So, young ones, the votes were counted. Wisconsin broke all kinds of records for voter turnout. My own city, Appleburg, reached an unheard-of 84%. Madison even had over 100% turnout. All of the registered voters turned out, and new ones registered. The election was over, but the issues hadn’t died. Oh, we still had issues. 

And in the aftermath, more issues surfaced. I had issues with the mainstream media for announcing election results long before all the votes had been counted. In fact, there were still people waiting in line to vote because their polls had run out of ballots. Polls officially closed at 8:00, but anyone in line by 8 was allowed to vote. No one is really sure whether Tom Barrett knew that people were still voting when he prepared to concede around 10. Some felt that the people were done voting by then, the votes just had not been counted.But even then, important precincts (like Milwaukee!) were not included in the early totals.

So I had issues with the mainstream media on election night. I also had issues with our local paper. Their headline said that Governor Walker had won “easily.” Easily? I think not. Estimates of his campaign spending hovered between forty and eighty million dollars. Millions! I believe the lower end of that range is more accurate. Even so, Walker and his rich buddies outspent their opponents by at least a 10 to 1 margin. That speaks of challenges, not winning “easily.” 

Easily? The man should have won by a huge margin if he won easily. As the late votes were counted and the absentee ballots came in, the gap between winner and loser got progressively narrower. Walker still won, but he didn’t win easily, children.

There’s a lesson here; make your own value judgments. Don’t let the media decisions become yours. You do your own research, my dears; read, listen, talk to people close to the candidate. If a major bigwig on national television tells you it’s over, stick around. It’s not over until all have voted and all the vote totals are in. Predicting a winner too early can discourage voters and even affect a close race. Did I ever tell you about the presidential election of 2000? Oh, that’s a great story. I was teaching fifth grade that year, and we were learning about American history. I told my students to pay attention to the world around them because they were living in historic times. But back to the story — 

The Wisconsin Recall Election of 2012 made waves worldwide. The BBC ran stories about it. Canadian media covered the events. Nationwide, people were watching us. We were, indeed, making and living history. Many of us felt that Election Night wasn’t the end; it was just the beginning. 

Kiddos, would you like to hear about the presidential election of 2000? Well, not now. I’m bushed. Tomorrow morning over coffee, that’s when we’ll talk. 

As seen at a rally around the Solidarity Singers —

Some wear their hearts on their sleeves. Some paint their message on their chests. Some hold signs. Still others, well, watch their backs and you’ll see.

AFT = American Federation of Teachers

another shirt representing unions

Green Bay Packers Classic - was there an NFL Players' Union then?

She's right; Wisconsin can't wait.

Vote: Wisconsin’s future is on the line.

Let's show Walker his pink slip.

My dear grandchildren, we’d done all we could. We’d called, we’d walked and talked, we’d held up our signs and we’d sung our songs. Now it was time to GOTV: Get Out The Vote. We worked on informing voters so they knew how Scottie and his policies would hurt them.  We helped register voters and find out where their neighborhood polls were located. We handed out signs, and we asked every recipient to promise to vote. 

Can't Stand With him, Can't Stand him, period

We played our tunes, we plied the phones and we still worked our full time jobs and took care of our families – those of us lucky enough to be employed, that is. We donated drinks and snacks to the many who could canvass neighborhoods and make phone calls.  

Roll out the Recall

We stood on windy highway overpasses holding lighted signs reminding voters of the best candidate and the election date. Our money was weigh outclassed, I mean way outweighed by the opposition with a margin of 25 to 1. We had our light brigade and our singers. We worked on the ground level. It was exhausting, but we held strong.

Tom Barrett's Name in LIghts

Still, we worried. We heard from women who felt they “had to” vote the way their husbands insisted. What?! We were appalled and frightened that such intimidation would happen in the twenty-first century. We worried that the people in power had so much money that they felt they were above the law. We worried that those who made the laws and enforced the laws did not hear us. 

Honk!

We worried that they wouldn’t hear us, so we brought out the vuvuzelas. What’s a vuvuzela? Oh, honey, the vuvuzela was – well, that’s another story. Prepare your trombone embouchure, my dear, and I’ll bring mine out of the basement. Maybe. Later. 

gathering together downtown

Did I really skip posting today? I was busy. Garden, laundry, the search for tomato supports, trouble with wifi – you name it, it stopped me from posting earlier. Today, however, I wasn’t politically active. Okay, not much. Yesterday – now yesterday I joined a crowd downtown.

gathering around the performers

It was a good crowd – busy, not overcrowded. In the vest on the right is Steve Kagen, former congressman. Unseen behind the others stands a school board member. Many participated. In what, you ask?

