The Power We Have
By Kelly Fenton, DPOC vice chair
On Tuesday night, Wisconsin voters emphatically told Republicans that they would not take Yes for an answer.
By a 15 percent margin and nearly 200,000 votes on each of the two constitutional questions, Wisconsinites rejected the GOP’s latest power grab attempt, voting down two amendments that would have radically altered how federal money is spent in the state. The upshot is, it would have severely impacted people seeking federal relief during emergencies, such as the recent flooding, the pandemic, tornadoes and more.
Republicans figured that, with a majority of the contested races in Tuesday’s primary, their voters were likely to turn out in higher numbers than Democrats.
You can’t fault their logic even if you can shake your heads at their deviousness.
Republicans tried to sell this as a restoration of the balance of power, suggesting that the governor’s role as lone dispenser of federal funds was “dictatorial,” never mind that 40 states already give their governor that power and never mind that it’s been that way from the beginning here in Wisconsin.
But while the GOP was, as usual, selling grievance, the Democratic Party was rightly alerting the voters that, whichever party held the governorship, this was bad for the Wisconsin people. In a way, these amendments and the two parties’ approach represents a microcosm of the parties at large: One trying to falsely frighten citizens; the other doing the work of the people.
The story beneath the story, however, is the lesson Tuesday night should teach us about the power of action. About our power. About your power. The fact is, we got caught a bit flatfooted when the GOP snuck through two other amendments in April regarding, critically, how our elections are run.
Not this time. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin was on top of this from the beginning, making clear what was behind and under the purposely confusing words on the ballot. While significant money went into educating the people via television and other media, volunteers across the state took to the doors and the phones.
Closer to home, these results are a big and significant win for the Democratic Party of Outagamie County. Bolstered by the momentum of the Harris-Walz ticket, people stepped up these past three weeks, signing up for canvasses to go talk about the candidates and encourage No votes.
And our extracurricular efforts surely played a significant part in the results here. Hours of phone banks and voice mail messages starting in mid-July culminating in our sign parade on Election Day itself! Twenty-three Outagamie Democratic Party volunteers signed up for 27 two-hour shifts to hold well-designed signs outside of five polling locations encouraging No votes. That’s 54 hours of person-power in just one day.
I’ve buried the lead here so I could close with great fanfare: Despite having no contested Democratic primaries here on Tuesday – and with Republicans having several – the NOs won by six percent in Outagamie County! That means our efforts drove out the vote and more than likely swayed some Republicans and independents at the doors.
This is the power we have. And this is the power we will need in the months ahead. Now that you see what it can do, please don’t miss out on the chance to keep up our momentum and help create the blue wave we need in November!
Thank you all for stepping up.
Our Democracy Depends on You. And you came through!