If you take into consideration the antics of the last week concerning the upcoming Stand With Walker Rally in Eau Claire this weekend,  Brian Westrate, Eau Claire County's GOP Chairman has some 'splainin' to do. In what appears to be an apologetic press release, the spin gets more convoluted than a GOP presidential candidate debate answer regarding evolution.  

I remember at the peak of the Madison protests, on March 5 of this year, when over 1500 people showed up and lined up on Craig Rd. in Eau Claire. The intended event of that day had the celebrity guest, out-of-state thug, Joe the Plumber. Yeah folks, that was Americans for Prosperity's (AFP aka Koch Brothers) bus tour that went around Wisconsin and ended up in Madison. A complete flop for the Teabaggin' AFPers but a very significant impromptu rebuttal rally was held by those often referred to as "the left" by Brian Westrate. Here's how the young Westrate describes the Eau Claire opposition to the GOP in his latest press release

Since having made the event public it has come to the attention of the event organizers that Democrats, union members, and others on the left may try to disrupt the peaceful assembly of conservatives on Saturday by trying to infiltrate the private event, protest outside, and generally cause a nuisance for those wishing to attend the rally. Eau Claire Co. GOP: Hope to find bi-partisanship in Christmas spirit Press release as per WisPolitics.com.

After reading the press release and then realizing that Westrate is sending out press releases which quote himself I can't help but think of Bob Dole the 1996 GOP presidential nominee. He was always saying things like, "Bob Dole says…"  But Westrate does it in print. What kind of contrived press release writer quotes himself? Did he say it out loud before he wrote it? Again from his press release:

Westrate went on to say: 
“At this point I have a signed contract with the Ramada and..."

Don't give me the "people do that all the time crap." Hell people don't even do that on Facebook. Now I'm sure Westrate will tell you he has to do everything as EC-GOP Chair. Perhaps he should go down to Barstow Street to observe the competition, there seems to be all kinds of volunteer help going in and out of the Democratic Party Resource Center.

My other analysis from reading Westrate's press release is, it is evident he thinks this rally is going to fail. He's already spreading the blame for the failure. Hell, he was spreading the blame when he announced it last week and the Governor was coming. Now that it is clear that even Scott Walker will not be 'Standing With Walker' at the rally, he's doubled up on his failure predictions.

The latest from the Eau Claire Democratic party is that there will be a silent rally being held from 1:00 to 4:00 on Saturday, December 3 out side on the public area near the Ramada Inn Convention Center in downtown Eau Claire. Once the word was out in Eau Claire that non-Walker fans were not welcome and "Backdoor Scotty" was going to be there, I'm not sure it would have taken much organizing to get people down there. Westrate should be thanking Kristen Dexter the Eau Claire County Democratic chair for organizing what will likely be a peaceful assembly.

The numbers are likely to be much less now that Scotty got his schedule worked out. You see, Brian screwed up, he should have waited until just before the Saturday event to announce, like one hour before he arrives. That's how West Central Wisconsin is used to hearing about REKAWL Walker's jet-in arrivals. I'm sure there are thousands would also like to show that they not only don't stand with Walker and they can't stand to let him take this state back four decades.

Westrate should also know that Jeff Smith is no long sharing the chair position with the Eau Claire County Democrats. Jeff recently announced his intention on running in his former but newly redrawn 93rd Assembly district. Will someone let him know? I'm not sure Westrate reads Uppity Wisconsin.

I've been to many protests and rallies in the last decade. I always see opposition at every rally. The numbers alway vary but two things are always evident. First, with the exception of the RNC 2008 fiasco in St. Paul, MN all protests I've attended (and I'm talking of several dozen from Eau Claire to Washington DC) in the last decade have had no arrests or disruptions happened as Westrate is predicting for this Saturday. Secondly, the left in opposition will ALWAYS outnumber the right at both coincidental and separate rallies. Hell I was in DC on the weekend of the health care passage in the House of 2010 (Dave Obey presiding) and there were about 500 teabaggers. Yet there were tens of thousands on Saturday for a Iraq War Anniversary march and over 100,000 people on Sunday for an immigration march. Will Saturday be another AFP Craig Road incident?

It's not to hard to guess that there will be some signatures gathered near the "Stand With Walker Rally" this coming Saturday in Eau Claire. Thanks Brian for bringing people to town. Oh and call me, I write press releases. -saw-