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We're making a lot of headway in Wisconsin and the recall campaign is moving along swiftly. Many of us have been engaged full on and now PFAW has moved in and really helped out the cause. Here's what they've been doing:
Our partner PFAW has been staging a multi-pronged campaign in the Wisconsin recall elections. It includes TV, direct mail, door-knocking and phone calls. Last week, they put up TV ads in three districts against Republicans Luther Olsen, Dan Kapanke and Randy Hopper. The response from their membership was great and they were able to expand those buys and also reach into Alberta Darling’s district. Check out this new ad that hits Darling.
Darling’s important because:
A) She is one of the leaders of the pack of Wisconsin R’s.
B) Her race wasn’t supposed to be close, but now it’s a dead heat. The fact that her seat is even competitive shows how strong the progressive response to these elections has been. Darling was co-chair of the committee that wrote Wisconsin’s union-busting bill, and had a central role in shaping it. She is also an unapologetic shill for corporate interests: She called Paul Ryan (who’s fundraised for her) a “hero” and recently insisted that those making $250,000 a year “aren’t wealthy people.”
C) Darling has a whole lot more money in the bank than her opponent, Sandy Pasch, though with the momentum building up in the race Pasch out-fundraised her in July. If this race, which wasn’t supposed to be competitive, ends up flipping, it will be a small but important sign of voters beginning to reject Tea Party economics.
The pressure is really getting to her now because in front of the Milwaukee press she tried to deny even knowing anything about Paul Ryan's Medicare-killing budget, when before she hailed it as heroic. Here's Howie's latest tweet:
Alberta Darling used to brag she loves Ryan's plan to end Medicare. Now: "I don't know the details" but supports Ryan's "fiscal goals."
Sandy Pasch was endorsed by Blue America and is running against Darling in the recall election and we did a great live chat session with her in June along with another WI hero, Chris Larson.
You'd have to be living under a rock not to know there's a battle in Wisconsin that's crucial for the whole progressive movement and for the future of our country. That's why Blue America started a new Wisconsin Recall page and it's why we've invited state Senator Chris Larson and state Senate candidate Sandy Pasch here for a Blue America live chat today (2pm, CT, noon, PT)...read on
We're hoping to send Scott Walker and the entire tea party a message, and getting rid of hacks like Darling - who care nothing for the working class in WI - would be an excellent start.