Yo Bikies,
Why is this aldermanic race important? Because corporate interests
are trying to buy it. There is an unprecedented surge in cash this
election cycle coming from out-of-district sources. Why? Because with
9 alders stepping down, there is a wide-open opportunity to tilt the
council--one way or another--dramatically.
Matt has posted a great little report on the campaign finance status
of a few races here: http://www.danenet.org/bcp/bta/news.php. Click
on some of the links there and you'll get even more analysis of the
money pouring in. Basically, every BTA-endorsed candidate is up
against these same big-moneyed corporate/tobacco/real estate (read:
sprawl) interests. BTA's steering committee did quite a lot of
research on the candidates before endorsing. We researched the
candidate's community involvement and verifiable action on behalf of
better bicycling. And that research went well beyond the candidate's
answers to the questionnaire.
This research was important because, I think it is very, very
important to know who is supporting candidates both with endorsements
as well as with money. I think both are an indicator of who they will
work for once in office. If the endorsements come from a wide variety
of community-oriented groups, then that candidate likely is
well-grounded in the community. If it is the general community giving
in small campaign donations, especially from the neighborhoods of the
district, then it could be argued that money isn't an issue. But when
massive sums are coming from venal interests, one has to wonder.
Below is a more detailed account of what one friend of bicycling is
up against in District 5. But you can be certain that these sorts of
tactics have & will be carried out against the rest of our endorsed
candidates. Last aldermanic campaign cycle the conservative interests
put out a whole slew of nasty personality attacks on fliers at the
last minute. Expect more of that in these races.
This Badger Herald article is a good starting point of what is
happening in the 5th:
http://badgerherald.com/news/2007/03/29/thiel_leads_fundrais.php
From that article: "Of Thiel's $8,553 in campaign contributions,
campaign finance reports documents say approximately $3,500 came from
conduits, including the Wisconsin Realtors' conduit."
(Thiel is Robbie's opponent in the 5th District, consisting generally
of Univ. Heights, west campus and university housing). But wait!
There's more! The numbers are even worse than the article indicates.
For Troy Thiel's campaign:
-$6000 of the $8000 raised this period is from outside the district.
-Over $3000 from conduits
-$1715 from the Realtors year to date in 2007.
-$1562.85 from Chamber of Commerce year to date in 2007
Expect these #s to only get worse. There will probably be a massive
last minute cash dump from these same money-oriented interests;
unfortunately, it will not show up in the campaign finance reports
until well after the election. The voters don't stand a chance to
find out who is really financing the candidates in the end.
It is mighty ironic that the city council just debated whether they
should do a study of public financing of campaigns at the city level.
Those against the idea claimed that big money wasn't a
problem in the city....Oh reeeeeealllly? Let's look at the #s.
The campaign conduit reports on line have this to report (so far):
Direct Giver is the Realtors:
http://www.cityofmadison.com/clerk/CampFin/2007/DirectGiver1.pdf
http://www.cityofmadison.com/clerk/CampFin/2007/DirectGiver2.pdf
The Chamber of Commerce also now has a conduit:
http://www.cityofmadison.com/clerk/CampFin/2007/GMCC1.pdf
Keep in mind that this is just a case in point; the numbers are
similar in many of the other races.
And what is the corporate candidate in the 5th doing with all that
cash? He ain't buyin' shoe leather for volunteers to do lit drops,
that's for sure! In fact, he's been able to afford 3 massive
*mailings* in one week alone. This is an important distinction,
because traditionally local campaigns have had to rely on volunteers
to donate their own shoe leather doing lit drops; the cash simply
hasn't been there to do these very expensive mailings in local races.
Until now.
And then there is this: Push polling--an old fashioned
Republican-dirty-trick sort of poll. Here's how it goes: People in
the 5th have been getting multiple calls asking who they are
supporting in the race. If they say Webber, they are then asked "How
strong is that support?" If the person says "very strong", then the
conversation is over. Click.
If they say, "I'm still thinking about it." Then they get a pitch.
And it is the most mean-spirited sort of syllogism: "Would you still
support Webber if you knew....[for example] she was strangling
puppies?" We don't know what that IF statement is yet, because
basically everyone we know would probably have said "very strong
support."
Worse yet, people are getting multiple calls in such a volume that it
is amounting to harassment. One woman reported that she has gotten 6
calls in the last 2 weeks, even though she has demanded that they
stop calling her. These sorts of phone bank operations are
*expensive* to run.
But the corporate candidate has help. In addition to the big
money/tobacco/real estate donors, the state Democratic Party has
offered up their tacit endorsement to select candidates who, in fact,
don't have the Dem endorsement. Who are the Dem Bigwigs selecting?
The commonality seems to be men who oppose women who are progressive
(Vicky Selkowe in the 15th, Lauren Woods in the 8th, were also cut
out of the Dem's phone bank deal in favor of the men who oppose
them). A stretch of reasoning? Who knows. But it is awfully fishy.
(And I can't help but think of the last-minute trashing of a very
good, active, progressive candidate--by these same conservative
forces last election cycle--for the political crime of knitting; she
lost to a candidate who ended up doing two years of nothing once in
office.)
Last I checked, the corporate candidate in the 5th is monitoring this
list. Buddy, I'd say you've got some 'splainin to do. Starting with
your choice of the city's lead tobacco promoter as your campaign
manager.
-Mike Barrett
P.s. Folks, call/email your friends to support our community-based
candidates! Volunteer for lit drops! Put a sign in your yard! Blog!
Drag people to the polls! Whatever! Just get the word out about the
reality of these campaigns!
BTA's endorsees are:
* District 1: Aaron Backer
* District 5: Robbie Webber
* District 6: Marsha Rummel
* District 8: Lauren Woods
* District 10: Brian Solomon
* District 11: Tim Gruber
* District 12: Satya Rhodes-Conway
* District 15: Vicky Selkowe
* District 18: Jon Becker
* District 19: Mark Clear
* District 20: Gary Poulson
To find links to their campaign websites go here:
http://www.danenet.org/bcp/bta/news.php, and then scroll down to the
endorsements. The campaign websites give contact info for getting
involved.
Thanks!
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