WI OFA State Director on last night's election (email)

Date: June 6, 2012 To: Interested Parties From: Tripp Wellde, OFA-WI State Director Re: Next steps

Over the past year, Wisconsin Democrats have taken on the immense challenge of protecting middle class families, fighting against government overreach, and ensuring voters have a say about the future of the state. We knew from the start this undertaking was not going to be easy and yet thousands of Wisconsin Democrats have been involved in this effort for more than a year. And we understand our work isn’t done yet. While the results of the Governor’s race were not what we had hoped for, we were still able to overcome great challenges to ensure the voices of middle class families were heard. Despite a massive influx of outside money that poured into Wisconsin, Tom Barrett and the thousands of volunteers on the ground carried out an impressive battle against a more than $31 million to $4 million spending gap to ensure that our government reflected our values of hard work and responsibility. We are coming out of this effort with a stronger Democratic organization and more engaged supporters and volunteers. Just like the Senate recalls did last summer, this election has galvanized our field operation. And the work of the volunteers and supporters across the state for the last year, with considerable help from OFA and DNC, underscores the seriousness with which we will continue this effort from now until November. As noted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel last week – polling for months has had President Obama ahead in Wisconsin. There hasn’t been a single poll that shows Romney ahead of the President in Wisconsin. According to data from last night, the President remains in a strong position. Exit polling showed President Obama beating Mitt Romney 52-43, a 9-point difference. On the questions of who would do a better job on the economy and who would help the middle class the most, President Obama again held a strong advantage over Romney. These data points reflect the President’s strengths, and Governor Romney’s challenges, as we enter the final months of the campaign. In November, the choice for Wisconsin families is clear: They can stand with a President who is fighting every day toward an economy in which the middle class is growing and not shrinking; where people who work hard can get ahead, and everyone, from Main Street to Wall Street plays by the same rules. Or they can choose Gov. Romney, who promises to take us back a decade to the same budget-busting tax cuts for the wealthy and free rein for the Wall Street that spelled disaster for our economy and the middle class. As the exit polls reflect, the people of Wisconsin know who will fight for them and an economy built on the values of hard work, responsibility and fair play. And in an ironic twist, while Scott Walker spent thirty million dollars touting economic progress in the state over the past two years, in November, it is President Obama who will be the beneficiary.