As I write this, the votes have not yet been counted in Madison and Milwaukee. I still hold out hope - for your state, and for this country and its people.
Wisconsin, you showed the rest of this country, this America that we all love so much, so many things this past 15+ months.
You showed the power of the people. You showed that unlimited, and some untraceable, money, can win our elections. Can BUY OUR DEMOCRACY. You showed that we need to fight this tooth and nail, and you showed us HOW we need to do it. Every single one of us.
You showed toughness in snow and in heat. You showed heart and spirit and gumption and sticktuitiveness in the face of amazing odds against you.
I continue to believe that this is the beginning, not the end, of the fight that ALL Americans must now join in.
Thank you for shining the light through the darkness of the money falling from the sky. We need to work to make the sun of our democratic system shine again.
Thank you. More of us need to get involved, at the local level, every year, not just every four years. You have shown the way. The outcome was not what we hoped for. But we now know what needs to be done.
We have to work work work to elect representatives that will do the right thing - get the money out of our political system. I don't know how - I can't see the road ahead.
Mayor Barrett is giving his concession speech now. My heart is heavy. I am going to finish making dinner for my husband and my kids; and I am going to have the biggest bowl of ice cream I can make. I am going to pick up my pugs and get those wonderful puggy kisses that make everything seem better.
And tomorrow, a new day, I'll do everything I can to work FOR Democratic causes and candidates, and AGAINST the GOP. First and foremost, the GOP Tea Party has to go, before we can get logic and rationality back into our system. I know it will be slow going. But it has to start somewhere.
It started in Wisconsin, 15 months ago. You are an inspiration to so many - you don't even know how many.
Again, thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Thank you.