Well, it’s for sure that the DNC isn’t going to help.
The DCCC confirmed to Roll Call today that the committee has shifted its Badger State operation, in place to aid Democratic Congressional candidates in the fall elections, to boost the party’s effort to recall Gov. Scott Walker (R) and replace him with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. Today, the DCCC today sent an email fundraising appeal asking its supporters to help underwrite its participation in the recall campaign.
The worst news for the Democrats? In a demented way, it even makes sense. The DCCC is struggling to regain ground in Wisconsin’s current 5/3 GOP/Democratic split: the two Republican freshmen (Sean Duffy and Reid Ribble) are the only ones really vulnerable this go-round, and even then only in relative terms. If the latest batch of Wisconsin recall elections end as mind-bogglingly disastrously for the Democrats as it’s currently looking, then the DCCC will not only find themselves not even close to winning back either seat; they might even be stuck worrying about Ron Kind’s again*. So they’ve got a stake in the recalls.
Which does not detract from the fact that this is still a fiasco for the Democrats. The Wisconsin recalls are really a matter for the DNC first, the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) second, and everybody else third. Never mind the DGA right now: it won’t be effective until they find somebody smarter to run it than Gov. O’Malley anyway. The DNC’s absence from this is much more troublesome, from a Democratic partisan’s point of view… and it’s also more obvious as to why they’re absent. You see, the DNC is President Obama’s creature right now… and from Obama’s point of view it really doesn’t matter what happens in Wisconsin, just as long as he wins its Electoral Votes in November. Which… well, Wisconsin will not decide the election, either way. If Obama loses it then he’s probably going to lose a lot of other states, too.
At least, that’s probably the assumption being made by the DNC. Which is why they’re not throwing money away on a fool’s errand of propping up Tom Barrett. And which is why they’re letting the DCCC try to make up the slack. Because this is a game of lifeboat, and it appears that the only one entitled to a seat is the captain of the ship…
Moe Lane
*Which is bizarre, because Kind benefited from the last batch of redistricting. Barack Obama’s DNC has a habit of mucking up other people’s lives like this, though.
Even if they win- and I doubt they will- Wisconsin has turned into a black hole of moeny, credibility, and enthusiasm for the Dems. At this point, there’s nothing they can get back out if Wisconsin that will justify what they’re throwing into it.
Is O’Malley really dumber than Debbie Wasserman-Schultz? That would be pretty breathtaking, because she’s plenty dumb. I think she’s probably worth 5-10 extra Republican seats this cycle alone.
Of course, we here in Texas have benefitted from the fact that the state Democratic Party and the DCCC was so disorganized that they couldn’t even find candidates for seven U.S. Congressional seats.
Wait, so there are two vulnerable R’s? Oh great, then that means R’s could lose the house this fall. I thought the redistricting made WI basically keep all their R reps…
You say Shawarma, I say Gyros. (hold the pita)
And yes, the Wisconsin Dems are boned. I *hope* it’s for a generation, the same way the Louisiana Dems are boned… but I fear there’s too many smart ones left, and too many stupid Illinoisans migrating north.
Mew
The problem here in Wisconsin is this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wisconsin_population_map.png
Note the big red, bleeding patch in the SE known as “Milwaukee”. The etymology of the name is American Indian, but the translation has always been wrong. It actually means “We suck public coffers dry and skew the vote for the entire state of Wisconsin” – or something to that effect.