Hello this is Fred

Hey there! It’s Nicholl from Progressive Majority.

Nicholl, Fred– welcome to Blue America and Firedoglake. Thanks for joining us today

Glad to be here!

Thanks Howie. It’s 62 degrees in Baraboo and the volunteers are out there!

Fred, how vulnerable is “Doc?” It’s always hard to knock off an incumbent? Are there an issues peculiar to the district that make you think you can do it?

Doc is very viulnerable this year. His age and his positions on education issues have left many former supporters ready to switch this year.

Another timely visit. Especially with this story from today’s NY Times: GOP Senses Opportunities in Statehouse Races

Russ Feingold and Jim Doyle both poll at 55% + here – so we know the support is there.

This district is really swing. Senator Russ Feingold received almost 56% in the past, yet conservative Doc Hines has had the seat for 3 terms. This is the year though and Fred is the candidate!

Health care is consistently a convern with voters – Republicans have never developed reform other than the same free market mantras.

Nicholl, 3 seats to take over the Assembly sounds pretty do-able. Realistically, how many would you say you can grab? Polling I’m seeing shows that Obama is going to do great in the state overall, but will he help in the specific Assembly districts you need the help?

Things are looking really good. The biggest problem is getting voters to vote down the ballot. So there has been a lot of focus on drop off voters.

School funding in Wisconsin is a chronic problem and as a result many local districts are facing budget shortfalls. Bad for schools, but it helps us as people realize that status quo is not working.

And statewide – we’ve never seen any Democratic presidendial candidate poll this well. The groundswell is there.

I know Senator Feingold endorsed you. Is he doing more than that? Did he cut a spot? Donate money? Campaign in person? Send out workers? Help with fundraising? Is the Obama campaign helping (aside from just registering voters and turning out Democrats)?

We’re coordinating efforts with the Obama campaign to really getting out our voters. There is definitely a sense out there that people are hungry for change.

Feingold held an event in Portage, the second largest city in the district, and cut radio ads for us.

The Obama campaign has been a big help in bringing in volunteers.

Welcome, Mr. Clark, and thank you for joining us today.

Tell us about your district, please.
Industry, military, ag, suburban, etc.

Are either of you sensing when you’re out talking with voters that people are sick of the Republican philosophy of governance? I mean, sure everyone hates Bush and his failed regime, but are voters connecting the dots and understanding that it’s the right-wing mentality more than the personalities that are causing our problems?

We would really love to add to our radio buy of the Feingold radio ad. Any support we could receive would be greatly appreciated.

We can receive donations at ClarkforWisconsin.org

The district is both suburban and rural. It features the Wisconsin Dells, the state’s largest tourism area, as well as farming communities in the north.

Yes, many people who have voted Republican for years are now telling us they will be supporting Barack Obama and Fred Clark.

How badly gerrymandered are legislative and senate districts in Wisconsin?

Do people recognize that this election will set the legislature that will re-draw districts in 2010?

Or does Wisconsin have an independent group do the districts at all levels?

Gas prices, jobs getting sent overseas, home foreclosures….people realize that the conservatives are to blame.

Fred welcome to FDL. Sorry off topic, but can you speak to how bad Huebsch, the GOP leader of the Assembly is? Also is there any chance to impeach the neocon AG, J.B. Van Hollen for his obvious politicization of his office?

Redistricting is done by the legislature by statute – but in the past it was ultimately decided by the courts because of oppposing majorities in the chamber. But when we flip the Assembly this year we’ll have both houses and the Governor who has veto power.

Most voters dont know Mike Huebsch, but I think people here have a clear sense here that the Republicans in the State Assembly havent been doing their job. Thankfully the Van Hollen lawsuit was recently thrown out, but he will continue wasting taxpayer money trying to appeal.

I dont know of any effort to impeach Van Hollen, but the voters will have their say on him in two years.

Fred, fyi, FDL keeps up with the Badger state, this is from emptywheel, aka Marcy Wheeler Anotehr Defeat for Voter Suppression

A Dane County judge dismissed Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen’s lawsuit against the state’s elections board, saying Van Hollen had not shown that any state or federal laws had been violated.

The ruling comes just 12 days before voters will cast ballots for president.

