Congratulations to Shilling and King

By Mark L. Taylor

The Daily Call (8/10/11)

Wow, it’s deep into the night and I have a way-too-early meeting in the morning, so this will be short.

            While Waukesha County – what has quickly metastized as the black hole of Wisconsin elections – has apparently blocked the Democrats from the three seats needed to wrest control of the senate from the Republicans back to sanity, one can only say “Good job” to now state Sen. Jennifer Shilling, her family and staff for one hell of a campaign.

We all owe them a big “thanks” for their hard work, dedication, courage and the kind of hard-nosed campaigning needed to remove the carbuncle known as Dan Kapanke from the Wisconsin State Senate.

            When you think of the long odds against Shilling: running against an established incumbent who had proven his mettle at retail politics; a mid-summer election date; hard right-wing outside groups willing to go as nasty as it takes; an endless money funnel from the Koch Brothers and other corporate fascist sources; and an opponent as comfortable with lying as some folks are with putting on their socks in the morning a betting man would have to think long and hard about putting cash down on her chances.

            Add to that a completely unnecessary and wastefully expensive primary with a fake Republican Democratic stooge – I mean candidate. Throw in a tornado and the burning down of a supportive progressive get-out-the-vote organization office a week before the election and it would be easy to say, “Why bother?”

            Hell, as Shilling noted in her victory speech last night, the last time a sitting incumbent senator lost his seat in the 32^nd district was in 1937. And as in this election, the wining candidate was a progressive running on a reform ticket.

            At least Kapanke can be remembered for one notable thing.    

As we learned, Jennifer Shilling is not only a great representative she is one hell of a campaigner. I met her several times during the course of the campaign and she was always on track, engaged, energized and could rally even the most sleep-deprived volunteer.

When she spoke to thank all of us for our support we began a chant of “Thank you, Thank you, Thank you…” At a time of shallow opportunists and the kind of reflexive doctrinaire deceit embodied by little, selfish men like Mr. Kapanke who pass themselves off as leaders, we need to really give credit and continued support to the good and honest leaders willing to step forward. They, and their families, deserve our support and thanks.

While things didn’t end as decisively as we would have like, Shilling’s victory and Jessica King’s victory over Republican senator Rand “Bed” Hopper are major accomplishments for progressive groups and organization.

A model has been formed and a pathway blazed. Now we need to – and will - build upon both.

Forward in solidarity!