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Showing posts with label mielke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mielke. Show all posts
Friday, March 19, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Mielke Continues to Embarrass Himself, Republican Party in Losing Primary Battle
I've written countless times about the not so appealing candidate Dan Mielke. In fact, I've written about him so much that I should change the name of this blog to The Mielke View. But try as I might I cannot escape this topic when there are so many gems to report on.
During the Americans for Prosperity event Mielke and Rachel Duffy got into an argument. Mielke was, in my opinion, knowingly stating materials that misrepresented Sean's position on gay marriage - something both Sean and I oppose. Rachel, from the accounts I have received, wanted Mielke to remove the materials and when he didn't she got a bit feisty and tried to remove one of the false signs.
That's when Mielke "violently grabbed" her arm (as reported by the WisPolitics blog here). Now let me remind you that Rachel is neither a large frightening person or a physical threat being 8.5 months pregnant. I don't care what the deal is - you never lay your hand on a woman, especially a pregnant woman. I think that this is just another tactic of Mielke playing double agent for the Democratic party and trying to hurt Sean's campaign against Obey.
Later Mielke called 911 - why? Because he got in an argument with a woman half his size and twice the man that he is (the last part being my personal opinion which I feel is widely shared). His stated reason from the WisPolitics blog is "I was not trying to create an incident. My goal was not to turn this into a political thing". I can smell a rat here.
I think that Mielke called the police, who left without arresting anyone, so he could generate some publicity and further damage the Republican party. In fact, I am going to do some digging to see if I can come up with any connection between Obey and Mielke because I have a strong sense that Mielke is simply running to hurt Sean after Sean won the district endorsement. To me, this speaks strongly of a Mielke-Obey connection somewhere (perhaps donors in common?).
In other news, Mielke is alleged to have violated campaign law. Get that story here.
During the Americans for Prosperity event Mielke and Rachel Duffy got into an argument. Mielke was, in my opinion, knowingly stating materials that misrepresented Sean's position on gay marriage - something both Sean and I oppose. Rachel, from the accounts I have received, wanted Mielke to remove the materials and when he didn't she got a bit feisty and tried to remove one of the false signs.
That's when Mielke "violently grabbed" her arm (as reported by the WisPolitics blog here). Now let me remind you that Rachel is neither a large frightening person or a physical threat being 8.5 months pregnant. I don't care what the deal is - you never lay your hand on a woman, especially a pregnant woman. I think that this is just another tactic of Mielke playing double agent for the Democratic party and trying to hurt Sean's campaign against Obey.
Later Mielke called 911 - why? Because he got in an argument with a woman half his size and twice the man that he is (the last part being my personal opinion which I feel is widely shared). His stated reason from the WisPolitics blog is "I was not trying to create an incident. My goal was not to turn this into a political thing". I can smell a rat here.
I think that Mielke called the police, who left without arresting anyone, so he could generate some publicity and further damage the Republican party. In fact, I am going to do some digging to see if I can come up with any connection between Obey and Mielke because I have a strong sense that Mielke is simply running to hurt Sean after Sean won the district endorsement. To me, this speaks strongly of a Mielke-Obey connection somewhere (perhaps donors in common?).
In other news, Mielke is alleged to have violated campaign law. Get that story here.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Mielke Identifies Reason Why Sean Duffy Will Win The Primary
Mielke For Congress
It seems that Mr. Mielke believes that since 43% of Congressman are attorneys that we shouldn't send another attorney, even a successful and respected one like Duffy, to Washington. I'm going to leave this statement alone for just one second while I touch on one that I think is important.
First, the job of Congress is to pass legislature (aka laws). In order to be effective at writing new laws one must first understand the old ones, right? I mean, how can we create something if we don't understand what that something is? If Mielke got sent to Congress he could, unwittingly, introduce legislation that would be struck down by the courts as illegal - or worse yet, let the Democrats pull on over on him.
He said that 43% of Congressmen are lawyers and the Democrats have the majority so I say let's fight fire with fire. Now coming back to Mielke's comments here lawyers are paid to argue the facts, present their case and persuade others. Extremely similar to the role of politicians in Congress.
Politicians in Congress must also argue the facts, present their case and persuade others in other to get legislation to pass. Now that Sean has been raised to think like a lawyer, someone who makes a living persuading others, I would think that he would have mountains of experience over Mielke.
In fact, experience is very abundant. Duffy has been in office for four terms as a DA - an elected position. What experience does Mielke have serving in public office? I will give you this - he certainly knows how to lose an election.
Sean Duffy is an Attorney, his father is an attorney, his grandfather was an attorney and a judge, his brother is an attorney and a judge.
