Saturday, February 22, 2020

In 2020 balloting, take every opportunity to cast a Trump protest vote

Given Trump's even more blatant bulldozing of the Constitution, common sense and the law, it's important for Wisconsinites in 2020 to cast protest votes where possible that reject Trumpism while also backing high-quality progressive alternatives on the ballot.

Some examples, with context.

* It's important to remember that far-right incumbent Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly only has that seat and the power that comes with it because Scott Walker - - Trump's 2020 re-election co-chair - - put Kelly there in 2016:
Gov. Scott Walker appointed conservative attorney Dan Kelly to the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday, choosing a lawyer who has helped defend some of the governor’s most contentious proposals and believes same-sex marriage robs the institution of meaning and affirmative action is akin to slavery....
Kelly also successfully defended Wisconsin Republicans’ 2011 legislative redistricting plan in a federal lawsuit alleging the new maps denied voters their rights. 
And while he had no judicial experience when Walker handed Kelly the seat, Karofsky is a sitting judge and is a sitting judge who is eminently qualified for the high court:
Karofsky, supported by liberals, won a seat on the Dane County Circuit Court in 2017 and has also served as assistant and deputy district attorney in the Dane County District Attorney’s Office from 1992 to 2001. She has also held two posts in the state Department of Justice, as violence against women prosecutor and as head of the Office of Crime Victim Services.
Karofsky cites a number of factors she said make her an ideal Supreme Court candidate, including her energy and experience as a trial court judge, which she said puts her in a position to see the impact of the law on real people.
“You see how the law isn’t some esoteric exercise when you’ve been the victim of a crime, or it’s your property that’s being distributed through a divorce, or if you’re the person who is being evicted,” Karofsky said.
* Ditto for WI State GOP Senator Tom Tiffany and his service as Trump water-carrier, in a May special election in Northern Wisconsin:
Sen. Tom Tiffany introduces state resolution urging lawmakers to oppose articles of impeachment against Trump
And as just as Supreme Court candidate Karofsky offers a meritorious alternative to a right-wing opponent, voters in the congressional special election have a high-quality choice for whom to cast a ballot:
Democratic nominee Tricia Zunker, a Ho-Chunk Supreme Court justice who is also president of the Wausau School Board, won easily over Lawrence Dale, who did little to campaign for the nomination.... 
If elected, she would be Wisconsin's first Native American representative, and only the third Native American congresswoman in the nation's history.  
Zunker said she will advocate for rural Wisconsin, and said a message of standing up for farmers, advocating for affordable health care and lowering prescription drug costs are messages that can resonate across party lines.
*  The same dynamic will present itself up and down 2020 ballots, whether it's the bid by GOP Senate Majority and toadying Trump apologist Scott Fitzgerald to become outgoing Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner's replacement, or incumbent, on-the-ballot GOP Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, seen here - - 

- - ready to welcome Trump to Milwaukee for another cult rally. 

Vos has been an enthusiastic and influential Wisconsin cog in the Trump machine prior to the 2016 general election:
Vos 'Proud' To Back Trump, Says He'll Help Assembly Republican
Vos, who oversees the Assembly campaigns of Republicans throughout Wisconsin, said Trump is benefiting candidates in competitive races.
"We see that he is bringing out an awful lot of folks who in the past either hadn't been involved in politics or perhaps didn't think that they had a home in the Republican Party," Vos said. 
The more that Trump's Wisconsin acolytes line up with their lawless, self-enriching leader, the more reason voters have to make them own that allegiance.

And to replace them with Democrats fully dedicated to democracy and the public interest.

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