From my in box from the Democratic Party of Milwaukee County:
Friend —
By now we know you’ve heard the exciting news — Mary Burke is running for Governor!
Mary Burke knows that Wisconsin needs a leader who will abandon divisive partisan fights and instead bring people together to create jobs and opportunity for everyone.
We hope you’ll join us on Wednesday, December 11th from 5:30-7:30pm for an event with Mary at La Perla.
La Perla
734 S 5th Street
Milwaukee, WI 53204
Enter at the “Tequila Bar.” Parking is adjacent to the building.$35 suggested contribution
With a $35 contribution you will recieve sic) a drink ticket for a free beer or soda at La Perla. Contributions will be accepted at the door or you can contribute to get your free drink ticket by clicking here.
Winning this race will take the support of thousands of Wisconsinites just like you. So we’d like to invite you to hear from Mary about her commitment to Wisconsin, why she’s running, and how she will work every day to restore Wisconsin values and create jobs and opportunity for everyone.
We hope you’re able to join us Wednesday, December 11th from 5:30-7:30pm.
Thanks,
The Burke For Wisconsin Team
Paid for by Burke for Wisconsin, Sheila Conroy, Treasurer.
All the Kathleen Vinehout meet and greets have had no cost attached. No “suggested donation” although donations were appreciated.
At least this one is announced publicly!
But at least you’ll get a ticket for a beer or soda for your $35 suggested contribution!
Milwaukee is a great place for activists to show up and approach Mary Burke about the negative impact Wisconsin’s incarceration rate has had on families in the city as well as other parts of the state. If you are a non committed activist or think you might support another candidate in the primary you can always show up and be cordial. In order to pass any meaningful legislation Democrats have to make policy together no matter who wins the primary. You can always give 35 bucks after the primary.
Campaigns are run on donations; and, I think $35 is a small amount to ask to meet and hear the candidate. Some of the “meet and greets” I’ve seen have had large minimum donations to attend an event. In my opinion,this one is more than fair. It’s plain to see that Mary Burke wants to reach out to the majority of the Wisconsin people and not the wealthy elite.
“…$35 is a small amount…”
I disagree, Mary. And a $35 minimum is not a “donation.” Rather, it or some greater amount as suggested on the Burke site is required for admittance based upon the wording “at the door” in the announcement.
It seems to me that Ms. Burke is out of touch with the working poor. %35 may be peanuts for the “wealthy elite” in the affluent suburbs surrounding Milwaukee, but not in the inner city as I remember it living on 4th and Scott street in my youth.
As Zach pointed out above…it is a suggested donation…although worded to make it seem like a requirement to attend.
I don’t know how many fund raisers for announced candidates any of you have attended…but $35 is in the middle of the range for suggested contributions this election cycle. I have seen a number of them set the peg at $50 this December.
OTOH: the free drink tactic is kinda tacky.
Well, I’m not going, so we’ll never know if I could get past La Peria’s(The Pearl) front door without a ticket or making a “suggested donation.” BTW, there was a theater on the south side by the name of “Pearl.”
I’d sure like to visit my old neighborhood and amigo e amiga, but it would cost me $100 or more for my gas guzzler and another $100 for a bed in addition to a “suggested donation.” It is just too much at this time of the year.
I’ll catch candidate Burke if she is in my neighborhood or when she debates Senator Vinehout next year.
It’s good to see Burke getting out among us plebes around the state, and it seems her campaign has caught on to the fact that avoiding the base was ticking a lot of us off. But I thought part of the reason the DPW wanted Burke was because she could self-fund. Why is she holding all these fundraisers then? Something doesn’t add up here, and it makes me want a primary even more to clear this situation up, and improve Burke as a candidate.
And speaking of Team Burke, welcome to Burke staffer Mary Struck. You may want to listen a lot more than talk on here, unlike that other Burke staffer Emma that was on here for a few weeks before self-destructing.
“…Burke staffer Emma…”
Jake, could or would you provide a source or a basis for your claim?
I’m no Burke fan, or I should say, “I support Senator Vinehout, but…
Though Mary Burke is scheduled to appear within a reasonable distance of my home, soon, at a toll-free public venue, I had the pleasure of listening to Kathleen Vinehout yesterday and would urge anyone in the Racine and Kenosha area today, or in Appleton tomorrow to make the effort to go and see her.
If you wish to have a future governor who is completely unequivocal about where she stands, questions will be answered. Not one issue was mentioned that had a, “I’ll need to learn more about that,” attached to the response. While briefly outlining the damage being wrought in the state by the Walker/ALEC regime, campaign finance laws, and with a glorious eye-roll or two regarding the present campaign strategy of the DPW state leadership, experiencing Senator Vinehout in person, is an opportunity not to be missed.
Priorities which I recall (without having taken notes) as she summarized near the end of her prepared remarks, began with, restoration of funding for public schools, preservation and restoration of local control over mining law specifically, but in general over the ability to keep local rights and control in our communities as they are adversely affected by industry and agriculture and mandates from the current state government. She emphasized that clean WATER and protecting the public trust rights to it, is one of the biggest issues we face today.
While pointing out the ways that our current state government is chipping away at the few remaining environmental and other local protections we have, returning the DNR to their former non-partisan and fact based scientific regulatory authority would be high on her list as a way to remedy this. We were also reminded of the sample state budget available on her web site and asked to check it out.
During audience questions, Kathleen clearly stated that she is pro-choice and at the same time she would seek to absolutely minimize the NEED for any abortions through accurate school based sex education and furthering health care goals for women to meet their specific needs. Of equal importance is what I would term her pro-life stance as it pertains to her desire to fulfill the need for public access to adequate health CARE, nutrition and to help promote safe and prosperous communities. One questioner asked about the possibility of single payer coming to WI as is happening in Delaware and she said it is certainly doable under the existing ACA rules and it absolutely could happen in WI, though obviously not under the current regime.
This is very incomplete coverage of the event I attended, but there is no question in my mind, after listening to Senator Vinehout, that she is presently running for governor of the state. Visit with her and see if you agree.