It's been a very satisfying spring. We managed to grab enough signatures for our fourth recall. The announcement was tonight in Menomonie at the HQ. The place was packed to the hilt, and there were cupcakes, brownies, chips and mild salsa (it is the midwest, after all). And of course there were a few bottles of Leinies floating around. It's Wisconsin, people.
Our friend Virginia (you may remember her from my very first blog post here!) posted the video here:
The atmosphere was jubilant. We knew the "special announcement" would be good news. The great news was the number of signatures we'd collected. Bob Salt, lead organizer for the Menomonie office, delivered the news. We have obtained over 20,000 signatures. Somewhere the media right now has the full number. We needed just over 15,000 to clear the hurdle. This is yet another campaign where we've gotten over 150% of the signatures needed.****
This is not over. Rumor is the Recall Darling people are about to file. We may be able to get Cowles. They may get enough signatures against some Democrats as well. So it's not over by a long shot. The next fight will be in the elections this summer. I'm confident that we can beat them with our organization. This is a movement that will not be stopped, and these are now people who are dear friends. We know each other well. We've taken verbal abuse, we've had doors slammed in our faces, punches to the gut, middle fingers, and stolen petitions. Some of us have already lost 5 or 10 grand a year in salary. We've already been through the fire. We will not stop now. We will keep our foot on the gas pedal and we will come out on the winning side this summer. We'll have the Senate before the leaves turn. Think about that, Wisconsin!
Tonight is time for celebration in the tenth district. Tomorrow is a different story. Tomorrow is another battle that needs to be won. I knew we could win this one, and I know we will win the next one. We will bring the 10th back to the people. We will bring our state back to the people. We will work hard, we will hit the streets, we will turn out the vote, and we will get our voices back. Wisconsin will be ours!
**** a note from my friend Shawn, who helped immensely on the signature gathering in the 10th: "20,000 is 133% of 15,000. Just sayin' :)"
