Wednesday, September 1, 2010

The Truth about Cedarburg, WI (9.5.08)

Today John (of the POW!) and Sarah (of the Soap Opera!) spoke in Cedarburg, WI.  In front of the Chocolate Factory (a place so yuppie you can get two kinds of hot fudge - bittersweet or sweet), they tried to portray this charming little Wisconsin suburb of Milwaukee as needing "hope and confidence."  I think not!  Cedarburg is the kind of place where you poke around little boutiques and eat by a very picturesque river.  The kind of place you come to with your lady friends for lunch and shopping.  Not shopping of the necessary kind.  But shopping of the shop till you drop kind.

It's a city with mansions built on former farmland.  Professional families.  It's a place people come to for family swimming or hot fudge sundaes.  Not a place that was ever part of the rust belt.  Not a place full of small town people struggling to put food on the table.  It's a nice place to start a business.  Even in hard times, you'll find plenty of shoppers and people seeking specialty candies and treats, gifts for others and little luxuries for themselves.

Cedarburg, WI.   Why did McCain and Palin choose this particular little city?  I think it's because Wisconsin is a battleground state and for some reason these two are more at home among upper middle-class people of luxury, people who don't need jobs or health care.  They didn't go to Janesville, where auto parts people are losing their jobs.  They didn't hang out with people who hunt or fish to put food on the table.  They didn't talk about how to pay for education or what to do about global warming.

Cedarburg, WI
, just like certain children who have been trotted out for photo ops lately, was a nice place for a photo op on a sunny September day.  It was all about the photo-op.  And nothing about the truth!

Just had to get the truth out!!!!

PERMALINK



Comments (63)

TheraP, is WI really a battleground state? Seems to be firmly in Obama's camp. I was surprised they went there at all. But thanks for your perspective. Sounds like you know the place. It's like Annapolis, MD. The State Capitol, quaint, charming, Naval Academy, perhaps the only place in the entire state that votes Republican. Oh, jeez, I hope they don't show up here. I doubt it. Nothing McCain/Palin does or says will turn Maryland red.

