratic Super Pacs and wealthy donors that we need to raise millions, billions.

Millions of people were watching this election - all over the world.

This one hurt. And they keep calling the down races for the repubs.

We need to re-group.
We need to re-organize.
We need a pro-Union movement.

We have alot of work ahead of us.
We lost a big one tonite.

[img][/img]

"When the going gets tough - the tough gets going".

[snacker]

1. I can't imagine being more organized than we were in WI

I'm sorry, but the GOTV effort was unparalleled ..this past Saturday alone, WisDems and We Are Wisconsin knocked on over a half million doors. I can't imagine how many phone calls were made. This doesn't even include the union effort. WE WERE ORGANIZED. Let's face it....it's all about the money. We were outspent by wide, wide margins. Walker ads ran constantly on TV and radio. Mailings from the Walker side were unbelievable. We are a union, Dem household, and we often got three mailings from them per day. It's all about the money...don't fool yourself.

[jillan]

7. Well maybe it is a wakeup call to the money handlers. We need more money.

[HiPointDem]

23. The money men WANT austerity. They WANT unions busted. They WANT Walker.

[DJ13]

2. It was a good thing in one respect

The illusion that the Democratic party still stands for the working classes is ruined now since they had the chance to put resources into Wis to destroy the right's undermining of workers, but chose to sit back and play it careful.

The obvious conclusion is that the party isnt interested in workers, just in maintaining some power in DC.

[mvd]

4. They should have tried early. If futile, they could have..

reduced spending.

[DJ13]

10. Agreed

It seemed like the DNC (and the WH) gave up before it was even started, conceding to the GOP without much effort.

Bless those state party workers, they tried, but the party apparatus needed to be behind them 100%, and that really never happened.

[KharmaTrain]

11. Put Blame Where Blame Belongs...

...the Wisconsin electorate whose been bombarded with the issues about Walker and his union busting and they gave him a big win. Looks like Democrats won't pick up the Senate seat needed to flip that body. This wasn't the DNC or President Obama's battle...it belonged to the unions who are the real big loser tonight. There was no way the Democrats could have matched all the money the rushpublican threw into this election and the OFA, DNC, DGA and other Democratic groups were on the ground working hard at organizing and getting out the vote. Sadly all these efforts failed...the money won.

[DJ13]

13. After the groundswell for the recall I'm not buying that

If the party had made Wis an important firewall to protect workers from the moment the recall was certified the GOP would have lost.

There was no commitment by the national party until the closing days of the election, thats too late.

[KharmaTrain]

14. Did The DNC circulate petitions?

Nope...it was the same people who were there today and gave it their best effort. I know of people who worked their asses off and aren't looing for scapegoats...just realizing they were beat by a lot of money and an electorate that has been bombarded for decades about how evil and bad unions are. The DNC throwing $100 million into this wouldn't have made much of a difference. One poll showed that 88% of the voters had made their minds up months ago on how they were going to vote...again a DNC or President Obama push would have done little to alter today's sad results.

The N in DNC is National...this was a state election. If the Democrats had lost a Congressional or Senate race, then the DNC should be held accountable. In this case it was a solid effort from many different Democratic groups that came up short. The real losers are the unions who were at the forefront of this battle and now face even more people deserting them and emboldening other states to follow Wanker's lead...

There's no way of sugar coating this...it was a big win for Citizens United and the endless spending that the rushpublicans are willing to do to win at all costs. People power doesn't have a chance...

[ManyShadesOf]

20. "This wasn't the DNC or President Obama's battle...it belonged to the unions who are the real big l"

"This wasn't the DNC or President Obama's battle...it belonged to the unions who are the real big loser tonight."

This is all Americans and Democrats battle. Your arguments seem hollow and shortsighted, if that is the way the party sees it. Yes to your last line about Citizens United. People power is/was the only chance. Tonight. Or outrage about the results.

[KharmaTrain]

28. The Unions Had The Most At Stake...

According to the latest totals 54% of Wisconsinites who are American felt that the right to collective bargaining was worth throwing away. These people have been bombarded with all sides of Wanker and these issues for the past 18 months and voted to endorse his union busting. Democrats were big losers as well as it was their candidates who lost but its the unions who were in serious trouble.

