Choices

Our November Choices are Clear

Democrats move us forward

Now that the partisan primaries are behind us, the clear choices for the November elections are on full display. 

The Republican victors showed the hard right turn in the GOP platform still motivates the base of the former president’s cult. Tim Michels rode the delusional “Big Lie” and the former president’s endorsement to victory in a slash and burn campaign which will provide endless material for the Evers campaign to use against him. Independent ads are already highlighting Michels’ shifting positions on who might run for President in 2024, where he really lives given multimillion dollar homes in Connecticut, New York and Wisconsin, the fact that his children attend school out of state, and his legislative priorities if elected. Michels’ support for Wisconsin’s pre-Civil War anti-abortion statute which criminalizes a woman’s ability to control her own body shows just how out of touch he is in a world where generations of women have enjoyed that right. 

Senator Ron Johnson continues to amaze with his suicidal positions on ending Medicare and making Social Security discretionary or means tested. He too continues to question our election integrity, the government’s response to COVID and consistently votes against wildly popular measures like allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices and lowering the price of insulin for people with private health insurance. Johnson remains convinced that the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol was no big deal. Don’t forget the tax breaks for his wealthy donors and his own company when the time comes to vote.  

In stark contrast, Governor Evers is running for re-election with a proven track record of getting things done over the obstruction of the GOP controlled legislature. Biden’s Build Back Better program is pumping federal funds into schools and communities helping them repair the damage brought on by Scott Walker and the Tea Party. Evers is fixing Wisconsin roads at a record pace with more to come. He is helping to revitalize rural communities by helping family farmers and local businesses grow. Evers has made it very clear that he will do all that he can to support women’s rights to bodily autonomy and reproductive healthcare.  

Tying Governor Evers to President Joe Biden has been part of the GOP campaign since it began. Biden’s approval ratings are low, but his record of accomplishments since the election is staggering. Gas prices are coming down. He has helped secure passage of historic legislation to repair our ageing infrastructure. He just signed into law the most comprehensive bill to address climate change ever providing tax credits for solar and electric vehicles and funds designated to reduce carbon emissions. That bill also lowers premiums for health insurance purchased under the Affordable Care Act, allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies, and caps the amount seniors on Medicare must pay out of pocket for medications at $2000 per year. The bill is paid for by closing tax loopholes through more vigorous enforcement and raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans and large corporations. Biden rallied our allies to join in the defense of Ukraine and has pumped money and equipment into the fight to help Ukrainians defend themselves from Russian aggression. He appointed a well-qualified Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court. He too stands tall for protecting a woman’s right to control her own body and enjoy comprehensive reproductive health care. 

Mandela Barnes pushed through a hard-fought principled primary to become the Democrats nominee to take Ron Johnson’s Senate see this fall. His background and family history are much different than Johnson’s. Barnes’ father was a union factory worker and his mother a teacher. Barnes understands the struggle middle class working families face and will join other progressives in the Senate to address those concerns. Barnes supports unions and their efforts to level the playing field for working people. He supports efforts to beat back the effects of climate change and to protect our environment. He believes corporations and the very wealthy should pay their fair share of the tax burden. He is a strong supporter of the right to choose and the LBGTQI community. 

Our choices in November are clear. If you want to see Wisconsin and the country move forward, you need to help Democrats win every election in which they run. Staying home is not an option as the cult of the former president will pull out all their tricks to put their candidates over the top. Democrats have an office in West Bend and active groups supporting Democratic candidates in Germantown, Cedarburg, and the rest of the WOW counties. Volunteer your time, send candidates money, talk to your friends, family, and neighbors. 

The time to act is now. 

Hopeful

Hope Encouraged

Stars are aligned

 

My wife and I worked the Washington County Democratic Party booth at our County Fair last Saturday. Several interactions we had there buoyed my hopes for a Blue wave in the November elections. 

 

The first came when a middle-aged women came up to our table and declared she was an independent voter who would be voting for Democrats in the Fall based upon a single issue, abortion rights. She was appalled at the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and believes Democrats should do whatever is necessary to protect a woman’s right to choose. 

 

The second came from several women, walking by with men, who turned and gave us a thumbs up as they passed. I took that to mean they approved of our positions supporting reproductive health care and women’s rights to bodily autonomy. 

 

The third involved a young man in his late teens with a younger sidekick who stopped by and asked what issues we would choose to turn someone from a Republican into a Democrat. As we discussed the issues of equality, same sex marriage, reproductive healthcare, gun control and others, he was joined by several other teen boys who started to troll us and disagree with some of our positive comments. He turned to them and chastised them with “be respectful.” It turned out that his father is a Democrat and his mother a Republican, so he was exposed to both parties’ positions in discussions at home and he was still making up his own mind. Not sure if we convinced him, but the discussion was refreshing.  

 

I came away from these interactions more hopeful than I had been before coming to the Fair.

 

Then came the vote on the proposal to amend the Kansas constitution which would have stripped abortion protection from that state’s constitution, and I was overjoyed. By a lopsided majority, Kansas voters choose to continue protecting access to abortion services in that otherwise reliably red state. That vote mirrored recent polling showing a solid majority of American voters favor making abortion services available, even after the SCOTUS decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. 

 

Finally, I fully support the young women here in Washington County who stood up and organized to rally in support of their rights to reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy. They effectively used social media and their own networks to bring folks together to stand up for their rights to equality and against efforts to turn them into second class citizens or livestock. These women did not come up from the Democratic Party or Persist but erupted spontaneously when their own freedoms became threatened. 

 

These strong determined women will be surely joined by their allied men, parents and grandparents who fought to establish women’s rights in the first place. They will be joined by the LBGTQI community, people concerned about governmental intrusion into their sex lives and the use of contraceptives, and those who marry who they love without concern for racial differences or gender identity. These folks too see their freedoms on the chopping block as long as the current majority of the Supreme Court remains in place. This new coalition will sweep away those who want to turn America into a theocracy which denies them basic human dignity.

 

These disparate but connected events strengthen my belief that politicians and judges making decisions should not make women and others angry by taking away the ability to control their own bodies and live their lives enjoying personal freedom.  

 

To all of those aggrieved and standing up I say, Onward, I’ve got your back.