John Nichols: Lessons From Wisconsin’s Recall Election

John Nichols: Lessons From Wisconsin’s Recall Election

John Nichols: Lessons From Wisconsin’s Recall Election

Democrats must learn from strategic failures in the campaign against Walker in order to prepare themselves for nationwide elections in November.

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Last night’s recall election in Wisconsin, in which Governor Scott Walker defeated Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett by a 7 percent margin and outspent him seven to one, is a powerful lesson about a new era of unlimited money in politics, says Nation political writer John Nichols in this appearance on Democracy Now! The results have major implications for fall elections, and Nichols explains some of the hard lessons Democrats will have to apply come November if they want to prove that “people power” trumps “money power.”

—Elizabeth Whitman

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With the midterm elections now firmly upon us, the question is whether Democratic candidates will do more than merely occupy ballot lines as mild alternatives to the red-hot crisis that is Donald Trump.

As Trump spends over $1 billion a day on a globally destabilizing war on Iran and admits that he doesn’t “think about Americans’ financial situation,” millions across the country are struggling with the surging costs of essentials. Democrats must seize this moment and advance bold, small-“d” populist ideas—not settle for cynical caution that once again snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.

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Onward,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editor and Publisher, The Nation

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