Wisconsin Down To The Wire

CORE MESSAGE

Scott Walker divided. Working families united. Today, they hold him accountable.

Connect: It's time we return to government by and for the people, not bought and paid for by corporate special interests.

Define: Scott Walker divided Wisconsin by putting wealthy donors ahead of working families. Today's election is the consequence of his divide and conquer strategy.

Illustrate: He laid off hardworking middle-class teachers and nurses and took away their workplace rights -- just to give more power to the corporate special interests pouring millions into his campaign.

Explain the consequences: What did Walker's agenda get Wisconsin? The worst jobs record in the nation and more pain for Wisconsin's working families.

Bottom line: The working families Walker tried to divide and conquer are more united than ever to hold him accountable.

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ATTACKS AND RESPONSES

ATTACK: "Scott Walker saved Wisconsin financially."
RESPONSE:

• Gov. Scott Walker has been a boon to the billionaires and powerful corporate interests funding his campaign -- and Wisconsin's working families have paid the price.
• Walker has left Wisconsin with the worst jobs records in the nation, slashed education and health care, and fought to repeal Wisconsin's Equal Pay Law -- all the while fending off a corruption probe and raising money for his criminal defense fund.
• Pushing a false claim that's been debunked, Walker is actually bragging that Wisconsin's job losses aren't the worst in the country. Not only is that desperate, it's downright embarrassing.
• Walker's agenda to take away the rights of working Americans and shift the burden to working families has nothing to do with budgets. It's just an excuse to cut middle-class jobs to pay for over $2 billion worth of tax giveaways for millionaires and big corporations.

ATTACK: "The recall battle is all but over and Scott Walker's going to win."
RESPONSE:

• That's the narrative Walker's campaign backers outside the state are pushing. But on the ground in Wisconsin, it's a dead heat.
• In fact, Tom Barrett has already closed the gap and even the polls oversampling Republicans show the race has tightened, with Barrett leading among women and independents.
• It all comes down to turnout and making sure voters can cast their ballots, despite Walker's attempts to keep anyone he can't count on to vote for him from voting at all.

ATTACK: "This recall election is a battle with out-of-state union bosses."
RESPONSE:

• This recall election is Wisconsin's working families fighting back against politicians who put their powerful donors ahead of our middle class.
• That's why Wisconsin voters already gathered almost a million signatures to force the recall election -- double the number needed. Now across the state, working moms and students are joining with teachers and farmers to stand up to Walker's agenda.
• Working Americans join unions so they're not on their own against the powerful corporate interests spending billions of dollars lobbying politicians. The middle class needs someone looking out for their interests, too.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker entered office promising to create 250,000 jobs, but his failed plan has left Wisconsin with massive job losses and the worst jobs records in the nation.
• Walker's agenda for the people of Wisconsin also includes:
• A "divide and conquer" strategy for Wisconsin's working families;
• Deeply cutting Wisconsin schools by $2.6 billion, causing massive layoffs;
• Taking away health care from tens of thousands of vulnerable Wisconsin families, including sick children, by slashing the state's BadgerCare program;
• Repealing Wisconsin's Equal Pay Law;
• Taking away the workplace rights of 175,000 Wisconsin workers to negotiate together for decent benefits and workplace safety; and
• Unconstitutional voter ID laws meant to make it harder for students and people of color, who often vote for Democrats, to cast a ballot.
• Walker raised taxes on vulnerable working families and seniors to help pay for over $2 billion worth of tax giveaways for millionaires and big corporations.
• At the same time, Walker has been fending off a corruption investigation that has already led to indictments of his closest aides and raising money for his criminal defense fund.
• Exploiting loopholes in campaign finance law, Walker is raising unprecedented amounts of campaign cash from billionaires and corporate special interests. While Walker has directly received $30 million in campaign contributions, mostly from donors outside Wisconsin, Barrett has raised $4 million, mostly from Wisconsin small-dollar donors.
• The effort to recall Walker from office has been driven by Wisconsin grassroots, who gathered a million signatures for the recall -- double the number needed.

We develop messaging by aggregating, analyzing and distilling polling, tested messaging, and expert recommendations, and monitoring the media to identify what is and isn't working. See here for some of the experts and organizations we draw on.