Dan believes that attorneys serve a valuable and necessary part of our society. But Dan
also realizes that 43% of congress is already made up of attorneys. "There is a danger in
having too many attorneys in Washington. Sean was raised to think and reason like an
attorney. To insure a fair and impartial balance of thinking in the legislature we need
representations from all walks of life . Presently we are seeing the danger in too many
attorneys in Washington. The bills being voted on are confusing and legalistic in nature,
often leaving way too many legal loopholes and hidden agendas which come out after the
bill has passed. Bills need to be simple and clean without so much legalese in them. This is
why our founding fathers were concerned about the harmful influence lawyers could have
if they became too powerful in congress."
It seems that Mr. Mielke believes that since 43% of Congressman are attorneys that we shouldn't send another attorney, even a successful and respected one like Duffy, to Washington. I'm going to leave this statement alone for just one second while I touch on one that I think is important.
First, the job of Congress is to pass legislature (aka laws). In order to be effective at writing new laws one must first understand the old ones, right? I mean, how can we create something if we don't understand what that something is? If Mielke got sent to Congress he could, unwittingly, introduce legislation that would be struck down by the courts as illegal - or worse yet, let the Democrats pull on over on him.
He said that 43% of Congressmen are lawyers and the Democrats have the majority so I say let's fight fire with fire. Now coming back to Mielke's comments here lawyers are paid to argue the facts, present their case and persuade others. Extremely similar to the role of politicians in Congress.
Politicians in Congress must also argue the facts, present their case and persuade others in other to get legislation to pass. Now that Sean has been raised to think like a lawyer, someone who makes a living persuading others, I would think that he would have mountains of experience over Mielke.
In fact, experience is very abundant. Duffy has been in office for four terms as a DA - an elected position. What experience does Mielke have serving in public office? I will give you this - he certainly knows how to lose an election.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Mielke Has a Snowball's Chance
Time Magazine – Republican Surprise: 10 More Scott Browns « Sean Duffy for Congress
In 2008 I was a Republican volunteer manning my county's headquarters. During that election cycle Mielke's campaign appeared from the outside to be in a state of disarray. All the materials, in my opinion, looked like they were made at home on a cheap inkjet printer.
Mielke's message didn't resonate with voters either - he failed to carry a single county during the 2008 election against Obey. Not one single county was willing to say "Yes, I want Dan Mielke to represent me in Congress". Now let's fast forward to today's race.
Mielke and Duffy are squaring off in a primary - something that Mielke did not experience in 2008, at least not from my perspective. Now Mielke has to face a successful attorney in a primary, and one who is extremely well funded. Duffy is getting national recognition, not to mention being the first House challenger to be endorsed by Sarah Palin.
What has Mielke been up to? Not much... a Google news search for Daniel Mielke's name does not turn up anything that is very interesting, most of his mentions are alongside of Sean Duffy's mentions. Conclusion: Duffy is making news while Mielke is trying to be in the news.
A lot of people are saying that this is going to be an interesting primary but I don't see it happening. I'm going to say that Mielke has as much of a chance as winning this primary as Congressman Ron Paul had of winning the 2008 Presidential primary.
To the anonymous commenter from the other day... please, wake up and take a look at reality.
In a normal year, Wisconsin Democrat David Obey, the powerful head of the House appropriations committee, would not have to worry. But normal years do not bring challengers like Sean Duffy, a successful district attorney who also happens to be a former star of MTV’s The Real World (the Boston season), a champion lumberjack competitor and an ESPN commentator. Obama won Wisconsin’s 7th District in 2008 by a decent margin, but Bush managed to win 49% of the vote in the largely Democratic district in 2004. Obey does not seem ruffled by Duffy’s harping on his role in the stimulus or statements that Obey is helping to create a “greater crisis” in terms of deficit spending. In fact, the Congressman’s campaign website isn’t even up and running yet. With plenty of media attention, strong fundraising and a very fresh face — he wasn’t even born when Obey first took office, in 1970 — Duffy will likely win the Republican primary, barring a surprise showing by the self-proclaimed Tea Party candidate Dan Mielke. Of course, that would mean facing the third longest-serving member of the House in the general election, a man whose smallest margin of victory in 18 elections was seven points.I think it is safe to say that Daniel Mielke has no chance at winning the primary. I mean, how many people are going to be willing to send a farmer up against Obey - especially one who has already lost once against him?
In 2008 I was a Republican volunteer manning my county's headquarters. During that election cycle Mielke's campaign appeared from the outside to be in a state of disarray. All the materials, in my opinion, looked like they were made at home on a cheap inkjet printer.
