It’s always Act 10 in Wisconsin

If Republicans should be fingering worry beads about Tuesday’s (06-12-18) two special legislative elections — and they should be — our progressive and socialist acquaintances will need professional grief counseling.

Republicans retained the Assembly seat just north of Madison covering most of Columbia County while Democrats flipped the state Senate seat covering Door, Kewaunkee and suburban Brown County. That’s a net gain of one Democrat in the Senate, making it 18-15 Republican. 

A fund-raising letter from Gov. Scott Walker came over the Manor’s transom the next day (serendipitously) saying “David, this is our wake-up call.” Combined with the Democrat(ic) flip in the 10th Senate District earlier this year and the liberal victory in the Supreme Court, it’s time to wind the alarm clock, throw open the shades, and rev up the rooster.

Walker had resisted calling Tuesday’s special election to fill vacancies given that both seats will be contested again in November and the Legislature is (thankfully) on hiatus. So we get a do-over with the same candidates. This one was a dry run.

Economic development? A Democrat?

Republicans can console themselves that their candidate in the 1st Senate District, André Jacque, made it close — it was 51-49%. The GOP will tell you turnout was depressed — about 28,000 cast ballots compared to 79,000 in the last election, held in November 2014. But, but, but … the district had been Republican for the last 40 years. And … and … and Republicans historically clean up in special elections. Not this time.

Then again, Republican insiders, led by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, backed Jacque’s primary opponent, a 24-year-old nobody, as retribution for a vote Jacque forced (to abolish the prevailing wage) as a sitting state rep over leadership’s objections. Your Squire is about ready to jump on the Vos Must Go bandwagon. Then again, Jacque is to the right of the Right, bless him, so maybe leadership was correct about him not being able to win that district.

Here is why progressives and socialists need prayers and best wishes: The Democrat who won that senate seat is a normal guy, name of Caleb Frostman. Had been executive director of the Door County Economic Development Corporation. In other words, the guy ain’t no social justice warrior, community organizer, Indian pipeline protester, or identity-politics grievance monger.

Significantly, Frostman said the Foxconn deal would provide little benefit to northeastern Wisconsin. That may play in the rest of the state this November in direct proportion to the distance from Racine-Kenosha.

A ‘downright nasty’ UW-Madison prog poses as an aw-shucks farmer

Ann Groves Lloyd (right) borrowed this farm for her campaign ad

Democrats reverted to form in the 42nd Assembly seat formerly held by Republican Keith Ripp, a real-life farmer (now at the Department of Ag.) They nominated a John Nichols progressive-socialist, a UW-Madison academic named Ann Groves Lloyd, who dishonestly posed as a farmer.

When Nichols wrote one of his innumerable propaganda pieces on the socialist cause (Here’s one example), Lloyd wrote “Add me to the list of believers.”

Dan Bice at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel blew the lady’s cover. 

Democratic legislative candidate Ann Groves Lloyd won’t let the public see the old, frequent tweets she posted before deciding to run for office.  There’s a good reason for that. Lloyd, who is running against Republican Jon Plumer, liked to take far-left political stands and make downright nasty comments about conservative politicians in her Twitter feed over the past nine years. 

For instance, Lloyd … called former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney a “douche nozzle.” She liked a tweet that called U.S. Sen. John McCain a “dishonest, bizarrely unhinged, little man.”  … She liked tweets calling Republicans “stupid” or the “Stupidparty” and another that labeled them “the phony redneck and racist party.”

That would have elected the lady in Dane County and gotten her a standing ovation at the Broadway Tony awards ceremony but was too redolent of the 2011 intifada, the liberal meltdown over Act 10.

Pour a lotta Love Potion #10

And that is how Republicans from Scott Walker to André Jacque roll back the Blue Wave Ripple: by waving the bloody shirt of the illegal occupation of the state capitol. The Party of Rockford is fielding gubernatorial candidates who promise to roll back Act 10. Most of Wisconsin knows it is working well and that teachers and state government workers still have better pensions and health care than they do.

Nichols can rhapsodize about a handful of socialists who won primaries in Pennsylvania legislative races but to actually win office, “Democrats are turning to the centrist members of their party to reach far, wide and early to identify and bolster candidates beyond their urban strongholds,” CNN reported.

“Trying for House gains,” the New York Times reports, “Democrats bless moderates and annoy liberals.” That’s reason for Republicans to worry.

Blaska’s Bottom Line: Roll the video footage of Segway Boy, Thistle, Hippie Bongstocking, and Crying Man. Put every Democrat on the spot: FOR or AGAINST? It’s the Broadway Revival of Act 10.