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There's An Election This Year?

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

As it turns out, yes, there is an election this year. You've probably heard we're electing a new president. Not a moment too soon. Or eight years worth of moments.

But while the campaign for the White House is in full swing - and something we cannot escape, whether we try or if we'd rather revel in this orgy of the democratic political process - there are other elections at hand that are perhaps as important as the presidential race.

Here in Wisconsin, all 99 seats of the state legislature's Assembly are up for election. And this, for us, must be a priority and a focus. See, the state legislature has tremendous impacts upon us as graduate students, grad student workers, and members of the UW community - not to mention as citizens at-large.

As a progressive union, we are committed to building a pro-labor, pro-education, pro-UW majority in the statehouse. Back in 2006, we of the TAA and of our parent union, AFT-Wisconsin helped to win a progressive majority in the State Senate. The results have been astounding. From taking on tax & budget reform that put people before profits of corporations to tackling universal healthcare to supporting the UW system and guaranteeing all workers the right to organize, our progressive State Senate charted a course of an excellent policy agenda.

But, as we learned either in high school civics or via Schoolhouse Rock, with a bicameral (i.e. "two houses") legislature, bills must pass in both houses. And the State Assembly was where all good things went to die. And where all bad things were spawned. They wanted to take away the rights of voters, they wanted to defund the UW system, they wanted to cut taxes on the rich and powerful while refusing to invest in Wisconsin's economic development. And this is the same crowd that brought us the discrimination amendment back in 2006. Same players, same politicians, same prejudice.

As we were building a progressive State Senate in 2006, we also added nine new Assembly representatives that were strikingly progressive themselves. They've been leaders on higher education, environmental, and economic justice issues. And there are more to come.

By adding nine new progressives to the State Assembly in 2006, we came within three seats of having a majority in that body. And only a few thousand votes statewide in key districts separated us from winning outright the progressive majority we needed then - but need more desperately now.

Since 2006, failed conservatism at the national and state levels have left our economy in shambles, our UW system struggling to maintain its world-class status on proverbial life-support, and our vision for social justice blowing in the wind of a politics that does not account for real morality.

So here we sit, three seats from a progressive majority in Wiscosin's legislature. But now, we need to stand up and fight. The 2008 elections give us an incredible opportunity - to align a progressive State Senate with a progressive State Assembly, ready to tackle an agenda for social and economic justice, investment in higher learning, and an end to the politics of fear and despair.

We're so close I can feel it. I can taste it. With twenty seats statewide really up for grabs, six of them are right here in our backyard. That's why we're organizing and mobilizing like hell to win a progressive majority. The opportunity is there, it's there for us to grab, and the possibilities are truly exciting.

Want to learn more? Want to learn how you can get involved to make an impact?

Come on out to our Wisconsin Politics 101 seminar on Monday night. We'll have the whole story, the truth and the facts about our politics hung around a narrative that is at once frustrating, fascinating, and exciting. See you then.

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posted by Peter

 

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