Mielke's message didn't resonate with voters either - he failed to carry a single county during the 2008 election against Obey. Not one single county was willing to say "Yes, I want Dan Mielke to represent me in Congress". Now let's fast forward to today's race.
Mielke and Duffy are squaring off in a primary - something that Mielke did not experience in 2008, at least not from my perspective. Now Mielke has to face a successful attorney in a primary, and one who is extremely well funded. Duffy is getting national recognition, not to mention being the first House challenger to be endorsed by Sarah Palin.
What has Mielke been up to? Not much... a Google news search for Daniel Mielke's name does not turn up anything that is very interesting, most of his mentions are alongside of Sean Duffy's mentions. Conclusion: Duffy is making news while Mielke is trying to be in the news.
A lot of people are saying that this is going to be an interesting primary but I don't see it happening. I'm going to say that Mielke has as much of a chance as winning this primary as Congressman Ron Paul had of winning the 2008 Presidential primary.
To the anonymous commenter from the other day... please, wake up and take a look at reality.
The Reality of Mielke's Campaign
National Review Online – Could Obey Be Coakley’d? « Sean Duffy for Congress
Sorry Mr. Mielke, but a political career is not something that just anyone can have. From one campaign loser to another, please just go home, lick your wounds and figure out what you did wrong. You can try again when you learn your lesson from your mistakes.
Q: What does Senator-elect Brown mean for your race?I think the above statement - the first sentence of the A: text - sums up Mielke's campaign very nicely. "Unknown, underfunded" are not two adjectives that describe a successful campaign for Congress. The sad part is that Mielke had to have known before filing his candidacy papers for this race that he was repeating the same mistakes he made in 2008.
A: If Scott Brown can win in a state that President Obama won by 26 points, I can win in a district that Obey won by just 20 points against an unknown, underfunded challenger in the Democratic landslide of 2008. It means there is not a single Democrat in the country who is safe. And, as the author of the failed stimulus bill, David Obey will be at the forefront of the debate about jobs, the economy, and wasteful government spending. If he continues to tax and spend our country into bankruptcy, he’s going to get Coakley’d.
Sorry Mr. Mielke, but a political career is not something that just anyone can have. From one campaign loser to another, please just go home, lick your wounds and figure out what you did wrong. You can try again when you learn your lesson from your mistakes.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Mielke's Poisoned Poll
Northwestern Wisconsin congressional race headed for Republican primary | FOX 21 Online
I'm sorry Mr. Mielke but I don't trust any polls commissioned by any candidates. I'm sure that if I polled 10 of my best friends that I would find that I am leading both Mielke, Duffy and Obey in the race for the 7th Congressional district and I'm not even a declared candidate.
Why should we trust a poll that was commissioned by a candidate? The notion of truth in this country has become synonymous with who ever pays the bill. Therefore, since Mr. Mielke paid the bill the pollsters have a responsibility not to the truth but to Dan Mielke. This includes only polling Mielke supporters with a few non-supporters thrown in to make it look legit.
In fact, the title of the document that reports the results says "Polling Results of the 7th Congressional District Produced for the Dan Mielke Campaign". Note the key phrase "Produced for the Dan Mielke Campaign".
I also take issue with a paragraph in this document that is highly subjective, emotionally charged and overall not conducive of a scientific method. The paragraph copied from the document verbatim follows.
Finally, the last issue I have with this poll is that it polled 35% Democrats and only 37% Republicans. I know that if I was being polled and the questions were asking me to compare two Democrat candidates against a Republican candidate that I would show strong support for the weaker Democrat candidate in hopes of making the general election easier for the Republican candidate.
Click here to read the results for yourself and you will see how one sided this poll really is.
But if Duffy is getting the limelight, Dan Mielke says the GOP is trying to force him off the stage, despite being the party's candidate in the last election. Mielke says he’s been excluded attending, speaking at, or handing out literature at Lincoln Day dinners. Mielke says he’s been a lifelong Republican, and wonders if he’s ruffled the GOP’s “feathers a little bit."
The socially conservative Mielke commissioned a poll of 7th Congressional District voters, and the results show him leading both fellow Republican Duffy and Democrat Obey. Mielke says he's in the race to stay, and that means a contentious Republican primary before Obey faces the winner in the general election.
I'm sorry Mr. Mielke but I don't trust any polls commissioned by any candidates. I'm sure that if I polled 10 of my best friends that I would find that I am leading both Mielke, Duffy and Obey in the race for the 7th Congressional district and I'm not even a declared candidate.
