Wis. Leftist Group's Mailing Tries to Shame Non-Voters by Revealing Their Names to Neighbors
Friday evening, Madison, Wisconsin blogger Ann Althouse reported receiving (HT Instapundit) an "Incredibly creepy mail today from the Greater Wisconsin Political Fund." She has a put up an image of what she received with names and addresses redacted (except for her name). It's a list which includes Althouse and many of her neighbors indicating who has and hasn't voted in the last two elections.
Unsurprisingly, the Greater Wisconsin Political Fund is the political fundraising arm of the Greater Wisconsin Committee, both of which lean very left. Both support the effort to recall Badger State Governor Scott Walker. Both appear likely to get a virtually free pass from the establishment press. Althouse's reaction follows the jump:
Story Continues Below Ad ↓... be assured, this was a list of real names and addresses of people who live near me, with the information about whether they voted in the last 2 elections. This is an effort to shame and pressure people about voting, and it is truly despicable. Your vote is private, you have a right not to vote, and anyone who tries to shame and an harass you about it is violating your privacy, and the assumption that I will become active in shaming and pressuring my neighbors is repugnant.
Not voting is a valid choice. If you don't have a preference in the election, don't vote. If you think no one deserves your vote, don't vote.
This may be the most disgusting thing I have ever received in the mail.
Two obvious observations:
- I'll bet that the GWPF isn't sending these mailers to conservative and Republican areas of Wisconsin or (if it's possible to determine) conservative or Republican households.
- If a conservative or Republican group attempted this kind of shame-your-neighbors tactic, it would already have received saturation wire service and TV news coverage. My bet is that we'll see little if anything about it in the establishment press in the coming days beyond what Christian Schneider, who also received the mailing, has reported at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Yankee Review blog.
One never knows in a election such as this with no real precedent, but the mailing appears to be a desperation tactic by leftists who sense that they're likely to lose on Tuesday and are trying to shore up a resigned, apathetic base.
So will Tom Barrett repudiate this tactic?
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
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Comments
Leftists: classy as always.
Submitted by motherbelt on Sat, 06/02/2012 - 4:04pm.
Do they really think they are going to convince people to vote with this? Or influence people to nag their neighbors to vote?
This sounds suspiciously like one of those "We know where you live" letters.
All they are going to do is Pi$$ people off.
Exactly.
Submitted by NeoKong on Sat, 06/02/2012 - 4:13pm.
In a not so subtle way they are telling people that they are watching them.
As I understand the union
Submitted by ricklail on Sat, 06/02/2012 - 4:41pm.
As I understand the union people nagged their neighbors into signing the recall petition. Many did it to shut them up. Now that they can vote by secret ballot they have turned against those union thugs.
this would
Submitted by cyborg0012 on Sat, 06/02/2012 - 4:05pm.
This would only encourage me to go to the polls and vote for Walker in revenge. I really hope that's what some of these people do.
On the up side, it shows that they doubt they can cheat enough to get Walker out.
How Stalinist of them
Submitted by CobraMan on Sat, 06/02/2012 - 4:08pm.
How Stalinist of them.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
The answer is no
Submitted by paulnashtn on Sat, 06/02/2012 - 4:11pm.
"So will Tom Barrett repudiate this tactic?"
This will be touted as a public awareness campaign to encourage people to get out the vote.
nothing to see here -- move along
"It's a big problem."
Submitted by CobraMan on Sat, 06/02/2012 - 4:27pm.
You've got to love the justification they use to do this blatantly intrusive "effort." They say that "it's a big problem" that not everyone who can vote does vote, but just HOW is that a "problem? " Even if one tenth of the population votes in a given election, that won't change the results, for only the votes that are cast count, not the "potential" votes.
They also resort to "it's public information" as an excuse as to why this isn't an invasion of privacy, as if that makes it ok. It may be in the public record, as a matter of law, but that doesn't mean you have a right to do this. What ever happens to the right to privacy? This is no different that photographing everyone who stand in line at the voting booth and sending copies to everyone in the neighborhood. It's an invasion of privacy.
The last line of defense for justification, of course, is "what about Verify the Vote? You guys are being hypocritical!" Hay, idiots, there's a big difference between posting a copy of the recall petitions online and searching the "public" record to see who voted in the last to elections or not and then mailing the results directly to every name and address they find. One is passive, the other is active. See if you can figure out which is which.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Tom, there is a precedent.
Submitted by CobraMan on Sat, 06/02/2012 - 4:40pm.
"One never knows in a election such as this with no real precedent"
Tom, this isn't the first time a Governor has faced a recall election. The California recall in 2003 comes to mind. The reasons for the recall attempts may vary from situation to situation, but those reasons are incidental.