Solidarity Singers

We sang. They sang. They played guitar, shared their songbooks, shared their creativity, and shared their voices. Based in Madison, the Rotunda Solidarity Singers made a city to city trip that took them to Green Bay and Appleton. The Beer Barrel Polka became Roll Out the Recall. “Solidarity Forever” and “Union Maid” stayed the same. “This Land is Your Land” incorporated Wisconsin locations in the refrain. I still have the songbook, family. I’ll share. 

concertina

Guitars, a banjo, a fiddle (it was played folk style, so it was more fiddle than violin), and a concertina accompanied the singers. Ah, yes, the squeeze box. It seems appropriate. The Governor ran for office on a “brown bag” platform of austerity and squeezing the most out of every dollar. Apparently he didn’t mean austerity for all, though. Instead of a brown bag, he’s been the Silver Platter guy, serving up speeches for wealthy donors out of state.

Sing it with me, to the tune of “Oh, Susannah.”

“Oh, Scott Walker, now don’t you mess with me.

I come from all Wisconsin, with a sign for you to see.”

 

Honk!

Oh, children, I think we knew we were making history back then, but we didn’t know just how historic the recall election of 2012 would be. The entire nation was watching Wisconsin to see which faction would scratch its way to a win. Former president Bill Clinton came to Milwaukee to support Tom Barrett, the challenger, and the crowds went wild. The Overpass Light Brigade continued showing their slogans above highways and reminding people to vote. And campaign signs – oh, the campaign signs were everywhere! 

There were rumors of Walker’s minions paying people to display his signs and wear his t-shirts to rallies. Rumors, I tell you; no one ever seemed to have proof. Walker and his folks were nasty enough, but I really hoped they hadn’t sunk that low. I didn’t want to think my neighbors and fellow Wisconsinites would accept money to pretend they backed a specific candidate. 

Many displayed the regular signs, the signs we found at the various campaign offices in downtown Appleburg. Some, like the Light Brigade, were a little more creative. And some folks made their own signs. On our way to a meeting in J-ville, we saw three homemade signs supporting Barrett. The first two were on a busy corner, but I managed to get a picture of the third.

sign in J-ville

Then we came home and saw a young couple in the neighborhood putting up a sign in their front yard. Barrett was courting the youth vote, and these two responded. 

nearby sign

Then there was the creative take-off on “I Stand with Scott Walker” —

Can't Stand Walker!

Signs popped up in odd places, too. A student drew this picture for a book response activity, and we displayed it in the main area of our offices. But wait – there’s a line in the sand, I mean a sign in the sand. 

                                                                                     actual student work

If you look more closely, you’ll see it was added later. It’s amazing what a teacher can do with a few sticky notes and a pen. 

Gather ’round, my precious grandchildren. There’s more to the story.

Children, the recall election of 2012 was like David trying to recall Goliath. Democrat Tom Barrett was David, along with hundreds, no, thousands of ordinary folk like me. Governor Walker was Goliath. Well, his machine was Goliath. He had the backing of millionaires and other wealthy folk from all over the country. His millions helped him buy billboards and ads galore. We couldn’t get away from his face. We never saw his back or his sides because it would show his bald spot. The man was egotistical as all get out. Meanwhile, on Team David (Team Barrett, that is), the campaign was far more of a grass-roots effort. People knocked on doors, made phone calls, dropped off literature, delivered campaign signs, and more.

One of the more creative groups in this grass roots campaign was the Overpass Light Brigade. This group gathered at various overpasses to hold up lighted signs that reminded constituents Walker was subject of a John Doe inquiry, announced that the recall movement was alive and well by holding up a standard Recall Walker display, and proclaimed support for Tom Barrett in the election for governor.

Home base for the Overpass Light Brigade (OLB) was Milwaukee, but chapters spread to Madison and other, smaller travel sites throughout the state. One weekend I joined in. I saw a memo on Facebook (one of the original social networking sites; ask your parents about it) that announced a need for volunteers to be Holders of the Lights. That was a fancy name for those volunteers who were willing to hold a sign in place while traffic drove underneath the walkway or street going over the highway. We were on a street in the small but busy city of Appleburg, overlooking highway 441. 

The Light Brigade’s signs were simple and low tech. White Christmas lights fit into holes in black boards to spell out words like “John Doe” and “Reclaim Wisconsin” and more. My job that night was to hold up the “FOR” in “Barrett For Governor.”  We stood on the overpass as the sun set, watching the fireflies and cheering every time someone honked at our signs. 

Preparing the Overpass Light Brigade

Some might wonder why we bothered. Well, it was all part of the grass roots, down to earth, person to person campaign. The Barrett organization held a fistful of dollars to combat Walker’s war chest of millions. Instead of fighting a losing battle on the opponent’s turf, the Democrats staged a guerrilla war. They called people, talked to people, helped people register to vote. They (well, that night, we) held up signs over busy highways. 

Overpass Light Brigade is ready to shine!

Children, I don’t have a photo of my own night on the overpass because I was too busy holding “for,” but I borrowed another. The Overpass Light Brigade was a bit famous in its day. I was proud to be part of it for a little while.

Low tech, but effective.

A little fun with the cameras