KateO, WI is very much a battleground state, with lots of independent people just like Alaska. But it will swing Dem this year.
Interesting. I have friends in Madison and Milwaukee (and I lived in Chicago for 3 years long ago--early 1980s) and always thought the area was fairly Democratic. But what you say makes sense--it's a diverse state with a lot of different interests. Well, my friends who live there say it's leaning Obama in a big way, so let's hope they're right.
Yep, lots of farmers here...they love those Republican subsidies.
Actually, the GOP tried hard to cut the food stamp program until farm state legislators of both parties reminded their colleagues that food dollars help farmers. So much for "friend of the farmer" bragging rights.
A co-worker (nurse) and her husband (commerical airline pilot) get about $20,000 per year to NOT grow corn/soybeans...some marshland or soil recovery incentive. They are loyal Repubs only because of the incentives and tax breaks that started when Reagan bailed out the dairy farmers. State Democrats would like to reform the susidies because, as you can imagine, about 80% of poor WI farmers do not benefit--just the top producers.
The non-production incentives actually are a good idea since they prevent farming on marginal land that will lead to overproduction and used to lead to the collapse of farm commodity prices (though not nowadays). This makes farming unprofitable for family farms. The issue is really multiple layers of overlapping subsidies which encourage overproduction and consolidation. Food stamps use federal money to soak up overproduction and feed the poor at the same time.
The Farm Bill needs a complete overhaul but it was never going to happen in an election year. Also it isn't as much of a Dem vs. Rep issue as a farm state vs. non-farm state issue. Dems weren't going to do anything to jeopardize their recent gains in rural states. And since Iowa kicks off the presidential primaries, no one with the ambition to be president wants to piss of Iowa.
Sensenbrenner. WI!
Kate O - if you know Annapolis, you likely know Georgetown. Those are the kind of shops Cedarburg has!
WI is still considered a battleground. Leaning Obama for sure. And Obama did very well in the WI primary. But there are pockets of Republican support in Milwaukee suburbs particularly.
Not really sure why they came to Cedarburg, but Linda Duvall on the Newshour seems to have done focus groups in WI during the past 18 hours (she claims). And perhaps they used them to filter people for a photo-op in Cedarburg?
Yes, I've been to Cedarburg - and had a sundae in the Chocolate Factory. For that reason, it burned me when McCain talked about bringing "hope and confidence" to the place. Had to get the truth out - as I said.
It's a touristy kind of place. Maybe these two soulmates needed a romantic city to cement their partnership.
If there is any part of DC that votes Republican (and that's a stretch by any means) it will be parts of Georgetown. Georgetown fought having a Metro stop there because the citizens feared it would bring in the "riffraff." As a result, parking is hellacious and I never go there.
Ok, then my comparison was perfect! They will visit the kind of places where there are no rifrraff! You have to drive a ways to get to Cedarburg.... If you can go there, you've got gas to burn!
This makes perfect sense. Nothing about the Repugs is real anymore - the whole party is the Potemkin Party.
Places like Cedarburg aren't real places, as you pointed out. They are little fake villages -
Where else can McLame-Palin go? If they try to go somewhere real, they'll get pelted with rotten food and protests will break out.
They can't go where real people are really in trouble - they know where that trouble came from and they know how they would be received. They can only go to Disneyland from here.
I'm laughing my ass off. McLame has to be right on the verge of erupting epically. He really hates Bush, I think, and yet is totally in thrall to him and knows Bush has ruined any chance he ever had to be president. He has to be frantic over Sarah Palin's unbelievable baggage -
In some respects it's rather amusing watching these insane clowns run around while their world collapses.
It's probably the most cosmopolitan place Pailin has been in her adult life.
"it's rather amusing watching these insane clowns run around while their world collapses."
I am laughing at this thinking of Judy Collins singing "send in the clowns...
Don't you love farce?
My fault I fear.
I thought that you'd want what I want.
Sorry, my dear.
But where are the clowns?
Quick, send in the clowns.
Don't bother, they're here.
Isn't it rich?
Isn't it queer,
Losing my timing this late
In my career?
And where are the clowns?
There ought to be clowns.
Well, maybe next year.
That sure strikes the right note of sadness about all of this.

When the clowns are in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.
You can't have a circus without elephants!
Hah! Good one.
Your comment was stupendous! Cracked me up!
Wisconsin is a really mixed bag. There are areas that are Dem and areas that are Repug. There are also many many counties that are pretty much split down the middle. The North woods are a totally different place than the industrial South East and the agricultural South West.
There are always the pocket OC whereever one goes, but the in terms of number of voters they have little clout.
Indeed.
I urge everyone to read Chris Berry's post: Dancing After the Towers Fell.
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/09/dancing-after-the-towers-fell.php
The post deserves a wide readership and an extensive discussion.
Wow. That puts things in a different light.
Here is a more humorous (or sad) take:

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/politics/2008/09/who-says-white-people-cant-dance.html
What I find most frightening is that I used to have respect for the Republican Party, even though I never voted that way. I worked for Congress, and 3 White Houses, and back before Newt and the Gang, Republicans were reasonable, smart, caring people. They just had different priorities and I differed with them in major ways, but we could talk and be friends. For the most part, there was mutual respect with some outliers. Gingrich and his thugs changed all that forever, and we are still paying the price. And these people at this convention are just zombies--they don't even know where they are and they're scared shitless so they dance when they shouldn't and clap when they shouldn't and think someone's a hero when they're not. It is the end of the Republican Party for now and if they think Palin is the answer, then they are in deeper shit than I thought.

