With 7 days left before the June 5 recall election in Wisconsin, we check in with John Nichols, Washington Correspondent of The Nation and author of Uprising: How Wisconsin Renewed the Politics of Protest, from Madison to Wall Street, for the latest news and extraordinary analysis:
DNC’S Debbie Wasserman Schultz will campaign in Wisconsin for Barrett
- Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz will appear in Wisconsin Tuesday on behalf of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett’s recall election challenge to Governor Scott Walker.
- Wrangling over the extent to which the DNC would back the recall stirred a good deal of controversy earlier this month — garnering open criticism from some union leaders, inspiring a petition by activists demanding that the DNC (which was quite supportive in the initial stages of the recall fight) reengage, The issue got plenty of play with Ed’s radio listeners and TV viewers.
- The DNC finally responded with a statement that, like the Republican National Committee, it’s “all in” for the recall. Along with the statement came a fund-raising blast to DNC donors nationwide and the commitment that Wasserman Schultz would travel to Wisconsin.
- Tuesday’s visit will put the DNC chair on the ground and she’s likely to raise a decent amount of money.
- But there’s a sense — at least at this point — that the heavy lifting has been done by organized labor: Wisconsin Education Association, American Federation of Teachers, AFSCME, AFL-CIO, Steel Workers, to name but a few, as well as grassroots activists across the state. People will be watching to see exactly what Wasserman Schultz and the DNC bring to the battle in the final week.
Coming up:
Editor’s Note: The Ed Show has featured extensive coverage of the worker revolt under Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin. Walker faces a recall election on June 5 against Democrat Tom Barrett, Mayor of Milwaukee. John Nichols, Washington Correspondent of The Nation, has reported on the situation in Wisconsin since Walker’s union-busting campaign began shortly after he took office in January 2011. That reporting was compiled for his excellent book Uprising: How Wisconsin Renewed the Politics of Protest, from Madison to Wall Street. John is a frequent guest on the Ed Show, and periodically he’ll be sending us more notes on the Wisconsin recall campaign as we get closer to the election.
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