Why should we trust a poll that was commissioned by a candidate? The notion of truth in this country has become synonymous with who ever pays the bill. Therefore, since Mr. Mielke paid the bill the pollsters have a responsibility not to the truth but to Dan Mielke. This includes only polling Mielke supporters with a few non-supporters thrown in to make it look legit.
In fact, the title of the document that reports the results says "Polling Results of the 7th Congressional District Produced for the Dan Mielke Campaign". Note the key phrase "Produced for the Dan Mielke Campaign".
I also take issue with a paragraph in this document that is highly subjective, emotionally charged and overall not conducive of a scientific method. The paragraph copied from the document verbatim follows.
It is doubtful that Duffy will be able to overcome this strong of a lead by Mielke. But it is possible that an aggressive fight between Mielke and Duffy could hurt Mielke's run against Dave Obey, if Duffy's supporters choose to vote for Obey over Mielke. We see this as unlikely, but it could happen if emotions run high during the primary race.For run thing, Mielke is not going to have a run against Dave Obey despite what this "poisoned poll" says. Second, it is still too early to say that Duffy is definitively going to lose the primary. He's not - not with the qualifications he has over Dan Mielke. I know I would rather have a successful DA in Congress than an organic farmer who's lost every election in the last 5 years that he has run in.
Finally, the last issue I have with this poll is that it polled 35% Democrats and only 37% Republicans. I know that if I was being polled and the questions were asking me to compare two Democrat candidates against a Republican candidate that I would show strong support for the weaker Democrat candidate in hopes of making the general election easier for the Republican candidate.
Click here to read the results for yourself and you will see how one sided this poll really is.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Mielke Having Hard Time Selling Voters
It appears that, at least according to campaign finance reports, that Daniel Mielke is having a difficult time selling his story to the voters. In the summary report from the FEC it is stated that Mielke has total receipts of $366,863 with $332,750 of that total amount coming from his personal contributions.
Mielke so far as had to contribute 90.7% of his total campaign funds while only raising 9.1% from individual voters and less than 1% from the party committees. For those that don't know the Republican Party will fund candidates that it believes has a strong chance to beat a Democrat incumbent.
Looking at these hard numbers really paints an interesting story. First, it says that Mielke's story is not resonating with the voters. Second, it shows that Mielke is almost completely self-funding his campaign. Finally it shows that he does not have the ability to raise funds to generate needed cash to kick up the campaign in high gear to challenge Obey.
Sean Duffy, on the other hand, has raised 99.8% of his total cash from individual contributions. Digging deeper we see that Duffy raised an average of $850.43 from each of the 164 individuals who contributed to his campaign. People don't spend that much money on something they don't believe in.
In comparison Mielke was only able to garner contributions from 30 people for an average of $1,112.37 per contributor. Not only does Duffy gather more individual contributors than Mielke but the average is also lower. This says, at least to me, that Duffy is gaining more traction with middle class and lower middle class working people than affluent citizens like the crowd Mielke solicits from.
Mielke so far as had to contribute 90.7% of his total campaign funds while only raising 9.1% from individual voters and less than 1% from the party committees. For those that don't know the Republican Party will fund candidates that it believes has a strong chance to beat a Democrat incumbent.
Looking at these hard numbers really paints an interesting story. First, it says that Mielke's story is not resonating with the voters. Second, it shows that Mielke is almost completely self-funding his campaign. Finally it shows that he does not have the ability to raise funds to generate needed cash to kick up the campaign in high gear to challenge Obey.
Sean Duffy, on the other hand, has raised 99.8% of his total cash from individual contributions. Digging deeper we see that Duffy raised an average of $850.43 from each of the 164 individuals who contributed to his campaign. People don't spend that much money on something they don't believe in.
In comparison Mielke was only able to garner contributions from 30 people for an average of $1,112.37 per contributor. Not only does Duffy gather more individual contributors than Mielke but the average is also lower. This says, at least to me, that Duffy is gaining more traction with middle class and lower middle class working people than affluent citizens like the crowd Mielke solicits from.
A History of Failure
Since 2004 Dan Mielke has not won a single election. In my research I have come across hard evidence concerning three different elections that Dan Mielke has participated in and soft evidence (a news piece at Fox News) for the Town of Linwood (population roughly 1,000).
Dan Mielke has lost all four elections. This guy has been told by the people on four separate occasions that they don't want him. Let me explain...
In 2004 Dan Mielke ran for Wisconsin's State Assembly District 70 against Vruwink (Democrat). The results of that election as reported in the 2005 Wisconsin Blue Book were 18,120 for Vruwink and 10,622 for Mielke. In percentage terms, Mielke only got 36.95% of the vote.