Well analyzed, Kate O. Not only do we see these staked-out battlegrounds, but it seems that the party that tried to split and enrage the electorate is unable to take responsibility - whether for the past or the future. They seem to be so sure of themselves that they never question and second-guess. They're all for power, no matter the cost. Everything and everyone is "used" for a photo-op or a leg up.
The post I rec'd is from someone who has just this one post to his or her credit. We need this person!
Both parties are all about power, but I truly believe that Obama is about power for the public good. I used to think that Republicans felt the same way (but with different ideologies). I don't believe that anymore. I think for them it's all about the power, and that's what breeds ignorant monsters like Sarah Palin.
I could not agree more. It's scary.
I know I'm going to seem like a troll because I'll do this all night, but you need to watch Biden here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZaUDKejZ_g
a little truth for you
God, I love that man! Bless you, dear chauncey!
Not only that, serendipity is so amazing. I used the same words to someone last night. Someone, who sat by as a few republicans ganged up on me - verbally speaking - and that person just made faces when I spoke. But that person said to me: "I never talk about politics." And I replied: "Your silence is deafening. It's obvious you're a republican!"
Thanks a million! This is not trolling. It's "public service."
Thanks - That just made my day.
Thank you for that Biden link. I live in a hopelessly red state where the headline in today's local paper was James Inhofe saying that the patriotism question would sink Obama. And some of my neighbors threw my Obama sign in the trash. So you will understand when I say I don't get to hear much from the Obama/Biden ticket here and I sometimes wonder if they are even campaigning. This Biden clip cheered me up.
Thank you for that Biden link. I live in a hopelessly red state where the headline in today's local paper was James Inhofe saying that the patriotism question would sink Obama. And some of my neighbors threw my Obama sign in the trash. So you will understand when I say I don't get to hear much from the Obama/Biden ticket here and I sometimes wonder if they are even campaigning. This Biden clip cheered me up.
Thank you for that Biden link. I live in a hopelessly red state where the headline in today's local paper was James Inhofe saying that the patriotism question would sink Obama. And some of my neighbors threw my Obama sign in the trash. So you will understand when I say I don't get to hear much from the Obama/Biden ticket here and I sometimes wonder if they are even campaigning. This Biden clip cheered me up.
Sounds like the same demographic that they had in O'Fallon, Mo. last Sunday-I have family there and it is a white/exurban/upper middle class/McMansion area.
What were t
Sorry, my comment got cut off-any idea of the numbers?
It looked like a pretty small crowd on the tv screen. They were outdoors in front of The Chocolate Factory. Not in an arena.
One thing about these folks, they are clearly making it up as they go along: Go to a touristy place to shop for baubles and call it a small town in need of hope and confidence. Have a little photo op with a small group to listen - in front of place to have a hot fudge sundae. And imagine that no one will be able to get the truth out.
I honestly think we need more of this kind of post. They go to a place and describe it as needing this or that (probably pork, I'd guess!). And somebody who's been there writes a description of the place. It's a new kind of "fact checking."
He spoke in front of a sundae shop and eatery: The Chocolate Factory (= not a factory!) Which is right on the picturesque city street. It looked like a small crowd from the tv coverage I saw.
This may end up as a "double post" since things do not seem to be posting - or then finally post over and over.
Maybe all the double posts are like a metaphor for McSame. With McSame there's no need for progress. Just rinse and repeat.
Hunting is increasingly a rich man's pastime. As more and more private property is posted off limits, public land becomes more scarce.
I hope my Dad is still alive and hunting when my first born is old enough to join us, but I'm afraid that by then, there will be no place left.
Hunting will be for land owners, rich expedition seekers with paid outfitters and guides, or Cheney style skeet shooters killing live birds for target practice.
There's a plan for the republican hunters: Insist the federal government sell its land to private speculators for "Private Hunting Grounds." Something like a country club - but for hunting and fishing. I'm sure they already exist! (but not for your average everyday Joe - the guy who needs a job and health care and whose home is being foreclosed on and can't find a loan to send his kids to college)
Did they swing by the Harley Davidson plant nearby? I don't imagine McCain would be too popular with the company for his stand against requiring the government to buy American.
KateO, I'm from Baltimore. Trust me, we are blue this election! For example, my husband is from MI originally and voted Republican for years. He just last night signed up to volunteer for Obama. I'm so proud of my guy! : )
That's wonderful!!
Yah, but she should have given us a link.
McCain should have traveled to Jefferson, WI. I service industrial equipment. For several years, I worked on equipment at a furniture plant in Jefferson, a company that was family owned for 75 years. It was purchased by a larger corporation. On a subsequent trip, part of the production line had been shut down because the components were being imported from China. On my next trip a few months later, only 9 employees remained. Everything else was coming out of China. Shortly after, the plant closed.
I am hugely concerned about the loss of manufacturing jobs in this country. Can we even produce our own memory chips and circuit boards needed in our military equipment?
Twice, I have seen McCain suggest that we need to retrain people in IT (information technology.) What the eff?!? The people working hard on a factory floor are not gonna transform into computer geeks. Hell, to work as an IT person, you need factories and offices running to have a demand for IT services. Retraining people in IT was the buzz ten years ago, but now half the IT jobs are outsourced overseas. McCain is so far out of touch with real Americans and the real America. It's fitting that he visited a factory -- the Chocolate Factory. Probably got the lowdown from it's CEO, a Mr. W. Wonka.
McCain should have traveled to Jefferson, WI. I service industrial equipment. For several years, I worked on equipment at a furniture plant in Jefferson, a company that was family owned for 75 years. It was purchased by a larger corporation. On a subsequent trip, part of the production line had been shut down because the components were being imported from China. On my next trip a few months later, only 9 employees remained. Everything else was coming out of China. Shortly after, the plant closed.
