By Nikki Ackerman
As citizens await the November election–an election that could be a complete reversal of both the country and state’s current course–an enthusiastic crowd gathered for a rally at the Waukesha County GOP campaign headquarters the morning of July 10.
Emceed by WISN 1130 morning talk show host Vicki McKenna, the event featured a roster of conservative speakers: Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner; Milwaukee County Executive and gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker; Congressman Paul Ryan; U.S. Senate candidate Ron Johnson; and Wisconsin GOP Chairman Reince Priebus.
“You came to this rally because you are sensing a little bit of hope and a little bit of change,” McKenna opened, “but the right kind of change.”
The Democrats in Wisconsin and Washington “know they’re on their way out,” the talk show host said. “This November, we will remember. It is going to be a tsunami in Congress and we will see something substantially similar in Wisconsin.”
Priebus told the crowd there are “two types of Democrats in Wisconsin: those who are in trouble and those who don’t yet know we’re coming after them.”
“We’re turning this state red,” the state’s RNC chairman proclaimed before laying out a three-step plan to take back the government. “Number one, we need candidates who are people of their word; two, we need to win; and three, (the winners) need to govern like they campaign.”
One such candidate–Johnson, who is taking on career politician Russ Feingold–was described by Priebus as a “selfmade man who reached the American dream on his own and stepped up to the plate to make a difference.”
The 31-year businessman out of Oshkosh said he has always had an understanding of “the wonder and power of the free market capitalist system.”
Johnson berated the Democrats’ “tax and spend” approach, stating, “The folks on the other side think they can spend their way to prosperity, but we know it doesn’t work that way.”
He added that although he believes “we are at risk of losing this 234-year-old experiment we call America,” citizens should not “let the gloom and doom get them down.”
“The American spirit may be in peril, but it is alive,” he said, “and it is our duty to make sure that not only does it survive, but that it thrives. We need a commitment from the conservative side that we’ve never seen before. This is a fight for our fundamental freedoms.”
Ryan–who received a huge round of applause for going toe-to-toe with President Obama on his health care bill–expressed similar thoughts, pointing out the greatness of the country.
“I’m going to say something to you that is considered rude and improper in Washington,” began the congressman. “America is an exceptional nation.”
Beyond the people and the land, America “is an idea,” he said. “Our rights come from nature and God, not from government, but right now we have people in office who don’t believe in those founding principles.”
Ryan–who listed the health care law, “cap and trade” legislation and the off-thecharts government spending as the top concerns facing the country–emphasized the unprecedented significance of the Nov. 2, 2010 election, calling it “no ordinary election day.”
“This election will determinep the trajectory and destiny of this state and nation,” he said. “We know who we are and what we are and we believe in what has made us exceptional.”
While speakers like Ryan, Johnson and Sensenbrenner focused on turning things around in Washington, Walker outlined a few simple and common sense goals for the state as he seeks the role of governor.
A lifelong brown-bagger of his noontime meal, Walker laid out his “Brown Bag” approach to government: “One, don’t spend more money than you have; two, smaller government is better government; and three, people create jobs, not government.”
Elaborating on his third point, the eightyear county executive–who has been consistently re-elected in a Democratic county–said the only role government has in business is to “create an environment that is either positive or negative, and we need government to make it positive and to put people to work in this state.”
Walker vowed that as governor he will reduce taxes, cut spending, promote high standards in public education and eliminate the red tape of bureaucracy.
As for “going green” the candidate said he is “all for being green when it comes to saving green and making green, not for when it’s about taking the green out of my pocket.”
He also promised to “derail the train project” while “fixing our roads and bridges.”
Noting that after almost a decade of facing opposition from the Milwaukee County Board he has “experience going up against naysayers,” Walker said the “message is right and the time is right and we are going to take our state and our country back.”
Or, in the words of Sensenbrenner–who used most of his speaking time to commend other candidates–“We need Scott Walker to become our next governor because he is the only person with the guts and experience to turn this state around.”