In 2006 Mielke ran for the Portage County Executive, a position that he claimed he was instrumental in creating, on a write-in campaign. A write-in campaign! Meaning that Mr. Mielke couldn't be bothered to qualify for the ballot any other way. Needless to say he lost, only gaining 21% of the vote.
In 2008 Mielke ran for Congress against Dave Obey, a long time incumbent and well entrenched Democrat. I would say it was a case of David vs. Goliath, only with David being a mosquito and Goliath winning single-handedly. Mielke only gained 39% of the vote in that election.
Mielke's average for these three elections was 32% of the vote. No matter how many re-counts you ask for you are not going to win with only 32% of the average vote. No matter how many times I look at the contenders in this year's Congressional match-up I don't see Mielke going to Washington.
The guy just doesn't get it - the people don't want him. They have said so at least 3 times in the last 6 years and one unconfirmed time. However with Wisconsin's open primary law I feel that some Democrats may vote for Mielke in the primary to give Obey a shoe-in.
Dan Mielke has lost all four elections. This guy has been told by the people on four separate occasions that they don't want him. Let me explain...
In 2004 Dan Mielke ran for Wisconsin's State Assembly District 70 against Vruwink (Democrat). The results of that election as reported in the 2005 Wisconsin Blue Book were 18,120 for Vruwink and 10,622 for Mielke. In percentage terms, Mielke only got 36.95% of the vote.
In 2006 Mielke ran for the Portage County Executive, a position that he claimed he was instrumental in creating, on a write-in campaign. A write-in campaign! Meaning that Mr. Mielke couldn't be bothered to qualify for the ballot any other way. Needless to say he lost, only gaining 21% of the vote.
In 2008 Mielke ran for Congress against Dave Obey, a long time incumbent and well entrenched Democrat. I would say it was a case of David vs. Goliath, only with David being a mosquito and Goliath winning single-handedly. Mielke only gained 39% of the vote in that election.
Mielke's average for these three elections was 32% of the vote. No matter how many re-counts you ask for you are not going to win with only 32% of the average vote. No matter how many times I look at the contenders in this year's Congressional match-up I don't see Mielke going to Washington.
The guy just doesn't get it - the people don't want him. They have said so at least 3 times in the last 6 years and one unconfirmed time. However with Wisconsin's open primary law I feel that some Democrats may vote for Mielke in the primary to give Obey a shoe-in.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Dan Mielke: Is He or Isn't He a Politician?
It's not small secret that I have Google Alerts setup for all participants in the 7th Congressional District race, including Dan Mielke. This morning I found this little gem in my alerts folder and I just had to point a few things out.
In the first quote below, Mielke goes on to stress that he's not a politician, he's a concerned voter. Nothing wrong with that per se but let's look a bit deeper.
Farmer seeks rematch for congressional seat | Superior Telegram | Superior, Wisconsin
Farmer seeks rematch for congressional seat | Superior Telegram | Superior, Wisconsin
Did any one else catch the immediate contradiction, the obvious waffling with identity. Is he a politician? Is he a concerned citizen?
Perhaps it's this lack of conviction that led to his miserable performance against Obey in 2008. As a conservative watching this race unfold I can honestly say that sending Mielke out to do battle against Obey would be one quick ticket to another Obey term.
In the first quote below, Mielke goes on to stress that he's not a politician, he's a concerned voter. Nothing wrong with that per se but let's look a bit deeper.
Farmer seeks rematch for congressional seat | Superior Telegram | Superior, Wisconsin
“I’m not in this for the politics,” Mielke said. “I’m in this because I am one of those voters and I’m frustrated and … I’m a strong Constitutional supporter and really, the idea behind government elected officials, is that they’re supposed to be of the voting public. They’re not supposed to be some professional that was put in place, and went to school and was trained to be some politician. So I’m kind of the anti-professional politician.”Now let's take a look at the next quote from this same article.
Farmer seeks rematch for congressional seat | Superior Telegram | Superior, Wisconsin
“I’m more of a tea party, give-us-our-country-back politician I guess you could say,” Mielke said. “I don’t believe in career politicians. They should be doing they’re tour of duty and getting out of the foxholes and get back into life.”
Did any one else catch the immediate contradiction, the obvious waffling with identity. Is he a politician? Is he a concerned citizen?
Perhaps it's this lack of conviction that led to his miserable performance against Obey in 2008. As a conservative watching this race unfold I can honestly say that sending Mielke out to do battle against Obey would be one quick ticket to another Obey term.
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