A Special Thank You to Governor Walker (guest post)

"I learned at the moment when I was surrounded by hundreds of thousands of people, that I had a voice."  

The recall election may have been a loss to those of us hoping all of Wisconsin would wake up to Walker's abuses of power, but this letter proves that the rise of citizen awareness and citizen action is a victory that could not have been won otherwise. A fan of MoD who has been following our open letters and wishes to remain anonymous, writes: "You have shared your letters, so I am sharing mine."  In it, she thanks the newly re-elected governor for allowing her to realize that "being an informed voter is the most important thing you do."

A Special Thank You to Governor Walker 

Guest post from a private sector worker

Dear Governor,

I would like to thank you for what you have done for me personally to grow as an informed voter. My story is I grew up in Wisconsin and spent sometime working for Tommy Thompson. At the time, I had no interest in politics, but was putting myself through school and it was a good second job.

Later, I moved to California and signed the recall petition against Gray Davis. I did this because I was at a grocery store and in a hurry. Someone with the petition told me all these horrible things the Governor had done to the state. So I signed. I was a small business owner and only knew that I was trying to make ends meet. But really it didn’t matter so much because I didn’t follow politics and I didn’t vote often.

The next election I voted in was to elect Barack Obama as President. I bought into the idea of Hope and Change and cast my ballot. I can honestly say now that because of you, I understand why I feel the way about our current President as I do. You see before you, I was an ill-informed voter. One who made decisions based on perception rather than reality.

In the days since you took office, I have learned that there are plenty of people willing to pass their days without knowledge.

So getting on to why you have been so important in my life. I have since learned that being an informed voter is the most important thing you can do. I now know that you must research and find out the facts behind what is truly driving policy. So I thank you for that.

I volunteered my time in the depths of winter to the point that I could not feel body parts. Why? Because of you! I gave up weekends, put regular life things on hold. I walked the streets to get out the vote. I met the most incredible people and felt what it was like to stand up. In the freezing drizzle, my bones shook with the cold. I learned at the moment when I was surrounded by hundreds of thousands of people, that I had a voice. All because of you.

But sadly, I may now be your worst enemy in this ideological fight you think is so important. Why? Because I will continue to inform people of what you do and the reasons behind it. I now know ALEC because of you. Without your style of passing laws in the middle of the night, I would not know the actual laws around passing policy. And honestly, I would have never, ever watched an entire House Oversight Committee hearing.

Yes, now I know who you are, Governor Walker, and what you stand for. To me, that is everything I needed to become the person who will relentlessly give their time to fighting that. So again, I thank you for awaking the intellectual voter in me.

Best of Luck with the indictment!

A private sector worker