An open letter to Jessica King

Dear Jessica,

I don’t purport to speak for anyone but myself when it comes to your attempt to defeat Randy Hopper in this upcoming recall election. I don’t know if “a majority” of people agree with me or if people are “on my side” when it comes to this topic. However, as one voter (probably two, as The Missus and I actually agree for once), I wanted to let you know that we need you to be better than you’ve been. If your last run at this office is any indication, you probably need to listen to this. When you lose to a guy like Hopper by less than 200 votes, every vote counts.

I hate politics. I’m not keen on politicians. To me, they are like the dentist: you know they can do some good, but it’s likely they’ll hurt you and no one is really clamoring to deal with them. I almost married a city council rep once and listening to her and her friends chatter on and on about some Machiavellian maneuver they were planning to divide the city amongst themselves was exhausting to me. 

Still, when Hopper decided to screw this state, I figured it was time to screw him back. I signed the petition, voted for you in the primary and plan to vote again in the general.

Once the stage was set for your rematch, there was no holding Hopper and the Republicans back. Their ads attacking you were something to behold. The “63” ad, which PoliFact rated as “pants on fire,” was one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen. The Hopper camp’s rationale that even though you voted against the pay increase, you were complicit in taking it because you eventually voted for a budget stretches credibility.

Their God-awful mailer material about you being “wrong for Wisconsin” was despicable. And I don’t think they could have found a photo that made you look any more like a lesbian trying to take a shit and pass a pool ball if they actually had a look-a-like lesbian doing so.

That’s Randy Hopper.

That’s not you.

That’s why your campaign offends me.

In both a TV ad and a mailer, you’ve attacked Randy Hopper for not paying his taxes. This is like playing basketball with a toddler and calling her for travelling: If you’ve gotta reach that far to win, you’ve got a major problem.

You’re quoting a 3-year-old article from the Beaver County Tidbit and you’ve bent the truth so far, even PoliFact had to rethink its category for this. The reality is he didn’t owe taxes so he didn’t pay them. We can go around and around on that if we want, but he’s not on the “List of Shame” for the state and no one says he did anything wrong in balancing taxes versus tax breaks.

Worst of all, this stuff is coming directly from your campaign. It’s not some hatchet-job PAC that is working on your behalf. It’s you.

Randy Hopper’s record is horrific. The only way it could be worse is if he voted in favor of slavery and the legalization of child porn.

He did vote in favor of Scott Walker’s ass-raping of this state budget.

He has consistently been against Planned Parenthood.

He took collective bargaining rights away from state workers, even though they in no substantial way impacted the state budget.

If you want to kick him in the balls on the personal front, he was living outside of the district for a while, after his wife found out about his affair with a much younger woman.

He got his mistress a job with the state and got her a 35 percent pay increase. Best of all, she never actually applied for the job.

Various sources reported that Hopper’s own wife and maid had signed the recall petition against him.

In other words, you’ve got plenty of fertile ground regarding Randy Hopper’s idiocy without having to almost make shit up. As it stands, you’ve really not done much in convincing me that this guy is horrific for Wisconsin. You’ve also not told me SPECIFICALLY what you’ll do to fix this Republican clusterfuck.

As much as I don’t want Randy Hopper representing me, I don’t like the idea of voting for someone just because they’re not Randy Hopper. If that’s the best your campaign can do, I feel bad for you and sad for this state. Our elections can’t be like this scene from “Hot Tub Time Machine,” where we tell ourselves “You’re better than this guy! Not by a lot, but a little!”  You’re not The Violator.

People like me throw our hands up when we see a system like this. We decide it’s better not to participate than to cast our lot with the lesser of two evils.

We want you to be good, not just better than the other idiot.

We want you to stand for something, not pull a Scott Walker and innocuously hang back until you’re elected and THEN breakout the shit hammer.

We want you to lead. We want you to speak. We want you to act.

Absent that, we don’t want you.

And that’s not what you want.

You’ve got about two weeks left to show Wisconsin you are what we need. You can show me that you’re better than Hopper by a long shot. You can give me a reason to vote.

Pull the stupid ad. Cut down on the bullshit hyperbole. Shine a light on Hopper and watch him scurry away like a roach.

Then, tell me, “I’m Jessica King. Here’s my plan.”

Best of luck,

Doc

Comments

[Cousin Pat from Georgia]

The saddest part of this letter is how often it could be written to Democratic candidates across the country, especially in state elections.

Democratic candidates don't seem to want to talk about budgets, because someone might question them on tax policy. "Tax relief" is, after all, a ready-made GOP narrative.

Democratic candidates don't seem to want to talk about Planned Parenthood, because someone might question their stance on a woman's right to medical care. "Pro-abortion" is, after all, a ready-made GOP narrative.

Democratic candidates don't seem to want to talk about workers' rights, because someone might question their stance on small businesses. "Business-friendliness" is, after all, a ready-made GOP narrative. Heaven forfend the GOP get to play the "class warfare" card.

At least she's not running for office in the South, where race would be all up in this, too. (If it ain't already, because it probably is with Obama as Presdient.)

The thing Democratic candidates don't seem to understand is that the GOP will trot out all those narratives anyway. The GOP will already call every Democratic candidate a tax and spend, baby-killing class warrior. That's part of the playbook.

So when the Democratic candidate "plays it safe" and goes after the GOP candidate's tax record, they concede all those narratives along with the election. Sometimes, I think the only people willing to run for office as Democrats don't actually want to hold the office they are nominated for.

[pansypoo]

when are democrats gonna act like REAL democrats?

fuck the gnews.

[willf]

Didja send this to her?

[FeralLiberal]

Geez, why is it when the rethug is wearing a "kick me" sign the Dem just can't seem to haul off and put one between the goalposts? Hopper is a wide open target, take the shot already!!!