Tom Barrett called the other day. I wish I had a conference call line for folks all over Wisconsin so that they could have listened to what I heard. Barrett sounded energetic, optimistic and positive. I wondered if he had seen my February 24th endorsement of Barrett for governor. Tom responded humorously, saying I was out there early before he had made the decision to run.
Although it had been some time since we last talked, Tom was the same intelligent and modest regular guy I know. He was animated and passionate as he explained why he was running. It was Barrett's social conscience that drove him to run for governor, not blind ambition. Tom believes deeply in the Wisconsin Idea, a bipartisan social contract that made Wisconsin the leader and model for the nation in solving social problems. He was appalled by Governor Walker's hollowing out of the Wisconsin Idea and resultant ideological war against Wisconsinites.
No one could come away from my conversation with Tom without being renewed and filled with hope. Barrett would bring people together in Wisconsin, not "divide and conquer". He is a problem solver who wants to make Wisconsin work for regular folks. Barrett's plan is not based on eviscerating collective bargaining rights or rolling back the hard-fought rights of minorities and women. Tom wants to go forward not backward. And, Tom is that rare political leader like former Governors Tony Earl and Tommy Thompson you could enjoy a beer with, a pleasure I have had with all three. What a contrast to the present.
It is time for Wisconsin to come together: Democrats, independents and moderate Republicans. I hope Wisconsin will reject the ideologically extreme dictatorial Walker, his arrogant rejection of compromise and dismissal of contradictory facts (e.g., U.S. Census Bureau of Labor Statistics reports on job losses in Wisconsin) and the destructive anti-democratic governing that regards political opposition as illegitimate. That's not the Wisconsin I love. Tom Barrett will be a governor for all of Wisconsin, upholding the progressive Wisconsin Idea and bringing Wisconsin back from an economic and ideological brink.