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January 9 Update From DPW Chair Martha Laning PDF Print E-mail
Elections, Elected Officials, Political Parties
Written by Democratic Party of Wisconsin, Martha Laning   
Wednesday, 11 January 2017 14:03

wisdemsMADISON - Welcome to the New Year and the latest installment of my chair update! I hope you all were able to get some much-needed rest over the holidays and ready to get work in 2017.

Announcing New Executive Director Jason Sidener

As many of you know, DPW Executive Director Kory Kozloski has decided to pursue new opportunities. While we are saddened to see Kory leave the DPW team, we are excited about his future ventures and are looking toward the future of DPW.

With Kory's departure, it was a priority of mine to ensure that the transition between Executive Directors is a smooth one. In order to implement a strong strategic plan right away in 2017, that meant having a new Executive Director who could hit the ground running on January 1st and allow some overlap time with Kory before he leaves.

Last months, our Party's administrative committee voted to approve Jason Sidener as our next Executive Director. Jason Sidener is an incredible addition to our team. He brings nearly two decades of political organizing, grassroots engagement, and progressive movement leadership to our organization.

Read our official announcement here.

The Big Idea

We're coming right out of the gate this year with a number of items to bolster our Spring Program and work towards electing progressive candidates up and down the ballot in April. 

One of those items is continuing our local candidate VAN Grant Program! Through the VAN Grant program, candidates who meet the program’s criteria and are committed to voter contact will have the VAN in-kinded to their campaign. Read more about the VAN Grant Program here.

Take a look at a few of the other items we're doing this year to ensure victories in April:

  • Hosting candidate recruitment conference calls with county parties.
  • Calling around to various county party chairs to talk about recruitment.
  • Creating resources for spring candidates and county parties.
  • Partnering with Wisconsin Progress on some of their training sessions.
  • Designing training programs for spring candidates and county parties.
  • General consulting with candidates, similar to how we operated this fall.

Our Party is not waving the white flag in 2017. We are committed to working closely with our local parties, activists, and candidates to produce the statewide victory of Tony Evers as State Superintendent of Public Instruction, build a deep bench, and start taking back our state.

Post-Election Listening Session Update

I'm looking forward to continuing my travels around the state to hear from our volunteers, party members, candidates, and staff members. This month we'll visit Wausau, Milwaukee, and Green Bay. 

If you are able, please join us at our listening sessions this month. It has been extremely helpful gathering this information, which we will use when we meet in February we will use this information to strategically plan how we move our party forward.

Save The Date: January 15th Day of Action to Protect Medicare, Medicaid, and Health Reform

Senator Baldwin is teaming up with Rep. Gwen Moore and Citizen Action of Wisconsin to sponsor a rally in Milwaukee as part of a national day of action to tell Republicans not to take away people's health care. 

Over the past six years, Congressional Republicans have voted over 60 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act - without presenting any viable alternative. Now with a Republican president poised to enter the White House, one of the first goals for Congressional Republicans is repealing health care insurance for over 20 million Americans, making massive cuts to Medicaid, and restricting access to preventative care for women nationwide. 

Progressives believe in the right to affordable and accessible health care for all Americans. We will fight as hard as we can to protect our values and let Republicans know they will not get away with repealing health care for tens of millions of Americans. Join us in Milwaukee on Sunday. Event details are located below.

Event Details
What: January 15th Day of Action to Protect Medicare, Medicaid, and Health Reform
When: Sunday, January 15th 
Doors Open: 11:00 AM 
Program Begins: 11:30 AM 
Where: Candela's Banquet, 2537 W National Ave, Milwaukee
Click here to RSVP for the event online.

Save The Date: President Barack Obama's Farwell Address

Today, President Barack Obama will give his final address to the American people in Chicago. The President is expected to look back on his time in office and share his outlook on the future of our country. 

For Democrats, there is a lot to be proud of when it comes to President Obama's legacy. Eight years ago, America hovered on the brink of a second Great Depression. We were losing hundreds of thousands of jobs each month — nearly 800,000 in the month President Obama took office alone.Millions of Americans had lost their homes. Millions more saw hard-earned savings vanish. The auto industry was on the verge of collapse.

But today, the American economy has recovered from the recession, American leadership in the world is stronger than ever, and we’ve made lasting strides toward a more perfect union. 

If you don't have tickets to the event in Chicago, you can still stream tomorrow's address online here. Details of the event are below. 

Event Details
What: January 15th Day of Action to Protect Medicare, Medicaid, and Health Reform
When: Tuesday, January 10 @ 8 PM 
Where: McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois
Livestream the event online here.

Not going to Chicago? Get ready for his speech tonight with a few articles reflecting on President Obama's legacy. 

Obama's Economic Record: An Assesment
Obama’s policies helped lift the economy out of a frightening slump and set it on a path to steady, if unspectacular, growth. In fact, I’d call this his biggest achievement. The scale of the financial panic of 2008 and the extent of the job losses that occurred in the first months of 2009 should never be forgotten. By “a number of macroeconomic measures—including household wealth, employment and trade flows—the first year of the Great Recession in the United States saw declines that were as large or larger than at the outset of the Great Depression in 1929-30,” Jason Furman, the chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, recounted in an exit memo that he posted online this week.
Read the full article on newyorker.com

My President Was Black
A history of the first African-American White House—and of what came next
Read the entire article on theatlantic.com

The Day After: Obama on His Legacy, Trump's Win and the Path Forward
Obama greeted me outside his office and walked me in. He was tired. He skipped the usual small talk, took off his jacket, sat in his customary chair and said, "Let's do this." He spoke slowly and with precision, staying true to his essential nature: controlled, analytical and cool. There are many things a sitting president cannot say, but this was his carefully reasoned message on a difficult and historic day.
Read the entire interview on rollingstone.com

Things You May Have Missed But Need To See Now

First lady Michelle Obama's final White House speech
"Her voice breaking and eyes filling with tears, an unusually emotional Michelle Obama said Friday that being first lady 'has been the greatest honor of my life' as she bid an early farewell to the White House."
Read about and watch the first lady's final White House speech here.

Sen. Tamy Baldwin again asks federal veterans agency to investigate King home
"Sen. Tammy Baldwin is again asking the federal Department of Veterans Affairs to investigate the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King following a hazardous liquid oxygen incident there and additional federal health violations."
Read the full story on Madison.com

Baldwin poised to hold Trump accountable
"From calling on Trump to release his tax returns to unsuccessfully pushing for legislation to require American-made iron and steel to be used in drinking water projects, Baldwin has already sought to set markers. Last month, Baldwin was disappointed when congressional Republicans stripped a permanent 'Buy America' provision she introduced and which the Senate passed in a water infrastructure bill in September. Afterward, Baldwin said she didn't see a 'tweet or a peep' from Trump."
Read the full story on JSOnline.com

Why Rural America Voted for Trump
"Who are these rural, red-county people who brought Mr. Trump into power? I'm a native Iowan and reporter in rural Marion County, Iowa. I consider myself fairly liberal. My family has mostly voted Democratic since long before I was born. To be honest, for years, even I have struggled to understand how these conservative friends and neighbors I respect - and at times admire - can think so differently from me, not to mention how over 60 percent of voters in my county could have chosen Mr. Trump."
Read this column on nytimes.com

Resistance to Donald Trump begins to grow with local roots
"Rachel Maddow looks at examples of a burgeoning anti-Trump movement taking shape with local, grassroots organizing, in some ways mirroring the tea party's anti-Obama movement."
Watch Maddow's segment here.
Read and download the resistance guide mentioned in Maddow's segment here.

Sincerely,
Martha Laning
Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin
 
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