So, wait a minute...Obama and the Dems are to blame for Wisconsin. I'm hearing that right?

[WilliamPitt]

Even though Mr. Obama kept his distance from the state in the final weeks of the union-led recall effort, the president’s party, his campaign team and his labor allies exerted an enormous joint effort in the state that proved ineffective against an organized and well-funded Republican apparatus.

More than 40 offices run by the Democratic National Committee and Mr. Obama’s campaign deployed more than 100 paid staff members alongside union and state volunteers for months in what amounts to the first real test of the president’s ground game before November’s election.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/07/us/politics/after-wisconsin-recall-defeat-democrats-assess-their-operation.html?_r=1&hp

Just making sure I'm hearing you correctly.

Obama and the Democrats did nothing to help with this recall.

Got it.

[lame54]

1. ,

answered to hastily

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. I'm blaming the lack of scantily clad hummingbirds in Antarctica.

"All politics is local." Tip O'Neill

For whatever reason, Barrett got fewer votes than Walker. The rest is just speculation about why.

[jwirr]

3. Turned the Young Turks on last night and the first thing I heard our of Jenk's mouth was how

Obama was not doing enough to help Barret. I turned him off. Did he think he was helping anyone?

[kentuck]

4. I think we are all to blame...

Walker had the best message, in the opinion of the voters. Basically, he said that Wisconsin does not have the money to pay for these comfortable pensions for public employees and we need to show people that we have the courage to make the needed cuts and that it is the right thing to do. Then he proceeded to give millions of dollars in tax cuts to the wealthiest in his state. The Democrats never found a message that resonated with the voters, in my opinion.

[lamp_shade]

5. Yup! That's what you're hearing, and from the same old bunch who probably would have blamed

him for the loss if he HAD stepped in. So what's new? Oy!

[GObamaGO]

6. I know it is only speculation

But I think Obama could have knocked on every door in Wisconsin and the outcome would have still been the same. Never underestimate the power of the Super PACs and the Derp potential of the masses.

[Goblinmonger]

7. This Wisconsinite isn't saying that.

He needed to stay out. The outcome would have been no different--perhaps worse--had he stepped in. It wasn't the loyal Dems (you know, the ones that would have otherwise been motivated by Obama) that were the problem. They voted. It was the independents and the Republicans that won this for Walker. They bought the "common man" bullshit and thought that shitting on public employees was a good thing. As a public employee, it's sad, but true.

Obama couldn't have changed this.

[kentuck]

15. I agree.

I don't think Obama would have made any difference. I think too many people bought the bullshit and we did not have a message to counter it. In my opinion, they are using the huge debt and deficit as an excuse to cut government at all labels.

[Goblinmonger]

17. I think a lot of those people will care in a couple years

when their kids can't take music, or a foreign language, or art, or need to pay a LOT more for sports, or something else like that. Because those things are coming.

[kentuck]

19. Money can buy good propaganda...

that can work very well with a reasonable message such as Walker's. I heard several people say that he only did what he said he would do. I don't recall it that way? There's an old adage about "following the money". I wonder who makes the money off this propaganda??

Nothing good will come from Walker's agenda. But he is the leader of the Tea Party and Conservatives now. There will be a war on all government programs, including Medicare and Social Security. They smell blood in the water.

[Tarheel_Dem]

8. From the usual suspects. But you won't convince them otherwise. Their mindset is that....

Barrett lost "because of Obama", and if Barrett had somehow managed to pull off a win, they'd say that he won, "in spite of Obama". That's their tired and worn out meme, and they're stickin' to it.

[PearliePoo2]

9. IMO the BLAME for Wisconsin

goes to the apathetic people that sat on their ass and were too lazy or uninterested to vote.
A turnout of 58% means that 42% of eligible voters don't give a shit.
Pathetic

[bigtree]

11. give 'em a minute

. . .they'll come up with something wrong in that to pin on Obama.

I got it! The Obama campaign and the DNC were TOO involved! Damn them for doing so much!

[liberal N proud]

12. If he had campaigned in Wisconsin, he would have been blamed for the loss too

This was a no win for Obama.

[pstokely]

23. If Barrett had won, there wouldn't be any gains for him

nt

[littlewolf]

24. Yep ...

D*mned if you do .... D*mned if you don't ....
GOTV played a part I believe ...
I read somewhere that 39 percent of union households
had either voted for Walker or was going to vote for
Walker ... (this was a poll during early voting)

[msanthrope]

13. You Better Believe it.

And that's really says it all, doesn't it?

[WilliamPitt]

14. *spew*

[GoCubsGo]

21. In a nutshell.

Last edited Wed Jun 6, 2012, 04:42 PM - Edit history (1)

I find it rather interesting that I heard at least three right-wingers call into Ed Schultz's radio show today, saying the same thing as the Always-Blame-Obama brigade here: It's all his fault that Barrett lost, because he didn't come to Wisconsin. Forget that Barrett had less than 2 months to get a campaign together, while Walker, his corporate masters, and other surrogates have been at it for nearly a year, spending tens of millions of dollars bombarding the airwaves, mail boxes, print media, etc., with their lies. Or, that the new 28-residence voting rule likely disenfranchised thousands of college students. Or, that a significant chunk of the voters just didn't like the idea of a recall to deal with the issues. It's sad that so-called "progressives" are spouting a right-wing meme.

[freshwest]

22. RW memes supercede facts, that's why they're so powerful. And they're everywhere.

[blue neen]

27. Yes, everywhere.

They're all over DU, that's for sure.

It's okay...it just makes us more motivated!

[freshwest]

28. Good for you. Those visitors who spout them, might review these sentences from the TOS by Skinner:

...When we are not in the heat of election season, members are permitted to post strong criticism or disappointment with our Democratic elected officials, or to express ambivalence about voting for them... If you are bashing, trashing, undermining, or depressing turnout for our candidates during election season, we'll assume you are rooting for the other side...

Those visitors should take it up with Skinner. And there's that great function the Administrators tooled into DU3. Works for me to not waste my time with those who disdain the Democratic Party as a whole. That's been the meme from Rush and all the GOP since the 1990s, and it's hard to keep it out.

[cry baby]

16. Sad, isn't it? nt

[sinkingfeeling]

18. But, but, he didn't make a trip to Wisconsin. So it's all his fault!

[Javaman]

20. blaming the victim is all the rage.

how dare those people in WI not go broke and mortgage their homes to fund the Dem!

we were outspent 10-1.

The Dems in WI are the last people to be blamed.

[florida08]

25. Obama no

http://dailycaller.com/2012/05/22/thrown-under-the-dnc-bus-deeds-coakley-and-now-wisconsin-democrats/

[WilliamPitt]

26. Up