email from Eau Claire County chair on the recall in NW WI.

[Jackpine Radical]

Greetings,

This week marks the halfway point for the signature collection phase to recall Senator Moulton and Governor Walker. As we expected, pent up anger and frustration felt by citizens all across this state resulted in an initial tidal wave of signatures. During that first week we sometimes had people standing 3, 4 and 5 deep to sign at the tables set up around Democratic headquarters. The same kind of response was reported from our various locations throughout the city and from Chippewa Falls as well. The corner of Bridge and Spring Streets in Chippewa has now been named the "Golden Corner" because of the number of signatures that have been collected from that location by a dedicated group of volunteers. In fact, passionate, selfless, and determined are three good words to describe the volunteer effort so far in Eau Claire, Chippewa, and Menomonie and all spots in between.

Although we've all heard stories of bullies and people with less evolved communication skills harassing or threatening our volunteers, they've been much less common than the horn honks, thumbs up, and shouts of encouragement. More and more people who self-identify as Republicans or Independents are signing the recall petitions as the Governor continues his policy rampage and power grab. Rep. Peter Barca, Speaker of the Assembly and my former colleague, has repeatedly reported on the Governor's disregard for basic Wisconsin values and traditions...not to mention the fact that Wisconsin is losing jobs when states all around us (in fact, 39 other states) have added jobs, and that Wisconsin children are bearing the burden of the largest cuts to education in history. Tens of thousands of low income citizens are being kicked off of Badger Care while other states, like Montana, are looking at how they can implement a state system of Medicare for all. Senator Moulton voted for and Governor Walker signed the most restrictive voter ID bill in the nation. While other countries are fighting and dying to expand democracy, our leaders are choking it. Moulton/Walker continue to pander to the super-wealthy and well-connected at the expense of everyday families and main street businesses.

There is a better way, but it's not the Moulton/Walker way! Recall is the remedy; recall is our right.

It's time to move into phase two of this effort. The low hanging fruit, so to speak, has dropped into our baskets and now it's time to go out to pick the rest of the signatures. Every day we get calls from people in the more rural parts of the valley who want to sign the Moulton and Walker petitions, and it's time to let those voters exercise their constitutional right to recall. Our focus will be on Sen. Moulton, since this is the only part of the state that's able to collect his recall signatures. (You can be sure the rest of the state will remain focused on the Governor!) Canvassing the smaller towns and villages will now begin. The number of signatures we're able to collect each hour will drop but please don't let that discourage you from continuing and asking your friends to help. I've been involved in several campaigns and can tell you that it's a lot of work and some days are discouraging. There were days when I'd knock on doors for hours without knowing if I was making a difference. Regardless, I believed in what I was doing so I put one foot in front of the other and carried on because too many people put their faith in my campaign and I wasn't about to let them down.

This campaign is no different. Too many people have been disenfranchised by Sen. Moulton and Gov. Walker and we can't let them down. But there's no way around the work and as long as we continue to put one foot in front of the other we WILL collect the 18,000 signatures needed to recall Sen. Moulton. We WILL collect the signatures needed to recall Gov. Walker and Lt. Gov. Kleefisch. We will. And on the day the last votes are counted and we have a new, progressive governor and a new, progressive senator, we will have made history!!!!

Join us, stick with us, and become a part of history!!!


WE JUST RECEIVED WORD THAT TOMORROW, DEC. 15, AT NOON THERE WILL BE A LIVE ANNOUNCEMENT FROM DPW ABOUT THE RECALL EFFORT.

[teddy51]

1. Way to go WI, you guys rock there and thank you for standing up for Democracy. n/t

[bertman]

2. REC. Keep up the good work, Wisconsin! nt

[friendly_iconoclast]

3. Kicked and heartily recommended

[SecurityManager]

4. Mark Belling and the LIES daily!

Wisconsin has more jobs and the deficit now for the state is non existent due to Governor Walker.

FREAKING EVERY DAY !!! argh

[Scuba]

5. "less evolved communications skills" Yep, that describes the Walker-backers perfectly. n/t

[Jackpine Radical]

6. The current Eau Claire County chair is Kristen Dexter,

who lost her seat in the Assembly in the 2010 melee. She did not deserve to lose. But then neither did Russ.

I expect she will be the candidate against Moulton when he is recalled. (She beat him in 2008 to get her Assembly seat.)

[midnight]

7. Thanks for the update...