Seven Days out

Only a week to go before the big showdown, here is one of those things that make you go "hmm."
Beaver Dam Daily Citizen, Letter to the Editor, May 26,2012
Calling for polling an interesting task
I have been polling the people of southeast Wisconsin by phone for the past eight weeks regarding the effort to recall Walker, Kleefisch and Fitzgerald.
This is a very interesting and rewarding task. I talk to so many wonderful people. I also get to hear from a few of Wisconsin’s nastiest people, who will cuss, scream and yell and hang up on me.
During these calls I have learned of so many interesting election experiences that I could probably write a book about them. Here is one, in particular, that I feel must be shared with “we the people” of Wisconsin.
A woman I spoke with in Oconomowoc told me she knows a couple that lives in a beautiful house on the corner of a well-traveled street. This couple has never been particularly interested in politics, and the woman I spoke with said she didn’t even know if they were regular voters.
Well, one day this woman drove by their house and, to her great surprise, saw an enormous “stand with Walker” sign in their yard. Later in the day she ran into the homeowner and commented on the sign by saying she was surprised to see they were supporting Scott Walker.
The homeowner replied, “we don’t support Scott Walker.” The homeowner said that somebody came to their door and asked to “rent” a spot in their yard for the sign and gave them $100.
After hearing this I’m guessing that many of the big Walker and Fitzgerald signs we see are not really grassroots support, but simply a paid-for billboard. That seems sneaky to me.
Susan H. Finnel, Watertown

Link to newspaper: http://www.wiscnews.com/bdc/news/opinion/article_f13eef7e-a623-11e1-8653-001a4bcf887a.html

Sure, this is simply one anecdotal letter to the editor. But republicans have absolutely no problem using [manufactured] anecdotal evidence to smear Democrats. That story about someone passing out cigarettes at homeless shelters to encourage people to vote for John Kerry never seems to die, so why not throw one back in their faces?
Of course, a tactic like this would never work if neighbors were more... neighborly. The atomization of society is absolutely essential for [i'm with stupid]'s "divide and conquer" strategy. If we actually talked to each other more and found out the truth behind the facade, "renting" a spot on people's lawns would kind of backfire by revealing the dirty, underhanded nature of the cheesehead fascists.

Still, it is a little comforting to hear that maybe, just maybe, the money machine is spreading a tiny bit of their filthy lucre around. Times are tough and $100 could put groceries in the kitchen for a week if you are careful.