Barney Frank: Dems, unions made 'big mistake' in pushing for Wisconsin recall

[cynatnite]

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) slammed unions and liberal activists for pushing to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R).

"I think the people on the Democratic side made a big mistake and the funding thing was a big deal," Frank told The Hill Wednesday afternoon, alluding to Republicans' big cash advantage in the race. "My side picked a fight they shouldn't have picked. The recall was upsetting to people, the rerun of the election with [Democratic Milwaukee Mayor] Tom Barrett — it's not a fight I would have picked."

Walker survived the recall by a comfortable 7-point margin over Barrett on Tuesday, leading Republicans to crow that the state is in play in the fall and claiming the vote was an affirmation of Walker's tough policies towards public-sector unions. When asked if the race had any national implications, Frank shook his head.

"People need to be more strategic about the fights they pick," he said.

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/governor-races/231273-barney-frank-dems-made-a-big-mistake-in-pushing-for-wisconsin-recall-

[cthulu2016]

1. My, how retirement loosens tongues

[mmonk]

2. All fights must be fought at this point.

To think not is not recognizing where we are. Big money is here to crush us with Citizen's United.

[cynatnite]

4. I'm starting to question that...

Considering what Barney said here, I'm wondering if we now should be more careful of the fights we pick because of Citizen's United. The money is all on their side. We can't keep having these big losses. It's demoralizing and costly. I'm not saying we should quit or give up...just be more prudent in the fights we do fight.

This is a tough one because now the Repukes will grow more bold and work to strip union rights all across the country.

I just don't know at this point.

[mmonk]

5. It isn't here for the common man.

It is for full consolidation of wealth and power and those that will support that consolidation in government only.

[rhett o rick]

10. I agree with mmonk. Our back is already against the wall. If we decide toavoid a fight just because

we are afraid they will be emboldened, we might as well quit. We are going to lose a lot of battles, but we still have to fight them.

[DCKit]

44. Agreed. Until those dollars = votes, we're not done for..

Besides, we only lost by 7%, and Walker is still going to prison. For all their billions, the Kochs are still the bigger fools.

[rhett o rick]

47. You are very optimistic to say Walker is going to prison. nm

[hughee99]

46. Even Barney will tell you, it's not a crime to have rich friends.

[Scootaloo]

3. Thanks for the help, Barney

'Preciate it.

[ananda]

6. Look, Barney Frank is wrong here.

Bullies with money have to be dealt with.. strongly.

[rhett o rick]

11. Postponing the fight is a losing strategy. nm

[mmonk]

12. Yep. It's surrender.

No conflict is ever won through allowing the other side to strengthen its hold.

[rhett o rick]

24. We need to keep the pressure on them. Make their financial costs high.

We need our own banks and insurance companies.

[Blue_Tires]

16. Even if he was right for discussion's sake

NOBODY likes a "Monday Morning QB"

[cynatnite]

17. And if he had said this prior to the election...

He would be accused of sabatoging the election, treason and called every name in the book. Not only that, if he had spoke up it could have had even been worse for the Dems overall.

You may disagree with what Barney said, but he was smart to keep quiet about his personal opinion until now.

[Blue_Tires]

23. and even then he could have done the smart thing and kept it internal

If Frank felt that strongly about it, it's not like he couldn't have called DNC brass and cussed the paint off the walls...

You never see the GOP call each other out in public for stupidity, unless they're running against each other...But it seems like Dems do it daily...

[cynatnite]

26. The repukes do it plenty...

Kkkarl Rove and Sarah Palin have no love for each other at all. They've taken several swipes at each other. Also, this extremist repuke party have shoved moderate repubs out the door and some of them didn't go quietly into the night. They spoke out.

The only difference is that corporate media doesn't make hay out of it the way they do when a Dem speaks out contrary to the majority of Dems.

Besides, I want them to speak up and I do not want them to walk in lockstep with one another. I don't fully agree with Barney, but I'll defend his right to say it.

[Blue_Tires]

31. Well Palin is a pundit now

And I was referring more to speaking out against races or party policy...

If Walker got trounced yesterday, No RWer-- Rove/Palin/Ryan/whoever would have given an interview today "Oh yeah, that Walker deserved to lose his recall! I told the RNC fron the start that he was terrible for the state and makes our party look like idiots as a whole! And what was up with that campaign strategy....."

[cynatnite]

34. Nothing wrong with saying what they think after the fact...

It's before and during that I would take issue with. That could undermine the party.

Afterwards...who cares. Nobody'll remember in a week.

[MjolnirTime]

7. The only thing I agree with that he said is that they should not have rerun Barrett.

Somebody else might have changed some minds.

Instead, some people just felt like they were in a do-over.

[Scuba]

8. I love ya Barney, but you're missing the point. Our side didn't start this fight.

[OKNancy]

9. I've thought a lot about all this since last night... and I think he is right

You know how Bill Mahar has this recurring skit about how Republicans live in a bubble? Well, I think most of us here are the same way.
It's the DU bubble and we feed on each other...grabbing every bit of positive news and probably making it bigger than it really is.

Thinking on it... Obama probably knew this. No way was he going to jump in on a losing cause.

I am glad I donated money though. It was fun to follow all the news and fun to feel like a community.
Not fun to lose.

[EFerrari]

18. DU is a discussion board. WI is a state where union workers were stripped of their rights

by a fascist. They are not interchangeable.

No, he's not right. We didn't ask for this fight.

If this is how Frank is going to sound from the sidelines I hope he finds a different hobby.

[Quantess]

35. You have a point.

Anybody who posts criticism, legitimate or not, is labeled a "concern troll", or worse. Criticizing Dems? Go ahead, and see how much you like it when Romney wins!!!