Much appreciated.

The municipal clerks across the district were relieved at the outcome of the suit.

2006 and 2008 are really turning points for the Wisconsin legislature. The state Assembly (House) has been in GOP control since 1994 and they built on that majority every single election until 2006 when Democrats had an 8 seat gain. Every new Democrat in both the Assembly and Senate were Progressive Majority candidates.

We are working hard here and we believe that with the right amount of support we will win this district, and with similar efforts across the state, I believe Democrats are on pace to take back the Wisconsin State Assembly for the first time since 1994.

We have 37 other candidates on the ballot with Fred this November.

Fred actually has a really strong conservation background. That will be a much needed addition to the legislature.

My own background is in conservation. I have been a forester and ecologist for nearly twenty years. This resonates well in the district that was the home of Aldo Leopold and John Muir.

Technical Note:

If you want to reply to a specific comment, click the reply button located lower right hand side of each comment.

I am a strong advocate for growing the kind of green jobs we need here in Wisconsin.

I may have missed this detail above, but how meany seats in the Assembly?

And I’m in.
Kick Hines’ butt.

There are 99 seats. We only need a pick up of 3!

Healthcare reform, school funding reform, tax equity, and protecting Wisconsin jobs are the major issues that will be on voters minds as they go to the voting booth.

Fred could use some $$$ to help beef up his radio add with Senator Feingold. http://www.clarkforwisconsin.org/contribute.html

This district has many small and medium manufacturing companies that we need to keep right here in the district to ensure that those jobs are not shipped overseas.

and the only thing coming out of the GOP talking points is taxes. total disconnect with voters.

We can tell our opponent is afraid. He is sinking to all time lows.

His ads say that we want to tax wheelchairs and farm equipment to pay for our socialist, government run healthcare scheme to give healthcare to illegal immigrants.

We’ve seen an unprecedented amount of spending on Assembly races by the outside groups: Coalition for American Families, Club for Growth, All Children Matter are the big time spenders. Really awful stuff, too.

Hines message mimics John McCain’s. Its not about the issues, its all about fear and distraction. You can tell they are all out of ideas.

The voters see right through these shameless smears.

Nicholl, when you say “we,” I assume you mean “Democrats.” Are some of the Democrats running the non-progressive types? Is that a problem in Wisconsin? There seems to be quite a bit of difference between where Feingold stands on issues and where Kohl stands on issues. I was happy to see that Steve Kagen turned out to be one of the best freshmen elected in 2006 from a progressive perspective and Tammy Baldwin has the most progressive voting record of any member of the House. But Wisconsin must have more corporate shills than just Ron Kind. Are any of that type running for the Assembly too?

Jeez.
$50 to you sir.

And frankly, we could use the “socialist, government run healthcare scheme.”

His ads are 100% negative, they dont show his picture, they dont even say his name. Its all stuff they are making up about me and my positions.

Yeah, there are definitely Democrats in office and on the ballot in November that aren’t what most would consider “progressive.” But like I mentioned earlier – every pick up Democrats had in 2006 (when we flipped the Senate and had an 8 seat gain in the Assembly) were Progressive Majority candidates. We have 38 candidates on the ballot next month – really impressive slate of candidates that will be champions on economic justice, access to affordable healthcare, hiqh quality public education, protecting the environment, civil rights & reproductive freedom.

I think that the economic crisis has shown the problems with the unregulated ‘free market’ approach to everything. I dont believe ‘government’ should be a four letter word. I believe government should be used as a tool of the people to make thing better for all of us.

What does it cost to run a competitive race for the Assembly? And what’s the most effective way to spend in your district?

So we are definitely working to make Democrat more interchangeable with Progressive in Wisconsin. Building a farm team and pipeline of great candidates throughout the state.

We are trying to reach as many voters with our message as we can through mail and some radio, but we are being greatly outspent by the Republicans.

This cycle the average Assembly competitive Assembly race is between $70,00 and over $100,000. Really pretty gross.

I was surprised as a first time challenger at the amount of resources it takes to run this type of competitive race.

I think it points to a need for further campaign finance reforms at the state level.

However, until I get to the legislature and the Democrats can take the majority, this is the way the game has to be played.