A bit of political trivia for everyone: California, since 1911, has had 32 gubernatorial recall attempts, but only 1, the 2003 recall, actual made it to the voting booth. If at first you don't succeed...
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Remember how Clinton was
Submitted by ricklail on Sat, 06/02/2012 - 4:43pm.
Remember how Clinton was against the recall of Gray Davis but he is very comfortable this. I wish just one of the ABC networks would do a truthful piece on what is going on in Wisconsin.
The Cali recall ...
Submitted by Tom Blumer on Sat, 06/02/2012 - 6:16pm.
... was of a lib by conservatives.
Wis. is of a conservative by libs.
The dynamic is very different, and I don't think any lesson from Cali can be carried into Wis.
That was the sense in which I meant "no real precedent."
There are a whole lot of other differences, particularly that Gray Davis's recall had to do with his cover-up of his state's financial problems to save his reelection, and Walker, no matter what one thinks of him, hasn't engaged in that.
I's not that different.
Submitted by CobraMan on Sun, 06/03/2012 - 11:22am.
It's not that different. Once side trying to oust the other soon after a general election. Even the type of recall, with replacement candidates being included on the ballot is the same. There won't be a special election separate from the recall vote. The two recalls are almost mirror images of each other. The reasons for the recall may be different, but that incidental.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
I just found one of these in my mailbox
Submitted by delmar on Sat, 06/02/2012 - 5:20pm.
Mine is like the one Ann Althouse got from the Greater Wisconsin Political Fund, except the message is a bit different:
Dear Registered Voter:
Two years ago, more than half a million Wisconsinites who supported Obama failed to vote in the 2010 election. And that's how Governor Scott Walker got elected. This year, we're taking a new approach. We're sending this mailing to you and your neighbors to publicize who does and does not vote.
We need to all pull together. The chart shows the names of some of your neighbors, showing which have voted in the past.
After the June 5th election, public records will tell everyone who voted and who didn't.
Do your civic duty-vote.
Sheesh!
Submitted by HockeyKid on Sat, 06/02/2012 - 6:52pm.
"After the June 5th election, public records will tell everyone who voted and who didn't."
The Dems are really resorting to thinly-veiled threats. That sounds like the local mob strongarm telling a business owner, "Bad tings can happen ta biznesses widout protection--yaknow?"
"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me
Thinly veiled???
Submitted by ThisnThat on Sat, 06/02/2012 - 8:50pm.
Nope. The threat is up-front and out in the open. They know the DoJ under o'bama is on their side. Holder is all for voter intimidation, as witnessed by his actions in PA.
__________
“Didn't win the Medal of Honor? Didn't even serve? Then lie about it. We'll support you." — 9th Circuit Court
Never happen...
Submitted by bigdaddy on Sat, 06/02/2012 - 9:04pm.
"After the June 5th election, public records will tell everyone who voted and who didn't. Anyone who didn't vote will receive a yellow cloth star that they will have to pin to their clothing so when they go out in public they can be identified and ridiculed."
Wis. Leftist Group's Mailing Tries to Shame Non-Voters by Reveal
Submitted by BcdErick on Sat, 06/02/2012 - 5:44pm.
"So will Tom Barrett repudiate this tactic?"
Absolutely! Right after pigs learn to fly.
Our neighbor is a Democrat who also has problems with anyone
Submitted by drsamherman on Sat, 06/02/2012 - 7:10pm.
who says "No" to his relentless, obsessive/compulsive petition and vote-getting drives. I swear the guy's car is covered with more bumper stickers for leftist causes than could possibly concern any rational person. One day he's knocking at our door trying to convince my dear, skeptical wife to sign a petition for socialized health care (she bounced him out on his butt for that one), and the next day he's back trying to get me to sign a petition to repeal the right to work laws in Texas (I bounced him out on his butt for that one). Any and every liberal cause gets his attention, and he works feverishly and futilely to get someone in our neighborhood to sign his eternal petitions. The last time he came knocking on our door, I gave him my colleague's business card (another psychiatrist) and he went away muttering some filthy words.
Honestly, publishing this kind of information is not only intimidation, but I wonder if it would raise to the level of stalking if they continued? I don't know how they define it in Wisconsin, but every state has some kind of law on the books against harassment of private citizens through intimidation.
The Opposite Effect
Submitted by Indie Dude on Sat, 06/02/2012 - 7:26pm.
All those people who got the letters should vote for Walker to punish the weasels who came up with this really bad, and ridiculous idea. If I got that letter? I would ask myself, "Wow, if this is an example of how they "operate", or what is to be expected if I voted for their party, do I really want to vote for these thugs and put them in charge? ...ever?" F**K NO!