[Enrique]

36. they won control of the state senate

and no one ever guaranteed the Walker recall would be successful, it was always a long shot. And yes, the Democrats who launched this fight are an entirely different brand of Democrat than Obama. Remember they fled to Illinois? That is certainly not Obama's style. He had some advice to college students about politics, a year ago: "don't ever put yourself in a situation where you might be disappointed." A far cry from "Yes we can".

[Lionessa]

13. Perhaps, but the Senate recall seems to have had better results, so would one

have happened without the other? I don't know. Just a thought. And I'm also one of those that doesn't believe Walker won and that some serious fraud isn't going to be found someday.

[lumberjack_jeff]

14. Once the fight is picked, win. nt

[rhett o rick]

20. That's what my father told me. Try hard to avoid a fight, but once picked*, win. *I liked your

wording.

[Bjorn Against]

15. The Wisconsin Senate is in Democratic hands today, that is no mistake

We may not have got the huge victory that we wanted, but we did get a big victory. We put the Wisconsin Senate in Democratic hands making it much more difficult for Walker to push his agenda through. Barney Frank is wrong, we made a big gain last night and just because we missed the big prize does not mean we made a mistake.

[cynatnite]

19. Yep, until this November...

When it could change hands again.

Meanwhile, the state senate is not due back in session for some time. IMO, it was a hollow victory.

[Bjorn Against]

22. It "could" change hands, that doesn't mean it will

We will have one more seat in our possession going into November's elections, I don't know how you could possibly think that is not a good thing. Walker can call special sessions, he is less likely to do so now however because he knows he can't get what he wants as easily.

Barney Frank seems to be telling us not to fight, we have seen way too much of that from national Democrats and it is time we stopped listening to them. Their reluctance to fight the Republicans has damaged this nation. I would rather lose an election than be fearful of even trying to win and election.

[cynatnite]

25. Barney is saying that this was a fight we couldn't win and shouldn't have tried to win...

What's the point of having a Dem state senate if you can't take it out for a drive? With it being out of session you can't even put forward an agenda. You can't accomplish anything.

And then what happens if by chance the repukes retake the state senate in November? Having won it for a short period of time was pretty pointless and a waste, IMO.

Of course, just call me debbie downer. I'm in that sort of mood today.

[Bjorn Against]

28. The polls were very close, if we would have had more money we would have won

The point of having a Dem senate with a Republican Governor is to prevent the really horrible bills from reaching the Governor's desk.

This was a battle that we were actually quite close to winning, things did not work out in the end but we would have never known they would not work if we had not tried. If you want to bring about change then you don't give up before you even attempt to fight.

[cynatnite]

32. I'm not convinced we would have won with more money...

Exit polling is telling a different story.

The Dem senate is meaningless if it is out of session and is never used to stop the repuke agenda. Winning the state senate in this instance will be even more meaningless if it switches to repuke hands before it barely gets out of the gate.

The best we can hope for at this point in Wisconsin is that the state senate remains in Dem control. That would make the win mean something. We won't know until then.

[bvar22]

21. And a "White House Spokesman" attacked and ridiculed Unions...

... for supporting a Pro-LABOR candidate in the Arkansas Primary against Virulently Anti-Union
Blue Dog Blanche Lincoln in 2010.

It is bad enough to have the Republicans attacking Organized LABOR,
but when the establishment Democrats join the Republicans to ridicule and marginalize Organized LABOR,
....well, who IS on our side?



You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.
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[okieinpain]

27. president Obama must have made him say that. n/t.

[Enrique]

29. Barney Frank is an Establishment democrat

those democrats failed, imo, especially in the financial sector (which was Frank's area of responsibility) which is the biggest disaster in this country. Our hope lies in Wisconsin-type democrats, imho.

[HooptieWagon]

30. So Barney... when the GOP picks a fight with gays

you shouldnt fight back, and the DNC will keep their powder dry. We'll try and remember that plan.

[Bluenorthwest]

48. Is that the DNC who in the last Presidential had 7 primary candidates all opposed to equal rights

of marriage? They keep their gay powder desert dry, and our equality has not yet been part of the DNC's platform.
And Barney is not some elected gay spokesman, kid. He speaks for Barney. Is that hard to understand?

[Skidmore]

33. Well, Barney, that was extremely helpful. NOT!

Perhaps if Dem leadership had supported workers we would have had different results. While you are at it, please tell Harry Reed that he did us a huge disservice by aiding McConnell and crew by keeping that ridiculous 60% majority/filibuster in place.

And while I'm at it, please pass on to Bill Clinton how colossally unhelpful he's been lately.

[davidwparker]

39. 100% Right - 0% Wrong

Additionally, Bill Clinton has been helping Obama about as much as he helped Hillary in the SC primary.

[2pooped2pop]

37. Barney, I love ya, but...

sitting on our asses and doing nothing didn't seem to work either. Hell, look at congress. Sitting on asses, doesn't work. We can't keep the spineless theories in play.

We must occupy all.

[Raine]

38. "Nice" to say after the fact. Anyway once you're in a fight, you fight it to win! nt

[jerseyjack]

40. I disagree.

The recalls themselves were a victory. AND we even won some.

[OhioVoter]

41. I don't recall hearing this pre-election...

It doesn't take any guts to say this after the fact. I would have more respect for him had he said this well before Tuesday. I agree with the statement, but the timing is weak.

The recall movement knew they were going lose before June 5th (at least they should have if their internal polling was worth anything), but by that time they were too invested and couldn't reverse course. Now they have no significant wins and no money.

[cynatnite]

43. I think it would have done more damage had he said this beforehand. n/t

[Blue_Tires]

49. welcome to the site!

[AverageJoe90]

42. I feel for Barney, but.....

His heart is in the right place but I think the recall was justified overall, all things considered.

[Arkana]

45. Wrong answer, Barney.