Yes, I'm frustrated and outraged as I had been to Wisconsin at the start of the recall circulating petitions and thought we'd see an upsurge in Democratic and union activity that would drive Wanker out of office. This was a local battle and why I don't see where the DNC or President Obama could have affected the outcome. There's an anti-union mindset that is growing in this country and that is very disturbing...

[ManyShadesOf]

29. I feel ya

and thank you for getting out there to do something or try to. Also, this Admin is compromised in their own policies re: privatizing education, so ...........

[HiPointDem]

25. And if the democrats lose unionized workers, they can kiss their asses goodbye. Turning into the

party of "austerity light" is a losing strategy.

If democratic party = identity politics & right wing economics, count me out.

[coalition_unwilling]

27. Of course the Dems do not represent workers. 1% of the population controls 40% of the

wealth in this country (and 10% controls 80%) and not one Dem says a word about it. You know, words like "That's fucking obscene" or "Tax the rich and increase aid to workers," Real simple stuff like that.

Dems and Repigs both represent and serve the 1%. No party represents or serves the working class.

[Fire Walk With Me]

3. "Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"

[flamingdem]

5. So true. There are way fewer donors to the Democrats than in 2008

We need to wake up and FAST

[sadbear]

6. The Democratic Party we have will move further to the right after tonight

They'll see supporting unions and labor as losing issues. I just can't see them moving to the left if tonight's results hold.

[jillan]

9. That would be the biggest mistake. They need to remember who we are and what we stand for.

[ManyShadesOf]

24. we stand for

whatever they dish out

[Creideiki]

16. If the Party apparatchik move any further to the right

they'll be looking to their left to wave at Mussolini.

[ManyShadesOf]

22. they'll be

meeting themselves on the way up the stairs!

[ManyShadesOf]

21. !

[jp11]

8. I think if the message is 'we need more money' the method is

continue as they have and court big business/wall street while making plays to the people. I saw Clinton, Booker and others as tossing out lines to big money that 'we still love you' as well as the administration's many moves to let business get away without facing any real consequences. Guess what they still don't care, so the 'logical' thing to do is go more republican to get them back in your pocket if WI shows anything it shows what we've seen in the past the candidate with the most money usually wins. Democrats don't have any real hope of getting more money through small donations, they just can't rely on it like they can with the big donors.

What's different is that this time that candidate was a jackass who not only lied to the people over and over but has numerous examples that he doesn't care about the majority just the rich minority and it still seems to be trumped by money.

[Shankapotomus]

12. Maybe we need to take corporate money

out of elections the way republicans are taking union money out?

[Creideiki]

15. The "DNC really didn't do all it could?"

Talk about an understatement.

What we learned today is that there's at least one person worse at their job than John Boehner--Debbie Wasserman-Schulz. Looks like it's time for a DNC shake up.

[Woody Woodpecker]

19. Put Howard Dean back - he would have kicked Walker to smithereens if he had the DNC control... but

noo... Obama decided that Dean did a nice job and kicked him out and replaced him with Kaine then Wasserman-Schultz.

Both are DLC lackeys. DLC no longer exist, but it is there in some form.

It's time to throw DLC and its current incarnation out of the tent and tell them to go to the Republicans.

They have been pushing us to the right, and we are already at the edge of sanity.

It's time to throw them out of the crowded tent and into the progressive and the Democratic socialist side of the party.

It's time their voice was heard and understood and stood for.

[Snarkoleptic]

17. We need Dems at the national level to act like Dems and move to the left.

The "adults in the room" thing is getting us nowhere so it's time to be true to our progressive and liberal selves.

[ManyShadesOf]

26. Bernie Sanders is pretty "adult"

he manages to do The People's business. A handful of others. All it takes is a handful.

[sorefeet]

18. Nothing will ever change until we take the money out of politics.

It will only get worse for the 99% and better for the wealthy. It's that simple. There is absolutely nothing fair in the system.