And lastly, If my neighbor ever came to my door and show me that letter with MY NAME ON IT and DEMANDED(??!!!) that I need to vote to recall the governor (or why I didn't vote) ? The door would be slammed in their face!
Time for me to share a story...
Submitted by seen the light on Sat, 06/02/2012 - 7:43pm.
I had this friend at work, very nice guy, but overly emotional. I knew he was a leftist as he kept forcing political conversations on everyone. One day, after repeatedly trying to get out of it, I started pushing back. I started countering his brainwashed lefty theories with facts. He didn't like that. We got into an argument. Since then, he has given to small outbursts against me. I've started to notice more and more how unhinged he really is. We know barely talk in the office, and he is a powerful person there too. Ive now made an enemy. He is intolerant and he didn't like that being pointed out.
Looking back, I would still do it. I got sick and tired of just looking the other way. The more liberal lies go unchallenged, the more they win. We all have to sacrifice if we are going to win this fight. And believe me, we are all in a fight.
What a coincidence!
Submitted by SickofLibs on Sat, 06/02/2012 - 9:46pm.
A fellow NBer works with my brother! Talk about a small world.
Tell him his big brother says "you're still an a-hole!"
Isn't it funny?
Submitted by seen the light on Sun, 06/03/2012 - 11:39am.
How liberals can just go effin ballistic? They truly look at politics like a religion. Its what they have in their lives. They have given so much of their lives to these positions they can't take even the thought that they might be wrong. They've been indoctrinated since high school!
We have to keep exposing their emotional reactions. It's a winning tactic for us.
A tactic to use against the Left
Submitted by Netstatter on Sat, 06/02/2012 - 10:14pm.
If I get this right, the leftists in Wisconsin are trying to "out" their fellow leftists (and Democrats) who have not voted in the past two elections. I'd wager that, given the saturation of the airwaves by the folks on the Left with their blather and pablum in Wisconsin, that the ground is ready to pull a lot of the people who have identified themselves with the Left in Wisconsin over to the right-of-center. (I even heard that the number of people in public-sector unions is way down too. Is the defection already occurring?). So, if I were a Republican strategist in Wisconsin I'd take advantage of this situation and say, "Hey, we believe that your vote is a personal thing. It's no one's business if you have voted or not. Would we try to shame you over voting? Not on our side". I bet it would work and might just help turn Wisconsin into a red state.
Watch closely.
Submitted by hbnolikeee on Sat, 06/02/2012 - 10:26pm.
Is there any doubt that the zombies are coming out to stuff the ballet boxes? I'm confident that SEIU, ACORN and others are busy printing absentee ballets for dead people, cartoon characters and illegal aliens to drop off at voting sites back doors across Wisconsin.
Folks must use their phones to take videos, pictures and upload to the net and then call the cops. These people are thieves along with everything else that's wrong with them.
Can't wait
Submitted by compguytracy on Sat, 06/02/2012 - 11:47pm.
Til Tuesday, here in GB, i am so sick of ads from left, will vote walker all the way, screw you libs, dems, unions, crybaby state employees, etc.
"Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought?" Orwell, 1984
Ceteris paribus
Talking to
Submitted by Boudin on Sun, 06/03/2012 - 12:00am.
Friends and Family I hope. : ]
I have a question
Submitted by ohio granny on Sun, 06/03/2012 - 11:25am.
If the people who have not voted in the last 2 elections are not even registered isn't naming them in these letters an invasion of their privacy? Do they have any legal recourse against those naming them?
Maybe someone with a lot more legal knowledge than I have can answer that question. I don't know. Just asking.
What?
Submitted by HardRightTurn on Sun, 06/03/2012 - 2:00pm.
They're only going to out registered Democrats? These people are in danger of rousing a Republican and right-leaning independent turnout. I know it would motivate me to go to the polls.
To more fully comprehend the Left, one must read “Leftism As Psychopathy” by John Ray, M.A., Ph.D. Caution, it might scare you a little bit.
http://jonjayray.tripod.com/psycho.html
Democrats want to overturn
Submitted by mattm on Sun, 06/03/2012 - 4:11pm.
Democrats want to overturn the will of the voters who elected Walker in the first place. In MN they are using the ACLU to sue the state to get the voter ID question off the November ballot. Democrats seem to only like democracy when it results in more power for them. They claim to be 'for the people'...what a joke.
These Democrats are
Submitted by goon on Mon, 06/04/2012 - 8:42pm.
These Democrats are absolutely disgusting and they will stop at nothing to win for their cause.