This is mainly intended for my fellow Wisconsinites, but of course thoughts from everyone, everywhere, are welcome. We are all Badgers now.
I've been in Madison at the Capitol half a dozen times over the last two weeks. I haven't camped out at the Capitol, but I've logged a lot of time there. I've walked a mile from the nearest available. I've visited my wonderful state assembly red (Fred Clark). I've eaten Ian's awesome pizza. I've sung and chanted and marched and talked and cheered and cried. I've been prouder than I have ever been to be a Wisconsin and U.S. citizen. I've seen the flowers draped around the bust of Fighting Bob LaFollette on the second floor of the Capitol, with the signs saying "What would Fighting Bob do?"
That would make a good alternative title to this diary: What would Fighting Bob do next?
We've reached an important turning point in the struggle here. It was an incredible day yesterday, with those 70,000+ (I tend to think +++) marching and cheering in the cold and snow. The Capitol is going to be closed later today, and the people in the people's house will have to chose whether to vacate voluntarilty or engage in civil disobedience and be arrested. (I can imagine the latter option will be exercised with extreme restraint and cooperation. As most know, the cops have without exception been entirely helpful, supportive, and professional. They are heroes. If civil disobedience occurs, I hope it will be done in front of cameras, with each and every individual being given the opportunity to express their convictions and their commitment to the wider world.)
But I'm concerned now about the next phase of the struggle. There's the short-term and long-term. Walker and his anti-union thugs are betting on the energy level fading, and the news cycles turning elsewhere. They will crank up the proganda mill, and churn out more divisive and cynical talking points. They will continue to accuse the Senate 14 of not doing their jobs. And to some degree it will work; I have a lot of neighbors who are not following all this very closely, who did not vote last fall, who know next to nothing about unions, and who are susceptible to the smooth, us-vs.-them rhetorical rubbish.
It's not a bad bet for Walker; it's not easy for us to maintain the high energy level of the last two weeks. If anyone can, we can. The fire is burning more strongly than ever. And I know the Senatre 14 are unified. But cracks in their (and our) resolve will open, and the Walker/Fitzgerald/Koch/Bradley/WMC cabal will be there immediately to exploit the weak points and drive in the wedges.
So this morning over coffee I find myself pondering strategy. In the long-run we know we need to begin recall efforts at once, and begin the campaign of 2012 EVERYWHERE across the state NOW. It's the short- and mid-term I'm mostly wondering about. I'm thinking of various options....
* More and more of the same. Let the Capitol close. Camp outside in the snow and cold just outside the doors. Set up a tent city on the lawn. Go in by day, camp at night. Think of THOSE visuals! You remember Hoovervilles? Think Walkerville.
* The Senate 14 stay in Illinois for as long as it takes. But as determined as they are, and as supportive as we are, something somehow will happen where one of them has to be back in the state. What do we do than?
* The Senate 14 come back and stage the Mother of All Filibusters. We have the eyes and ears of the nation upon us. Let's use that to maximum advantage, exposing each and every nefarious and nasty little provision of the bill, and pressuring three Republicans to do the right thing (while we turn up the recall effort on them). The key three are Dale Schultz, Luther Olsen, and Mike Ellis. We may lose the vote, but we'll win the hearts and minds in preparation for the next election. And in the process we will build the statewide structure for a new progressive campaign. (Sorry, I have zero confidence in the Wisconsin Democratic Party establishment. This would not have happened if they were competent in the least.) As part of this, a solid alternative budget bill must be put together. WE know that it's a smokescreen; but we need to have the positive alternative -- one that preserves collective bargaining rights AND that strenghtens and sustains the the middle class and poor -- ready to be broadcast lod and far and wide. It is a time for vision and imagination, not defensiveness.
" Call a general strike. Imagine a day when all Wisconsin government workers just stop. Imagine the provate sector unions joining in. It would certainly make the point. But hard to imagine nurses and firefighters and cops (among others) doing that, dedicated to public safety and well-being as they are.
* Statewide educational campaign. This has to happen regardless. This battle is the result, in my own personal view, of the state Democratic Party's generation-long neglect of rural, small-town, and small-city Wisconsin. (Ask yourself: what did Doyle do in eight years to build the party in local communities statewide? Squat.) Year after year, cycle after cycle, Democratic "leaders" count on the Madison and Wilwaukee votes to get them over the election hump. They send out the same old self-important party functionaries and insiders and fund-raising gurus to tell us what to do. Then we don't see them again for four years. Ask any small town Wisconsin citizen what the election day ballot looks like, and they will tell you: Democrats in the state-wide (and the occasional local) offices, and a sea of Republicans running unopposed for the very local positions. The result, after decades of this reality, is a statewide population that is not engaged, and is easily misled by the smooth talk of Walker and the Fitzgeralds and their ilk. THIS MUST BE THE START OF A MOVEMENT TO RECLAIM LEADERSHIP AT THE LOCAL LEVEL. Every community in the state has leaders who are teachers, cops, firefighters, nurses. Let their leadership rise beginning today.
* Local meetings and public education efforts. After the fever of the last couple weeks, we need to go back to our communities and begin to build and build. We need to get people to turn off their TVs and come out and learn about the forces that are destroying our Wisconsin traditions, our economy, our commitment to education, our public safety, our social safety net, and our understanding of the public trust and the public interest. This will not happen with a once-a-year, self-congratulatory Fighting Bob Fest party for the usual progressive voices (those in Wisconsin know of what I speak). This has to be a sustained effort that encourages, informs, and builds a new generation of leadership from the bottom up across the state.
* Feingold. What say ye? What role can and should Russ play?
I don't have the answers here. I don;'t know whjat the next step should be. I don't know what others in Madison and around the state are planning and thinking. I don't know what Fighting Bob would do next. But I am eager to hear what those here think (especially my fellow Wisconsin citizens). And I believe we need to come to consensus quickly.