I am hugely concerned about the loss of manufacturing jobs in this country. Can we even produce our own memory chips and circuit boards needed in our military equipment?
Twice, I have seen McCain suggest that we need to retrain people in IT (information technology.) What the eff?!? The people working hard on a factory floor are not gonna transform into computer geeks. Hell, to work as an IT person, you need factories and offices running to have a demand for IT services. Retraining people in IT was the buzz ten years ago, but now half the IT jobs are outsourced overseas. McCain is so far out of touch with real Americans and the real America. It's fitting that he visited a factory -- the Chocolate Factory. Probably got the lowdown from it's CEO, a Mr. W. Wonka.
"The Chocolate Factory" is a sundae shop and eatery. Not really a "factory."
Sorry for the double post. I got some server error message on the first go round and assumed my first post didn't get through. Can't Josh hire some ex-factory guy to clean up his computers?
Sorry for the double post. I got some server error message on the first go round and assumed my first post didn't get through. Can't Josh hire some ex-factory guy to clean up his computers?
Sorry for the double post. I got some server error message on the first go round and assumed my first post didn't get through. Can't Josh hire some ex-factory guy to clean up his computers?
Now, the question, WorkinJoe, is whether the irony implicit in the above triple posted apology for a prior double posting is modernist or post-modernist.
I have a friend who was fond of saying that Norman Rockwell was a great abstract painter, since he painted scenes of the US that never existed....
There are loads of precious little towns like Cedarburg around this country, charming and picturesque, and, if you're into that kind of thing, perfect for an afternoon out. But, not exactly representative of how most people live. It's another fiction of the GOP, that the country is filled with good, simple folk, who wait all year to put their red, white, and blue bunting on their Victorian porches. And, oh, they are impressed with someone who knows how to gut a moose....and breed.
I actually LIVE in Cedarburg. It's fair to say that this is an overwhelmingly Republican area, although the number of Democrats has been growing steadily (Obama took the county big-time in the primary), so yeah, it was easy for McCain & his running mate to get a large, pumped-up crowd. I'd point out that the streets where the rally was held are very quaint and narrow, so even if it wasn't such a big crowd, it would LOOK big. But I'm sure it was a good turnout. I passed on the occasion myself.
Cedarburg IS a real "Norman Rockwell-type" small town. There are a couple of bed & breakfasts just a few doors down from where the rally was, and an actual FRENCH BAKERY down the other way. It's a nice place to visit, smug and comfortable.
Thanks for the insight into Wisconsin, TheraP.
A full week has passed, and I still can't wrap my head around the Palin choice.
Still can't.
This is why they went to Cedarsburg, WI.
Because the demographics mirror the Republican convention echo chamber.
Population in July 2007: 11,056
Races in Cedarburg:
* White Non-Hispanic (97.4%)
* Hispanic (0.9%)
* Two or more races (0.6%)
This is why they went to Cedarsburg, WI.
Because the demographics mirror the Republican convention echo chamber.
Population in July 2007: 11,056
Races in Cedarburg:
* White Non-Hispanic (97.4%)
* Hispanic (0.9%)
* Two or more races (0.6%)
Well, I think Cedarburg could do with an injection of "hope and confidence."
There's not a single home listed for over a million dollars in the entire burg. If that's not the definition of a rust belt town, I don't know what is!
It's a tourist town, with some people commuting to Milwaukee, I would expect.
I grew up in Milwaukee, now live in Chicago, and visit Cedarburg 2, 3 times/year. Us girls go up there, buy some (very reasonably priced) wine, which makes up the basis of the Christmas gifts I make for my clients every year. It has small town charm but it's tourist appeal. I see plenty of shops have closed and there are a number of empty stores. Unless you are well-insulted from the economic problems I would think retail sales have been down.
It's interesting that McCain would choose a prop of a small town, instead of a real small town with real economic problems. A "town" which in Chicago we would call a suburb. No diversity, no industry that has moved out, leaving blue collar workers without work. Full of like-minded supporters.
Where did Obama/Biden go? Into small towns in the Rust Belt and Appalachia where times are tough and Obama may not be so well-received. YOu want to talk brave? How about facing the people your policies have hurt?
John McCain, you haven't been brave in almost four decades. The campaign stop was a charade, as is the notion that you've done anything brave in 30+ years.
You make such a good point. Even if there is a risk he won't be "well received," Obama cares enough to visit all kinds of places, all types of people.
But - in order to be sure they will be well received Palin/mcShame only go to carefully vetted repub upper middle class enclaves.
They vet the venues! Not the trophy running mate!
Hello TheraP
Brilliant post. It is important to remember that there are small towns and then there are small towns. Sometime the name is a giveaway. Cedarburg is typical of the kind of names given to suburbs during the 19th century...anodyne to anything which sounds industrial--same thing with names with heights, or parks, or highlands, or Forest in them. Oh, Oh, so natural. And of course early suburbs were for the rich.
There are great places to find out more about backdrops candidates choose for their public appearances. Cedarburg sounds like such a humble ordinary place. But the United States Bureau of the Census can shed some interesting light on that "ordinariness:
One race 10,845 99.4
White 10,708 98.2%
Black or African American 27(!) 0.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native 14 0.1%
Asian 80 0.7%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander
2 0.0%
Some other race 14 01.%
I miss the old editing tools. sorry if this doesn't format.
the URL for all this data (and more economic and social data as well) http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFFacts?_event=ChangeGeoContext&geo_id=16000US5513375&_geoContext=&_street=&_county=Cedarburg&_cityTown=Cedarburg&_state=04000US55&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=010&_submenuId=factsheet_1&ds_name=DEC_2000_SAFF&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null®=null%3Anull&_keyword=&_industry=
IF that doesn't work (and I bet it wont).. the root url for American Factfinder is http://factfinder.census.gov
It would be an interesting and maybe useful task for someone to blog the places the candidates go, and publish the cool maps that one can generate through American Factfinder.
I doubt there is any safer place in Wisconsin where Palin/McCain can predict a friendly welcome--Overwhelmingly white, median income well above the national, and poverty levels roughly 1/5 of the national average.
AMike

