UPDATE: I have received information that in addition to receiving a call from Doug Haeffle of the ADCC on Thursday morning, Chris Miller was contacted by Democratic State Reps. Andy Jorgensen and Steve Doyle after Miller sent out an email Wednesday thanking his supporters.
I’ve long had a bone to pick with the Democratic Party of Wisconsin over how they treat candidates they haven’t either hand-picked or who they deem as being not viable.
For instance, in 2010 Democrats ran a candidate in the 21st Assembly district when Republican State Rep. Mark Honadel still held that seat. At the onset of the campaign, the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee (ADCC) provided said Democratic candidate with assistance and a staffer, only to pull their support and staffer unceremoniously once they deemed the candidate as no longer being viable. I know that’s not the only Democratic candidate for the Assembly that has had that happen to them, and I know that politics and political campaigns are ruthless.
However, a situation has come to my attention that I think demonstrates unambiguously how thoughtless and disrespectful Mike Tate (pictured, left) and the Democratic establishment can be towards those individuals who fought for months to run viable, winning campaigns on behalf of the Democratic Party.
The individual in question is Democrat Chris Miller, who ran against entrenched incumbent Republican State Rep. Ed Brooks in the 50th Assemble district. While he ultimately lost the election, Miller raised $45,000 and forced Rep. Brooks to spend money, exert effort, and actually run a legitimate campaign. While election night was obviously a frenetic time for campaign staff and paid political types like Tate, Chris Miller never received a phone call, email, text message, carrier pigeon, or any other type of communication from anyone in the Democratic Party of Wisconsin thanking him for putting himself “out there” as a candidate for office and for all the hard work he did as a candidate. In fact, Chris Miller didn’t finally get a call from anyone associated with the DPW or ADCC to thank him or to offer words of support following his loss until this morning, and the person who called was some random staffer.
When called out on the lack of any type of post-election communication from the DPW or the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee (ADCC) towards Chris Miller, here’s Mike Tate’s response.
I guess I don’t understand. I’m pretty easy to reach, Jake is pretty easy to reach, Peter is pretty easy to reach. If something was needed on election night we were available. But to suggest we have the time to check in with all our candidates the evening of the election demonstrates a lack of understanding of how frenetic an election night is. Communication goes both ways.
Got that, candidates? If you’re expecting a thank you of a “job well done” from Mike Tate or anyone else in the Democratic political establishment for the work you did on behalf of the party, you’d better just contact Mike yourselves, because he’s just too busy to spend two minutes sending a text or picking up the phone.
If Mike Tate and the rest of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin establishment continue to view the men and women who run for elected office as Democrats as nothing more than proverbial “pieces on a chessboard” as opposed to actual human beings, then the Democratic Party of Wisconsin is going to find itself hard-pressed to find good candidates to run for elected office. After all, people talk, and it’s no secret how poorl the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and its affiliated groups like the ADCC treat candidates who can no longer benefit the party.
Unconfirmed report that people “in the know” Mike Tate intends to serve out the rest of his term as DPW chair and not run for another two-year term: http://prairiebadger.wordpress.com/2014/11/06/unconfirmed-report-mike-tate-will-not-run-for-another-term-as-democratic-party-of-wisconsin-chairman/
Again, that report is NOT confirmed by Tate and/or the DPW at this time. However, I think he should resign immediately.
I saw that, and if it’s true I’m underwhelmed.
By the time Tate serves out his full term, he’ll have collected a six-figure salary for at least 5 years.
I guarantee you, majority of the Wisconsin is was with what Burke stood for, it’s just the Democratic Party of Wisconsin is so incompetent in getting the message out. We want Medicaid Expansion. We want many of these things throughout the state. If she outright came out with a commercial, spoke directly to everyone, and took the initiative to travel to see people and not have them come to them. And we need to not do it just once, we need to do it repeatedly.
We need to get something along the lines of Minnesota. We need people walking everywhere, even in places you don’t think we can win like Brown County, Outagamie County, and Winnebago County. We need them in Racine County and Kenosha County. we need them in the heart of Waukesha County because they have the 3rd most amount of Democrats in the state. I mean christ sake let’s look into Wellstone. I will tell you let us get back to the progressive roots.
Remember this? Let’s take this to mind. And this. Let’s take these messages to heart.
Your message was heard loud and clear. Mary Burke is not Scott Walker.
The state voted for Walker (again) because that is what the majority believes in.
You want higher taxes, more freebies to the unproductive, more debt, more government expansion, more vague catchy campaign promises that just equal what I listed prior. When you get outside of your MKE or Madison bubble the rest of the state would NEVER welcome a democrat.
Walker just raised my taxes $10/month because I conserve electricity. I didn’t want that. Walker is raising your taxes next if you aren’t included in this one. You happy about that?
Other than gloating and bitching, you’ve said nothing new in your 14 or so comments since Wednesday. Are you living outside the bubble you describe? Been around the rest of the state and have lots of intimate contacts to know what others are thinking?