I was happy to see that you’re an advocate of campaign finance reform. Money really is the root of all evil in our political system. If the Democrats take the Assembly is there a chance for REAL campaign finance reform in Wisconsin?

The conservatives have consistently blocked any type of reform on that issues.

We would like to see so-called “issue ads” regulated. So that shadowy front groups cannot spend unlimited amounts of money to slime candidates under the guise of educating voters.

We have had two nasty, and quite frankly embarrassing State Supreme Court elections the past two years. All of this speaks to a need for greater reforms.

My opponent and the Republicans in the Assembly have consistently voted against these reforms.

I think the awfulness and shere mass number of negative mailers and ads that are happening this cycle may energize more public support behind campaign finance reform.

The failure to reach reforms on these issues are part of the reason I decided to run for election this time around. I was spurred on by the local progressive community here to run because the incumbent is relatively weak and out of touch with the district. The people here were sick of him going along with everything the Madison Republicans told him to. I chose to throw my hat in the ring to change things.

And I know the candidates that win despite the onslaught will be motivated to get to work on it.

We just finished up our last of 4 debates on Thursday.

Nicholl mentioned earlier that there’s a problem making people aware of the importance of down ballot elections. We’re seeing this across the country. I live in a high-info voting district and I stood around at the polling place a couple years ago and asked people about down ballot races and I didn’t find a single person who knew anything about any race. It was very discouraging. Is the Wisconsin ballot at least structured in such a way that Obama voters will tend to vote for other Democrats? Also, who’s the congressman for Fred’s Assembly district?

My opponent had been given all the Republican talking points.

Were there any great moments in the debate you can share with us? Were you able to get him to defend Bush’s policies and agenda?

What is helpful is that the only statewide office on the ballot is the President. So in most cases there is President, Congress, maybe State Senate (only half are up) and State Assembly. Not far down to go. Plus you can vote straight ticket. The district is split between the wonderful Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin and the less than wonderful Tom Petri.

I was able to call him out on his negative mailers….he chose to decline his opportunity for a rebuttal and sat there with a red face.

It was the typical republican doublespeak. Simply more of the same.

I was able to point out his long record of terrible votes.

Tammy Baldwin has been a huge help here. She held an event for me in Portage and a fundraiser in Baraboo.

We expect Congresswoman Baldwin will provide a lot of extra support for our GOTV activities.

One exciting thing that we have seen in the area is that there are Obama/Clark efforts popping up in the local high schools.

Many of these young people cannot even vote, but they will be out pounding the pavement to help us get elected.

Its is inspiring to work side by side with the next generation of progressive leaders.

Last night the Blue America candidate for Congress in northern New Jersey, Dennis Shulman, debated his opponent, a right-wing extremist named Scott Garrett. Dennis did exactly what you did– he called the Republican out for the flood of vicious negative advertising and lies. And Garrett did exactly what “Doc” did– he sat silently and red-faced and refused to engage. The NY Times endorsed Dennis a couple hours after the debate.

We are seeing that all over the state, I’m sure all over the country. It’s great to see people re-energized about moving the direction of their country. It’s unfortunate that is happening because this have just gotten so bad.

While we were thrilled that the local media covered our forums, I felt that the coverage could have dug a little deeper.

Amazing thing – I didn’t know that Republicans blushed.

Generally no shame ;)

I agree, I think things have gotten to a level where people are starting to wake up and really feel the need to get involved again.

I don’t know if I would categorize it as “blushing.” I think they just get angry and hold their breath.

For a while, everyone was happy with their cell phones that can make french fries and they got a little complacent. But now the issues are too great to be ignored.

I know for our campaign there has been an all-hands-on-deck approach. We are trying to fight for every vote as we try to build a community beyond local county Democratic parties to a strong progressive majority in the area.

Nicholl, how many progressives do you think have a better than even chance to win red seats in the Assembly in November? Also, will you guys be able to expand the Democratic margin in the state Senate?

Sounds like the spoiled brat background of the head of this year’s R ticket has set a tone that permeates all the way down.

As I have said before, up-ticket Democrats win in this area with strong margins, so we know the voters are out there, and my campaign has been talking to them on the phones and at the doors. We believe if we can get the support to go strong these final 10 days we will be in a very good place.

