At Netroots, all eyes on Wis. (Politico)
MINNEAPOLIS ? To the liberal activists gathered for the annual Netroots Nation conference, Wisconsin is the center of the political universe.
Several panels on the first day of the annual progressive gathering focused on what?s happening in neighboring Wisconsin: lessons from the push by Gov. Scott Walker to curtail collective bargaining, the takeaways from the failure to unseat a conservative state Supreme Court justice and the upcoming recall elections.
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The Republican wave that gave the GOP control of the House and state capitols around the country has galvanized thousands of activists.
?Wisconsin is Ground Zero right now,? said Adam Green, the co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. ?If we win these elections in Wisconsin, it will have huge ripple effects. ? This is seriously where we need to frontload our efforts.?
A senior campaign director for MoveOn.org, Daniel Mintz, said he hasn?t seen as much political energy since the 2008 presidential election or the run-up to the Iraq war.
?Republican overreach has been very useful to us, both in Wisconsin and nationally,? Mintz said. ?So when we look back in a year or two years or five years, and think about where this all started, it started in Madison.?
A Democracy for America spokeswoman told activists that her group will spend $1.5 million on the recall effort. She announced plans to hire 35 staffers and to focus on winning in three key districts, which would empower Democrats to block Republicans from passing legislation.
?Essentially we?re laying down the gauntlet in Wisconsin, and that?s going to set the standard for what?s going to happen in the other states,? said Levana Layendecker, communications director at Democracy for America.
Labor groups continue to play an outsized role at the conference. Six big labor unions are partnering with DFA and PCCC to bus attendees to Hudson, Wisc., so they can go door-knocking on behalf of a union activist challenging a Republican incumbent this Sunday.
Also at the convention is Rob Zerban, a Democrat challenging Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan. Ryan?s controversial budget plan has made him a bogeyman for the left, and Zerban is capitalizing on the anti-Ryan energy to raise money for what activists hope might become a marquee race.
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