Political Heat

An organization I once had the great fortune of working for is now hiring. Advancing Wisconsin , a non-profit advocacy campaign group, is now hiring field canvassers to help spread the word door-to-door about progressive candidates up for election this year. The job -- and it is HIGHLY rewarding -- would entail going to on-the-fence voters' doors and asking them to consider the progressive candidates in races that are up for grabs. There would be no persuasion of voters whose minds have already been made up -- if someone is already convinced either way, there's no point in using this time to either preach to the choir or talk to someone who's ears are not listening. Rather, the target group is undecided voters who need to hear what the candidates stand for. So if you're interested in signing up for Advancing Wisconsin, please visit their website or go to their Facebook page .

Two candidates in particular, gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker and senatorial candidate Ron Johnson, both Republicans, are stark examples of how bad the GOP has really gotten in the past few years. The first represents the Republican Party's growing tendency to field candidates who are grossly incompetent at what they do when they enter government; the second represents another trend of Republican-sponsored candidates, who are becoming more and more clueless it seems of this year's campaign issues by each passing week. READ MORE at Dane101.com

The people are fed up. They are sick and tired of Democrats, and mad enough to vote every single one of them out of office in order to make their point. But if there's one thing the people hate more than Democrats right now it's -- Republicans. A new poll confirms it . While 60 percent of Americans disapprove of the job performance of Congressional Democrats, Republicans in Congress are getting an even worse grade -- a 68 percent disapproval. In other words, more than two out of every three Americans feels that the GOP is doing a poor job. Many Americans think that President Barack Obama is doing poorly as well. But former President George W. Bush and potential Republican presidential candidate Sarah Palin receive even lower marks than Obama, indicating that more Americans are fed up with Republicans than Democrats. Despite a stronger distaste for Republicans among the American people, Democrats are still likely to lose seats come November. Nearly sixty percent of those who ide...

A new report out details how the “Great Recession” officially ended in June of last year (2009). That means that, for the past year or so, we have been living in a time of recovery. But it doesn’t feel that way to the Average American. Most will hear this news and say to themselves, “bull----.” The problem lies in semantics. When a recession ends, whether it be this one or any other during our nation’s history, it means that the economy is no longer in decline, and in fact is starting to show signs of growth. It doesn’t mean, however, that the economy is back to its pre-recessional strength -- in fact, it may take years for it to reach that level again. The unemployment rate will remain high, people’s wages won’t be as good as they were before the bust, and many people will still struggle to make ends meet. So when people read about how this recession is over, it’s understandable that they won’t suddenly be dancing in the streets rejoicing at the news. Until there are long-term job op...

At the end of this month, President Barack Obama is set to make another visit to the Badger State . A week after his appearance, Vice President Joe Biden will also be coming to Wisconsin to host a fundraiser for Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, the Democratic nominee for governor. Obama was last in Wisconsin for Milwaukee's Labor Fest on Labor Day to unveil his latest economic plans. With so many stops to one state, one has to wonder: are we really that important to the president? Do we really deserve to be spotlighted this much ? Wisconsin represents a small proportion of the nation overall -- our population represents less than 2 percent of the United States' totals . The number of electoral votes that our state holds -- the key to winning the White House a second time for Obama -- is also less than stellar when compared to the rest of the country. Despite these facts about our political insignificance, Wisconsin does indeed matter this year. We have high-profile gubernatorial...

FOR SCOTT WALKER, FONT SIZE IS ALL THAT MATTERS! LET'S MOCK A THOROUGH JOBS PLAN CREATED BY TOM BARRETT BY MAKING OUR 3-PAGE PLAN BIG ENOUGH TO READ FROM CANADA! Meanwhile, real Wisconsin citizens are still unemployed. Scott Walker's jobs plan, while attempting to mock Tom Barrett's 67-page plan full of real ideas, is actually a spit in the face of the unemployed workers still struggling to make ends meet. Why aren't Wisconsin citizens choosing the mature candidate? Why are we even considering this guy? Blogging Blue , Wonkette , Left on the Lake , Scott Walker's site .