Don’t be ridiculous, his economy is unsustainable and you will be crying that the Democrats created the debt once he chooses to move onto politics higher elsewhere.
Anyone who has studied basic Economics can see in the long run the mess he made.
When Mary Burke referred to the fact he was sending us into debt she was referring to the the LFB number for the 2015-17 structural deficit which was $1,766m.
The structural deficit for the next biennium reflects how much new revenue growth will be eaten up by continuance of current-year spending levels (i.e. 0% inflation) and continuance of current revenues (i.e. 0% growth) as affected by existing law (e.g. the withholding table change that took effect in April this year affects FY14 and FY15 each by a net of roughly -$150m, but since it’ll have approximately zero net effect in FY16 and FY17 the revenue base for each is adjusted upwards by c.$150m in calculating the structural deficit. Likewise taxes and tax cuts with sunset clauses making them expire in 2015-17 will adjust the totals accordingly).
Reading that LFB memo, they mention that it presumes that the FY15 tax revenue base will be $281m less than budgeted amounts, i.e. $14,725m – $281m = $14,444m. So the $1,766m calculation is assuming 2x $14,444m = $28,888m of base tax revenue, plus current-law adjustments. Since FY15 is currently on course for a 2.1% growth over FY14, unless it changes direction it’ll end at $14,241m of tax revenue. If FY16 tax revenues grow by the historical 2.9% on top of that, they’ll be $14,654m; if FY17 tax revenues do the same, they’ll be $15,079m and so a total of $29,733m, some $845m more than in the LFB projection.
Appropriation requests are $1,136m more than the FY15 base year appropriations. That is about a 2015-17 balance after revenue and spending growth of -$1,766m + $845m – $1,136m = -$2,057m. That’s the best estimate I have based on currently available data for how much taxes must rise by and/or services cut by for the 2015-17 budget to achieve balance.
In additon, the head of the Republican ticket has collected the following numbers of votes in recent elections:
2000 (Bush): 1,237,279, turnout 2,598,607
2002 (McCallum): 734,779, turnout 1,775,349
2004 (Bush): 1,478,120, turnout 2,997,007
2006 (Green): 979,427, turnout 2,161,700
2008 (McCain): 1,262,393, turnout 2,983,417
2010 (Walker): 1,128,941, turnout 2,160,832
2012 recall (Walker): 1,335,585, turnout 2,516,065
2012 (Romney): 1,407,966, turnout 3,068,434
2014 (Walker): 1,259,031, turnout 2,407,900 (pre-canvass)
The High mark is Bush during 2004, and since then the highest-tallying Republican has been Romney with 1.4 million, so on any turnout of 2.8 million or more a Democrat will almost inevitably win. 2.4 million in 2014 just isn’t enough, even though that set a midterm record. If you check on the votes overall, Walker has less than the Recall. The issue was the fact the Democratic Party of Wisconsin did not sell a Democrat who was a legit Democrat, but instead tried to sell Republican Lite. We just know in the next election to get 2.8 million.
IN ADDITION.
John Kerry was also the weakest President Candidate in years, weaker than Al Gore who both sold themselves as Republican Lite in their campaigns. All that needs to happen is a bigger turn out at 2.8 million next time.
Also I’m from Brown County Steve, so take that pipe and smoke it.
Look, Tate has a 72 county strategy. If you’re from Sauk County and you expect to hear from him on Trempealeau County day, you better think again. The schedule has been posted on his office door since the beginning of the year. Tate has pledged $500,000 to this strategy, less his salary of course. Then there’s the employer portion of payroll taxes. And reimbursed travel expenses. But after all that he has pledged at least $375,000 to this 72 county effort. He can’t be expected to do everything, can he?
I can understand not hearing on election night if the candidate does not win, but a personal call from Tate, Barca, or Larson the next day is a must. Some flunky staffer is just insulting. While it may not have worked out this time, you never know what can happen in the future.
Steve, come to Janesville and Rock County. We failed to vote down Paul Ryan this time, but his own voting ward voted against him.
I am sick of hearing Republicans quote meaningless catchy talking points. No one wants higher taxes, handouts to the unproductive, or bigger government. That is non-sense – just a meaningless quote from Fox.
Vivian… really? All we do is “catchy talking points”?!? The Left has built an entire platform on “War on Women”, and “Climate Change” and how the GOP is a bunch of homophobic, racist white people. Well, tell that to Ben Carson, Mia Love, Tim Scott, Susan Hernandez, Bobby Jindal and many others. Your side says the right is not for any taxation – ridiculous! We NEED Police, Firefighters, schools, roads, garbage pickup,snow removal, etc.
Your side charges the bullhorn, and shouts a “Hey, Ho” lie into it until the batteries run out and the they charge it up again, change to a clean purple shirt and do it all over again.
So, don’t even START on the hypocritical observation of catchy phrases.