Just recently got back from a great conference in Madison, Wisconsin. The conference coincidentally took place mere days after the recall elections we all were watching...so I kind of wondered how the results of the recalls would affect my mood on the trip.
The conference itself was great. Excellent science, good beer, and time between talks to relax on the terrace at the university overlooking the lake. Weather was perfect (and this is coming from someone who grew up in Southern California so has a high standard for perfect weather). And I have to say my work was amazingly well received by most of the people I talked to, though one person seemed to take quite a dislike to our work. But overall a great trip.
It was quite interesting to be there, in the very place where Walker has done so much damage to middle and working class Americans and where so many from so many backgrounds came out last year to protest his anti-American policies.
Below are some impressions and a call to action. Because Wisconsin is no different from any state out there. We all have our tea party right wing extremists (one just won a special State Senate election here in NYC!) and we all have our good progressives. What we need to do, as politically active, moderate to liberal leaning Democrats, is fight tooth an nail to defend each progressive out there and to defeat the worst right wing extremists we can.
And you know what? Wisconsin has been doing a pretty good job of it, has forged some great alliances in the process, and, if we keep our eyes on the ball, we can continue to push back to the progressive side in Wisconsin.