Hello, aMike!
I too have thought it would be very useful for people to provide background on the places the candidates go. Please go ahead and do that if you'd like to. (I do best when the muse strikes - as it did during the evening news and the footage and words of Palin there.)
Somewhere I wrote that is this a new type of "fact checking."
And the information you've provided is such a great addition to what I wrote!
So, thanks! And greetings.
Hello TheraP
Brilliant post. It is important to remember that there are small towns and then there are small towns. Sometime the name is a giveaway. Cedarburg is typical of the kind of names given to suburbs during the 19th century...anodyne to anything which sounds industrial--same thing with names with heights, or parks, or highlands, or Forest in them. Oh, Oh, so natural. And of course early suburbs were for the rich.
There are great places to find out more about backdrops candidates choose for their public appearances. Cedarburg sounds like such a humble ordinary place. But the United States Bureau of the Census can shed some interesting light on that "ordinariness:
One race 10,845 99.4
White 10,708 98.2%
Black or African American 27(!) 0.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native 14 0.1%
Asian 80 0.7%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander
2 0.0%
Some other race 14 01.%
I miss the old editing tools. sorry if this doesn't format.
the URL for all this data (and more economic and social data as well) http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFFacts?_event=ChangeGeoContext&geo_id=16000US5513375&_geoContext=&_street=&_county=Cedarburg&_cityTown=Cedarburg&_state=04000US55&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=010&_submenuId=factsheet_1&ds_name=DEC_2000_SAFF&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null®=null%3Anull&_keyword=&_industry=
IF that doesn't work (and I bet it wont).. the root url for American Factfinder is http://factfinder.census.gov
It would be an interesting and maybe useful task for someone to blog the places the candidates go, and publish the cool maps that one can generate through American Factfinder.
I doubt there is any safer place in Wisconsin where Palin/McCain can predict a friendly welcome--Overwhelmingly white, median income well above the national, and poverty levels roughly 1/5 of the national average.
AMike

