Add Dave Obey to the list of prominent Democrats taking Tom Barrett's side in the primary.
Former Wisconsin Rep. Dave Obey endorsed Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in the recall election against Gov. Scott Walker Monday, warning Democrats that nominating another candidate would be a risky "roll of the dice."
"It is essential that we nominate the strongest candidate and that's why I'm endorsing Tom Barrett today," said Obey on a morning conference call. "By far, the strongest candidate is Tom Barrett. We cannot afford to gamble, we cannot afford to roll the dice."
Obey declined to assess the candidacy of Barrett's leading primary rival, former Dane County executive Kathleen Falk, instead choosing to stress Barrett's electability and push back at union-led attacks on his record.
It's increasingly clear that this primary is turning into the public sector unions (and some fringe enviro and women's groups) against everyone else. Kathy Falk's strategy of getting in early and having the public sector unions puff out their chests was probably her best shot, but it didn't work.
There are only so many votes you can squeeze out of pissed off teachers and public employees. Ron Kind, Jon Erpenbach, Tim Cullen, and now Dave Obey all seem to recognize that. So should any Democrat more interested in winning than catharsis.
3 comments:
Heck, I'm a pissed off public employee and Falk and AFSCME have made sure I WON'T vote for her with the heavy-handed routine.
The way this is playing out is working strongly in Barrett's favor, partly because of AFSCME and WEAC's silly decision to jump ahead of the primary and get behind Falk. Kinda hard for the Walker boys to play the "union thug" card with independents and moderates if they face Barett, eh?
I agree completely with RS and Jake. Falk and the unions are guaranteeing defeat with their tactics. I like Kathy Vinehout, but with such a short campaign time, Barrett is the best candidate if he runs a more enthusiastic campaign this time.
Kathy Falk should have never taken the pledge from the unions. Lets face collective bargaining is not coming back. Falk would be a good Gov. based on her management of the county but with a Madison address there is no way that she'll win. Barrett doesn't want the job and is a horrible campaigner. Vinehout can't get funding and LaFollette is too old, it looks like Walker is going to win.
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