Current Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton has accepted an invitation to speak at the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s annual convention this year, a historic gesture as she would become the highest-ranking person in government ever to speak to the organization (while holding office). Though the group works to keep the “separation of church and state” intact -- the true desires of our founding fathers, including Thomas Jefferson who coined the phrase himself -- few sitting politicians, if any, tend to associate themselves directly with the association. Lawton, who cannot attend in person due to conflicting family plans, will deliver her speech via video recorded message. The current Lt. Governor had previously considered a run for governor earlier this year, but dropped out due to undefined family circumstances. Lawton saw no problem with giving the speech, and felt that she would have given it regardless of if she had run for office this year or not. “This is a clear statement of m...

Walker over Neumann, 56-42. Johnson over Westlake, 59-36. Barrett over John, 84-12. (Sent from phone)

Tuesday is primary election day. Democrats will vie with other Democrats, and Republicans will vie with other Republicans, for the official party nominations for various offices up for grabs in the general election in November. In the governor's race specifically, Democratic candidate Tom Barrett faces no real challenge; he's expected to win his party's nomination with no trouble at all. The GOP race, on the other hand, is shaping up to be something else. Scott Walker and Mark Neumann are involved in one of the most heated primary battles this state has seen in some time. Neumann is a former Congressman and businessman (he couldn't stress the latter enough) while Walker has been Milwaukee County Executive for the better part of the last decade, and before that a member of the State Assembly. Walker has criticized Neumann for not being a true conservative (he crossed party lines to help balance the budget with Democrats during his time in Congress) while Neumann accuses ...

In my eyes, the title of this blog post is precisely what Scott Walker is trying to do with his latest tweet. That may seem an exaggeration, but consider what it is he actually wrote (credit due to Capper): "Look @ the liberal union rally against me @ courthouse. They want 2 hijack the primary." Ordinarily, this might not be such a sensitive subject. But consider the date that he makes this tweet. Today is September 11, 2010 -- the ninth anniversary of the hijackings of several planes and the deaths of thousands of Americans at the hands of radical Islamic fundamentalists. Today is a date of remembrance, of reflection, of unity, of understanding that, left, right, center, or otherwise, we are all Americans first and foremost. I was all set to write a simple blog today, one that wouldn't be tinged in politics. I was set to write how, despite the Quran-burning controversy (that happily didn't take place ), that the American people should look at today as a day we can a...

A lot of talk this year has been about the importance of turnover in national offices. You hear it from various campaign groups, as from candidates for office facing long-time incumbents. "He's a career politician," they'll often say, in a tone that leaves the listener with no doubt about how terrible a thing that really is. In reality, our nation has no problem with career politicians. We may say that we oppose a person because they've been in office for a long while -- but that's usually in conjunction with opposing a person whose political views we may also find wrong. Our founding fathers, in fact, had quite the debate themselves over term limits. When the Articles of Confederation were drafted, and subsequently put into place, they required each person holding office in the national Congress to relinquish their seat after serving one three-year term. They could only return to office following another three years, during which time another person would se...

Last night, I posted my 300th blog (you can read it here ). It's been a great experience continuing my writing on politics since graduating college, where I wrote for three years as part of the UWM Post . I've come a long way since my first post here , and I'm proud of the work I've done on this tiny blog that doesn't necessarily have the largest audience in the world, but still allows me to get my word out there. Today, I also received a special gift: a flag that was flown over the U.S. Capitol building in Washington D.C. in honor of those who have fought for protecting First Amendment rights. It's an honor to have such an item, and it will be one I cherish for as long as I own it. It delights me that these two events occur on the same day. With that said, I will be taking a short break for the next few days -- a family vacation up north. It won't be a LONG trip -- just long enough to let you know that I won't be doing any significant blogging within th...

President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party have been dealing with dismal polling numbers within the past few months. Specifically, Obama's approval rating has taken a large dive since he's taken office . With an economy in shambles, it's only natural for the American people to start thinking that maybe he isn't doing enough to make things better. Approval ratings can be mixed bags. Obama's ratings don't necessarily mean that the American people disapprove of his ambitions -- a certain percentage may in fact be liberals who find that the president hasn't moved far enough to the left. This was the case, in fact, with health care reform . When 49 percent of Americans disapproved of reform, with 46 percent approving, it was because 10 percent of Americans believed that the bill didn't go far enough, that the bill wasn't as liberal as it could have been. So in actuality, 56 percent of Americans were happy with or wanted more changes to health reform,...