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| Wisconsin Gov-elect Tony Evers (D) appears on Meet the Press (NBC News) with Chuck Todd on Dec. 9, 2018. |
Evers needs to engage Republicans head-on
Madison, Wisconsin — The Wisconsin people voted in record numbers to oust Gov Scot Walker (R) and his corrupt, deceitful brand of Wisconsin destruction from which it will take years to recover.
Unfortunately for Wisconsin, Gov-elect Tony Evers (D) is the wrong man for the wrong State at the wrong time.
Witness Evers' appearance on Meet the Press (NBC News, transcript) last weekend, Dec. 9.
Softball after softball, predictable Republican talking point after talking point were floated to Tony Evers, appearing from Madison, Wisconsin.
Evers—wooden and anemic—responded by adopting Republican premises (lies), while failing to defend Wisconsin voters derided by Republicans for not voting Republican.
Evers was meandering, halting, passive-voiced and clunky—offering mostly consultant-crafted blather.
Here's Evers' response to the opening question from host, Chuck Todd, asking about Evers lobbying Scott Walker after the lame duck, extraordinary session of the gerrymandered legislature:
I communicated with Governor Walker over the telephone a few days ago and laid out my position that vetoing the legislation was going to be an important thing not only for, you know, to make sure that are—what happened last November, the vote of the people of Wisconsin, is actually upheld and we're putting people in front of politics. But also, it's just bad legislation. And I made that, made that pitch, and he was noncommittal. I know publicly he's said in other arenas that he plans to sign most or all of it. So I'm not particularly encouraged at this point in time. But it's around Scott Walker's legacy. He has the opportunity to change this and actually validate the will of the people that, that voted on November 6th.Alright, takes anyone a moment to get warmed-up in a national news-talk format, but Evers has been running for governor since the Summer of 2017.
Chuck Todd next presses Evers, asking for specifics. Todd's question reads in full:
Did you negotiate with him? Did you say, 'You know what? Look, I know X is really important to you. I get that. But what's with Y and Z here?' Was there a Y and Z? Did you go to him and say, 'Look, I really think this part is just crazy. Please veto that. If you want to keep this, I get it'?
Replies Evers:
No, I talked about a few areas that are really important that actually Republican business leaders have talked about that, that would take away power and implicate and make, make economic development much more difficult in the state of Wisconsin. But the entire thing is a mess. It's a hot mess. And I believe that he should veto the entire package. In fact, at least three or four of the pieces that are in there now, he has vetoed previously. And so it makes no sense to me. And, you know, he's been a longtime public servant. And, and he, he, he has a legacy here. So we're hopeful that he will veto the whole thing.
Jesus Christ.
Todd's fifth question offers an angry denunciation of Republican Party sleaze and self-entitled Republicans-must-have-power-no-matter-what—that Evers had better hit out of the ballpark.
Says Todd:
Democratic Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-Wisconsin) said the following: 'The legislators who engineered this coup, their actions amount to a smash-and-grab hijacking of the voters' will.' Do you 'coup’s' the right word here?
Replies Evers:
Well that’s always—is seems, it seems strong, but the fact of the matter is, as I just said, if Scott Walker had won this election, and he did not, I did, we wouldn't be sitting here talking about this today. We, we wouldn’t, we wouldn’t be talking—Scott Walker wouldn't be sitting here talking about, 'Jeez, they're trying, they’re trying to balance the power here.' So, no, I think, as, you know, it's directly related to, to a win by a Democrat. And that'd be me. And we—we need, we need to have this, we need to have this vetoed.
Are you kidding me?
No lame duck Wisconsin legislature has ever attempted this power-grab and Evers says 'coup' is too strong of a characterization?
Where has this guy been for the last seven years as Republicans have infiltrated every corner of government and rigged every public hearing, proceeding, election and deliberation to the fullest extent possible?
Todd then poses a question, staring every pol in the face. Asks Todd:
One of their [Republican] rationales has been, 'Well, Governor-elect Evers' margins all came from two cities: Madison and Milwaukee. We have to represent the rest of the state.' What do you say to that charge? And, more importantly, you won a very narrow election. How do you reach—[cross-talk] How do you reach across this divided state at this point?
Republicans don't believe voters casting non-Republican votes count. This is an anti-democratic commitment that corrodes the foundation of representative government.
Republicans over the last seven years vilify any aspect of government, any region, institution and municipality that produce non-Republican political activity or outcomes.
Nearing the end of Meet the Press, will Tony Evers redeem his performance and stand up for all voters, acclaim all voters count and hail individual liberties as Republicans demonize Madison and Milwaukee voters in its project to divide and conquer Wisconsin? No.
Here's what Evers emitted:
Well I can—it would have been a lot easier without this legislation. I'll tell you that. I have reached, in my present job as state superintendent, that's a statewide elected position, and I've reached across the aisle on all, all number of issues. So that's part of my DNA. I'm an educator. So I, I always try to find common ground. And I'll continue to do that going forward.
This just makes it more difficult. But I won the election. Any way you slice it, I won the election. And actually I narrowed some of the, the votes outstate. And I've won lots of those counties outstate in the past. So I am the governor, I will be the governor of the state of Wisconsin—, ...
Enough out of you, Evers.
Since when does a newly elected governor refer to the northern two-thirds of the state as "outstate" to a general audience on national TV?
Checked around with Wisconsin pols and most say the term "outstate" is not necessarily pejorative in usage.
Outstate is certainly idiosyncratic and perverse in responding to Republican talking points hitting Milwaukee and Madison. Something about Milwaukee just doesn't sit well with Republicans, wonder what.
Look, outstate is a political term used by pols among pols.
Never would a statewide elected official use "outstate" to refer to people whom he proposes to represent against a threat to democracy unprecedented in state history.
In any event, attacking voters because they live in Madison and Milwaukee is an outrage.
My personal suggestion to Tony Evers: Resign and get Lt.-Gov-elect Mandela Barnes in there.
Mandela Barnes is a guy who knows the score, knows the stakes and has the spine to advocate for the Wisconsin people imperiled as never before.
See Meet the Press for video of Tony Evers' appearance.
Meet the Press, Tony Evers appearance with Chuck Todd video on Dec. 9, 2018 is below:
