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Know Your Audience

I really felt a little sorry for this letter writer.  He’s advocating for Clyde Winter, who is running against Glenn Grothman for Senate.  But he goes about it all wrong.  Here’s the letter.

Do you know about the appalling votes by Sen. Glenn Grothman?

   Challenger Clyde Winter (Independent) is one of six challengers who will give us a choice for a change in the Nov. 4 general election – for the first time in generations – for the state legislators who are supposed to represent us in different areas of Washington and Ozaukee counties. Please see this site for more information: http://clydewinter.wordpress.com/category/wisconsin-legislature/

   Please note especially Grothman’s amendment to require government-mandated photo ID (AJR 17) despite the fact that no instance of voter fraud that would be prevented by this has been proven. And note his amendment to abolish affirmative action (SJR96) which would do nothing to end the longest-standing, worst affirmative action practice of giving preferential admission to people from wealthy, well-connected families to universities, associations and positions leading to power and wealth.

   Sen. Grothman voted against Healthy Wisconsin (SB562), which would provide all citizens of Wisconsin the same health care we currently provide to our legislators, and would save Wisconsin citizens and businesses more than a billion dollars annually over current health care costs by eliminating the insurance industry gatekeepers. See: http://clydewinter.wordpress.com/category/health-care-crisis/

.

   Clyde Winter, Independent, “The choice for a change,” does his homework, is a clear-headed, rational candidate for Senate District 20 who will better represent us.

   Remember, on Nov. 4, crossover your party choice to vote for Clyde Winter.

   Dale Landis

   West Bend

The emphasis is mine.  Dude.  Dale.  Seriously?  You just underlined three issues about which the voters of this particular Senate district are overwhelmingly in favor.  I’m not arguing one way or the other whether Grothman is right on those issues (he is).  What I am saying is that if you are running for office, it’s generally a good idea to focus on the issues where the voters might actually agree with you.  Grothman should put Dale’s letter in his campaign literature.

Posted by Owen at 0714 hrs
Politics + Politics - Wisconsin

1. I must say, as much as I would like to see Glen Grothman have real competition, when I read this letter I could not help but think that this letter would be absolutely useless to Clyde Winter’s cause.  I don’t know that the majority “favors” Grothman’s positions on these issues as much as maybe they don’t care so much & would like a candidate who finds other issues to be a priority.  But this letter doesn’t touch on that at all.

   I think this speaks to why the Washington County Democratic Party has never gained any kind of traction (I confess - when I was younger & stupider I was a member of the Young Democrats of Washington County.  Now I am older, but some would say still stupid).  That was 30+ years ago, and I think the same local “leaders” are still there & are probably older than John McCain.  Washington County is always ridiculed as being some bastion of conservatism & that people are robots that vote Republican only (the opposite of Milwaukee, by the way).  My personal observation has been that there has never been any viable competition.

   Mr. Landis is part of the “Peacekeepers” group - I remember his picture in the paper & in the July 4th parade holding a sign - something about Bush & Oil & war.  I think the other members of the group are Hope Nelson (former alderwoman) & her husband Paul Nelson (retired public school teacher).

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on August 21, 2008 at 0947 hrs
   
   
   

2. I find it interesting that Mr. Winter, who is likely a liberal Democrat (at least in affinity), would choose to run as in Independent.

   Not only that, but he refers to himself in the third person in his own blog! 

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on August 21, 2008 at 1031 hrs
   
   
   

3. Clyde Winter is almost a socialist. He is definitely a flower child. Running as independent is an interesting choice, but I don’t think the voters will be fooled if they bother to know the candidate stands on the issues. (a sad commentary is that many don’t)

   I agree with Owen - if I was Grothman - I’d send Winter’s campaign a check to buy more stamps with so they can keep informing the voters.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on August 21, 2008 at 1257 hrs
   
   
   

4. Hi guys,

   I can tell you, officially and with certainy, that Clyde is definitely not a democrat or a socialist, unless you believe that LaFollette was—which I imagine you might.  Clyde is very old school Wisconsin Populist and thinks both parties have stopped people from paying attention to the actual issues.

   As for popularity with the voters, I will report one strange bit of data. Clyde’s hit-rate securing signatures (people who signed immediately vs door slams) was sufficiently astonishing to make me question wonder whether the local base is anywhere near as knee-jerk conservative as reported by Owen’s buddies in the media.  Personally, I assume it still must be, and that it’s possible the 1000s of doors Clyde knocked on in Ozaukee and Washington were a wildly skewed sample (farmers and working people rather than happily contented bourgeoisie like Owen and me), but I don’t know….

   
   And besides, it doesn’t matter what’s popular. What matters is what’s true, and what Dale says *is* true.  (eg. insurance, where the best that market-forces have done is guarantee that Americans now pay more per capita for health care than any other modern nation in the world and without half the benefits).

   The fact that it’s not popular, for instance. to want to pay *less* for health care—because the neo-conservatives have cooked up this scarecrow about the dangers of non-market driven health care (say, a Quebecois style insurance)—doesn’t mean it’s a lousy idea.  It just means that marketing is more effective than explaining a complex reality.  Duh.

   Shoot, think of the people who were convinced to buy K cars.  Same difference.

   Except Glenn is clearly more useful to his owners than Kcars were.  :^)

   hiho
   Mark

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on August 21, 2008 at 1458 hrs
   
   
   

5. Mark, I agree that there are a lot of people who would like to see an alternative to Glen Grothman - anybody I know thinks he’s kind of a “goofball” and that he only got to be Senator because he pulled a last-minute “coup”.  That being said, I still agree with Owen that the things cited by the letter writer don’t help his cause - it makes it sound like the choice is between Grothman/Republican vs someone with the Democratic positions. 

   And the people I know that really supported Grothman (the older people especially) with the bumper stickers & yard signs (usually a Grothman sign & a “TABOR NOW” sign) really bought the line that Mary Panzer was the only thing standing between them and tax relief (TABOR).  Clyde’s campaign (or any competitor) should have the slogan “Much was promised, Nothing was delivered.”  About all that was delivered was a public sector job upgrade for Grothman.

   I’m going to be off-line for a few days, so if anyone follows up, I won’t be able to respond.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on August 21, 2008 at 1525 hrs
   
   
   

6. I wish I could disagree with a word you wrote there mht.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on August 21, 2008 at 1626 hrs
   
   
   

7. Until I saw the picture on his blog, I thought this guy might be the one who showed up at my door in a denim tuxedo at 2130 one night to get signatures so he could run against Senator Grothman.  Nope some other hack.

   Speaking of political hacks, hey mpeterson, you don’t update your Grothman Watch blog often, do you?

   Chew on this, socialists - I can’t find a single vote of Glen’s that I disagree with from the last session, and I’m a 27 year old blue-collar working man.  Your bizarre conspiracy theories aside, he got elected because he represents the ideals of the majority of the population here.  If you guys want higher taxes, more crime, and Big Brother looking over your shoulder all the time, I suggest you go move to a neighborhood in Milwaukee that allows you to vote for a Coggs.  In fact, I think you can vote for more than one Coggs at the same time if you pick your house right.

   Posted by Mike Gallo on August 21, 2008 at 1656 hrs
   
   
   

8. People will sign anything:

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi3erdgVVTw

   I don’t think looking at number of signatures on a petition means anything - as Milwaukee found out painfully a few weeks ago on that idiotic sick leave petition.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on August 22, 2008 at 1340 hrs
   
   
   

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