A note from a Wisconsin county Democratic Party chair

[Jackpine Radical]

This was the email he sent out after the Barrett concession, and shows what kind of leadership we have at the grassroots level:

Thank You. Thank you to the dozens upon dozens of volunteers who have walked through the doors of the Democratic Party of Chippewa County and who have worked so hard for the past 16 months. I know it hurts. I know many of you have put your heart and soul into making a difference. I know you are exhausted.

When you have time to reflect on all you did (and you will), you will discover that stepping out of your comfort zone to make phone calls, to knock on doors, or to stand on the Golden Corner, has made you a better person because of it. You‚ll discover the many friendships you have made along the way will sustain you, and you will discover that real change will only be realized when we all come together again to work for that change.

I, for one, am most grateful for just meeting so many of you. I have cherished the moments we have shared together. I have cherished the friendships we formed. And I will always have a special place in my h eart for those I was so fotuanate to meet and work with.

I‚ve never been one to dwell on the past, so I would love to have you join me as we begin the next step to electing Deb Bieging to the 67th Assembly District, Judy Smriga to the 68th Assembly District, Pat Kreitlow to the 7th Congressional District, Tammy Baldwin to the U.S. Senate, Joe Biden to the Vice Presidency and Barack Obama as President of the United States.

It almost seems like an impossible task, doesn‚t it? But, you know, we have laid one hell of a foundation!

Thank you again and take good care of yourself.

Al Holle
Chair
Democratic Party of Chippewa County

[cali]

1. I want to personally thank you for all you did

in this election. I know this must be heartbreaking for you. I'm glad you have such good party leadership.

[hamsterjill]

5. May I please second Cali's sentiments...

I, too, wish to send my great thanks to the Wisconsin Democrats for all of your hard work.

I'm a Texan...I understand political heartbreak.

BUT...trust me, with each political heartbreak comes a resounding affirmation to NEVER give up. Thank you again for your efforts!

[TBF]

7. +1 nt

[JNelson6563]

2. Nice message.

Chippewas Co. has a very good chair at the helm, I'd say.

Julie

[jillan]

3. That's pure class. Keep looking forward.

Well done.

[RobertEarl]

4. My letter would say

Who knows? If there had not been someone out there spending millions of dollars to buy votes, we may have won.

All that grassroots effort may have been totally for naught because one billionaire saw fit to buy as many votes as they could?

And who knows about the machines? Of course it will take too much effort to hand-count the votes, so forget that. Nope, we will just trust the machine count. And if you question us about this we will call you crazy.

[shcrane71]

6. Aw that's nice, now Al Hollie needs to step down.

It's time for new people to take over the WI Democratic leadership positions. If you can lose this big on a governor with the worst jobs record in the nation, a governor who is set to be indicted any day now, then it's time for new leadership.

That being said, I'm certain Al is a lovely person.

[mlevans]

8. They were outspent 8-1.

That really ought to be kept in mind.

[shcrane71]

9. I've got that in mind...

But I'm not ignoring the other facts of this election. I'm sure NBC made a nice chunk of money by GIVING Walker the win less than an hour after the polls closed, while people were still voting.

[HiPointDem]

20. +1

[Jackpine Radical]

15. I think the "Off with their Heads" approach is dumb.

Sure, there are some people who maybe need to be replaced, but for the most part the answer is to analyze what went right or wrong & modify what we do accordingly next time.

Edison is said to have tried a couple thousand filament materials before he came up with a workable light bulb. I could just imagine some venture capitalist deciding after Edison's third failure that he had best get himself a new inventor.

[TNLib]

18. It's a major uphill battle to recall a governor. With the money being spent it's not really a

surprise of the outcome.

[barbtries]

10. that made me tear up.

it's an emotional day. yesterday so pumped, today so flat.

[JDPriestly]

11. Al Holle said it well.

Here in California, we are trying to think of ways to turn this defeat into a victory -- to learn from it.

I'm pleased that the Democrats now are the majority in the Wisconsin Senate.

We Democrats need to work on our message.

Hope and Change and We Can are not going to work this year.

[ChiciB1]

12. Just Saying Hi To You...

I blogged a couple of times last week, but it's been months & months since I left DU! Glad to see you're still here, but see you finally changed your icon. My heart is where my heart is, just can't help it.

Also wanted to say I agree with your comments completely. Democrats let's GYST and make even those of ours in D.C sit up and listen!! I'm so sick of being sick & tired by what I see. Had been working with local OCCUPY since last October but here in this very "red, red" county there are now only about 8 left. We simply couldn't rouse people here after the first blush. So don't know what direction I'm going to take.

Given that I live in Florida I'm thinking I'll join the PINK SLIP RICK crowd and try to hold his feet to the fire. Suppression, suppression, suppression! Will it ever stop?? So many here simply don't think voting counts anymore and tell me they will vote "other" just to say they voted...

Stupidity abounds!

[SammyWinstonJack]

13. That deserves a huge

[coalition_unwilling]

14. Hey, Jackpine, if you get a moment can you please

check out my poll and share your thoughts and feelings?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002775296

Thanks in advance (and thanks for the magisterial reporting and commentary you provided in the run-up to yesterday).

[tclambert]

16. I've come up with a way to see this election in a positive light.

I'm moving to Wisconsin and legally changing my last name to Koch. You think any cops will dare to give me a speeding ticket then? Now that "Uncle" Charles and "Uncle" David have officially bought Wiskochsin (we're changing the name of the state, too), all us Kochs will be above the law. It'll be like France in the late 1700s. We can abuse the peasants all we want, while we live in luxury and splendor!

[crunch60]

17. So, some want a "right to work state". and voted for the Koch shill. This is

your future and it doesn't look good.

Wisconsin Is Open For What Kind Of Business?
So, now the voters have given Scott Walker a carte blanche to do whatever he wants, we can expect them to try to push making Wisconsin a right-to-work-for-less state, which also means that we will have no rights to being treated fairly by our employers either.

Just like what happened in Oklahoma, another right-to-work-for-less state:

The CEO of a Christian book and music publishing company in Oklahoma prayed with his employees before a recent all-hands meeting, then went ballistic over an anonymous email he received and fired 25 people. (The email is posted below, along with a recording of the meeting.)

“It’s not fair, it’s not right, but that’s the reality of the situation,” said Tate Publishing CEO Ryan Tate.

The email in question was calling Tate out for his hypocrisy about the way he treated his employees. If you listen to the recording, you will find out that Tate was also stalking his employees Facebook pages.

And this is our future.

Wisconsin, you have chosen poorly.

http://cognidissidence.blogspot.com/

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. Gets it... ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE

[ibegurpard]

21. Keep the fight up!

The right wing has been fighting a war for forty-plus years...we all still think a battle or two and we're done.

[Spacer125]

22. There is a glimmer of hope.

Democrats clench the Senate majority.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

23. This was a kick in the gut for me..... nt

[PatrynXX]

24. The end is never over. This wasn't about labor it was about breaking the law.

Plain and simple. But kudos for the headache relieving attempt. I like it.

by the way I hear the mob supports scott walker. that makes sense. I'm guessing the union households voting for walker are probably teamsters. (hey where's Jimmy Hoffa??) o_O