And Fred has some amazing people on his team that were never really engaged politically before Fred decided to run. Bring new people into the fold.

Fred, is Tammy actively helping you? Is Petri doing anything for “Doc?”Does Kittelson have any kind of a chance against him at all? I haven’t heard anything about his campaign.

Let’s see. We have 17 challengers and 3 candidates in open seats formerly held by Republicans. Again – we only need 3 of those if we hold our incumbents. I wouldn’t be surprised if we got 6 or 7 just the way things are going. The groups I mentioned before – Club for Growth, All Children Matter and Coalition for American Families are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars PER RACE to stop it. But we’ll see.

Tammy has provided a lot of support here. Petri has not done anything for Doc that we are aware of. I know Kittelson is working very hard and we wish him the best against Petri.

I know many discount that race as un-winnable, but he is a solid candidate and anything can happen in a year like 2008.

And in the senate – we have amazing slate of 3 women challengers that I’m really hopeful about. Jessica King is a candidate running in a tough district that has been in our farm team since 2005. Great slate all around.

Despite its more recent progressive leanings, the 42nd district has been in republican hands since the 1970s.

Nicholl, is there a way for people to donate to Progressive Majority’s overall efforts in Wisconsin? Your comment at #99 about all those Republican front groups and hate organizations coming into the districts sounds pretty scary. Are your candidates getting help from labor unions and progressive groups? Obviously Fred could be a poster boy for the Sierra Club or the League of Conservation Voters. Are they helping?

In the 1980’s the district (though slightly different borders) was where Minority Leader and then Republican Governor Tommy Thompson was the state rep.

After that, Republican Speaker and later Sec. of DATCP Ben Bracel represented the district.

Then it was Joan Wade-Spillner, before Doc won special election in 2001.

However, we believe that this is the year that all that changes.

As Progressive Majority’s top national goal is flipping the Wisconsin Assembly – contributions to us will definitely help in the effort. http://www.progressivemajority.org.

The candidates themselves really could use that last push as well. Links to all their websites can be found on ours and Fred Clark’s is http://www.clarkforwisconsin.org/contribute.html

All the progressive groups are fully engaged and doing a lot of canvassing and mail that we’ve seen. But as far as spending – our side has been severly underspent.

We have been endorsed by the Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters, and the Clean Wisconsin Action Fund.

League of Conservation Voters in particular have been supportive.

They have had yard signs, done three rounds of mailers, and we’ve heard made persuasion calls and have had canvases on our behalf in the district.

Our side definitely has the advantage in the ground game. It’s the airwaves and the mailboxes where we are hurting. Hopefully that face to face communication pays off.

That being said, I dont necessarily think of myself as a one trick pony. We have received support from education groups, organized labor, and groups interested in a multitude of issues.

Thats right Nicholl, we could definitely use more support to help us get our message out.

Anyone interested in learning more about my campaign or helping us out with a small contribution can go to our website http://www.ClarkforWisconsin.org

This weekend we have well over 50 people out knocking on doors in communities across the district.

Small contribution? Come on Fred – get on message – large contribution ;)

We have canvases in Wisconsin Dells, Baraboo, Portage, and Montello…and I will be out at the doors again after live blogging with all my new friends at FDL

Hi Fred! Thanks so much for being here today. You too, Nicholl. It would be amazing if control of the Wisconsin Assembly could flip in November. Thanks for all your hard work and best of luck to you both.

And all your new friends at FDL are pulling for you and the rest to turn Wisconsin a bit bluer at all levels.

Thanks Jane! This has been fun. Thanks!

Thank you so much Jane. This has been great. We will be doing everything we can from now until 8pm on November 4th to do our part to flip the Wisconsin State Assembly Blue this year.

Fred, I hope you’ll come back and visit with your new friends and tell us what it’s like being an Assemblyman in your first weeks

Thank you Howie and the rest of the team for your support, it was great chatting with you. I’d be happy to come back some time to discuss things further or recap the election.

Now I’m back to talking to the voters.

Thank you Fred and Nicholl for spending time with us during such a critical time in the election season.

Ian upstairs with those Icelandic ‘Terrorists’