The New Grassroots Politics

/

 

In Wisconsin, we’ve come to believe that politics need not be “politics as usual”.

I first realized that politics could be unnusual when our 14 Democratic Senators fled the state last February. We were stunned—and thrilled. Our representatives actually risked their jobs to represent us, their constituents?! Many of us did not want to see Governor Walker’s Budget Repair Bill hastily rushed through the Senate to become the law of the land, and we’re grateful for the Senators’ creativity and courage. They did their best to slow down the process and stop the bill.

From that point on, the unnusual and historic became the norm in Wisconsin. Our rarely used constitional recourse to recall was first used this summer to show just how desperately citizens want honest and representive government. On the national level, the Occupy movement began to make its voice heard. And now four Wisconsin Senators, our Governor and our Lieutenant Governor face recall.

Lori Compas of Fort Atkinson calls herself "an ordinary person who started paying attention" to politics. People like Lori are just who we want to represent us. This week she declared her candicacy for the state Senate seat currently held by Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, who faces recall.

Lori says,“If elected to the Senate, I will focus on job creation and true economic development, rather than wasteful corporate giveaways. The Walker administration continues to throw money at this problem without looking for

creative solutions that can really make a difference here at the local level. Small and micro-businesses have a great potential for job creation. Business owners and entrepreneurs need help to make the leap from part-time side jobs to full-time businesses with employees. A crucial step in order to allow them to make that leap is affordable access to healthcare.

"We've found that healthcare is also an issue for farm families, who are often shut out of the larger healthcare system unless they take jobs off the farm. We owe the people who produce our food access to an affordable healthcare system. Over all of this, we have heard repeatedly that the people of our district would like to see a return to good government."

I wish I could vote for Lori, but I don’t live in her district. If you reside in District 13, you’re very fortunate indeed. Find out how to help Lori’s grassroots campaign at http://www.loricompas.org/