Hello TheraP
Brilliant post. It is important to remember that there are small towns and then there are small towns. Sometime the name is a giveaway. Cedarburg is typical of the kind of names given to suburbs during the 19th century...anodyne to anything which sounds industrial--same thing with names with heights, or parks, or highlands, or Forest in them. Oh, Oh, so natural. And of course early suburbs were for the rich.
There are great places to find out more about backdrops candidates choose for their public appearances. Cedarburg sounds like such a humble ordinary place. But the United States Bureau of the Census can shed some interesting light on that "ordinariness:
One race 10,845 99.4
White 10,708 98.2%
Black or African American 27(!) 0.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native 14 0.1%
Asian 80 0.7%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander
2 0.0%
Some other race 14 01.%
I miss the old editing tools. sorry if this doesn't format.
the URL for all this data (and more economic and social data as well) http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFFacts?_event=ChangeGeoContext&geo_id=16000US5513375&_geoContext=&_street=&_county=Cedarburg&_cityTown=Cedarburg&_state=04000US55&_zip=&_lang=en&_sse=on&ActiveGeoDiv=&_useEV=&pctxt=fph&pgsl=010&_submenuId=factsheet_1&ds_name=DEC_2000_SAFF&_ci_nbr=null&qr_name=null®=null%3Anull&_keyword=&_industry=
IF that doesn't work (and I bet it wont).. the root url for American Factfinder is http://factfinder.census.gov
It would be an interesting and maybe useful task for someone to blog the places the candidates go, and publish the cool maps that one can generate through American Factfinder.
I doubt there is any safer place in Wisconsin where Palin/McCain can predict a friendly welcome--Overwhelmingly white, median income well above the national, and poverty levels roughly 1/5 of the national average.
AMike

I haven't had much time to read, much less respond to posts on TPM in the past week. What a pleasure to read insights by TheraP, Kato and Tena among others. Sanity prevails here (on this post); would that it might it prevail elsewhere? Everywhere?
BTW, I rarely shop as a sport anymore, but I had professional reasons to score today and so I drove to the toniest part of Long Island... where I saw empty store front after empty store front. It was really quite shocking -- imagine Georgetown full of "for rent" signs -- proving that actually no zip code is exempt from the grim reality of our economic times.
I haven't had much time to read, much less respond to posts on TPM in the past week. What a pleasure to read insights by TheraP, Kato and Tena among others. Sanity prevails here (on this post); would that it might it prevail elsewhere? Everywhere?
BTW, I rarely shop as a sport anymore, but I had professional reasons to score today and so I drove to the toniest part of Long Island... where I saw empty store front after empty store front. It was really quite shocking -- imagine Georgetown full of "for rent" signs -- proving that actually no zip code is exempt from the grim reality of our economic times.

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