Two very different visions for Wisconsin by Nancy OhanianWant to get into the time machine for a moment? Not ancient Egypt or a chance to hear Socrates or even a look at the French declaring human rights while chopping off the heads of their oppressors . Glorious moments in the history of man, but our trip is just two years ago-- to July, 2006.
Unless you can make a clear case for outright villainy-- a really clear case-- Democratic primary voters do not like Democratic primary opponents attacking each other. They hate it. Republican primary voters love to see their primary candidates attacking each other, but Democrats want the attacks saved for general elections, not primaries.
Remember this photo of Roger Stone and I? I was backstage at Politicon, where Randy was giving a keynote address at the Latino Victory Project. Afterwards we ditched Stone and went for dinner. The waiter recognized him and treated him like a celebrity. Randy didn't have a credit card. He doesn't have a credit card.
Maybe you don't believe that Ryan fled from the field of battle when he noticed that Randy Bryce's @IronStache momentum was leaving him with no pathway to reelection. And maybe you believe that the Speaker of the House decided he really needed to be home in Janesville 7 days a week so he could spend the next few years teaching little Sammy and Charlie how to kill animals with bows and arrows.
If Pelosi, Hoyer, Ben Ray Lujan, Dan Cena and Jason Bresler read one piece of journalism this month, it should be this piece by Daniel Marans at HuffPo:
For over a decade it's been hard to find anyone "credible" (or at least "establishment") to run against Paul Ryan. For 4 cycles, Pelosi and her team laughed hysterically as the Ryan family orthopedist, Jeffrey Thomas, was the official candidate of the Democratic party against Ryan. Isn't that cute? It wasn't 'til Rob Zerban ran against him in 2012 that Ryan had a real opponent, albeit still one Pelosi's DCCC gang refused to support in any meaningful way.
Paul Ryan knows why he retired from Congress-- audit's not about teaching his sons, Charlie and Sam, to shoot bows and arrows. Randy Bryce is why Ryan is retiring from Congress. I've been trying for a decade to find a credible candidate to run against Ryan. The local Democratic elected officials in the district were all afraid... every one of them. Political cowards who were afraid to give up their jobs to run against Paul Ryan.
Because Blue America has spent years trying to defeat Paul Ryan, about a year ago we got two consecutive call, one from former Ryan opponent and one from state Senator Chis Larson, asking me to call a very politicized progressive union iron worker in Racine County and help persuade him to run against Ryan. The Wisconsin Working Families Party had already done the heavy lift and they just needed me to push Randy Bryce over the edge.
Ryan learned everything he knows about economics from an adolescent Ayn Rand bookIt looks likely that Paul Ryan will announce his retirement from Congress close to Wisconsin’s June 1 filing deadline. There are rumors circulating that he’s selected Tom Hillman, his former aide and now an investment banker in Madison, as the sacrificial lamb.
If you’ve been following this blog for any length of time, you’re probably aware that one of the (many) bones of contention we have with the DCCC, is over platforms. They urge their candidates to hide their positions, either not including issues pages on their websites at all or, if they must, to avoid all controversial topics. Their strive for bland reiterations of mom-and-apple pie, bio-oriented statements.
