Tim’s Blog | Tim John for Governor 2010 | Wisconsin, a Beacon of Hope

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Past Emails from Tim John

June 2010

6.29.10 — By Tim John

Aloha!

With the warmth of summer joined by typical humidity, I thought a bit of Hawaii might be appropriate in greeting Wisconsinites this week. A term that means hello and goodbye seems more meaningful as we hope to say farewell to the tornadic storms that ravaged Eagle and blew through much of the southeastern part of our state. I was pleased to see our current governor visiting and assessing the Eagle situation and making a commitment to provide assistance through state and federal channels for the great need of this community that lost 25 homes and saw another 100 damaged in varying degrees. The stoicism of that village is to be admired in the patient wait for electricity and in the frustrations of waiting to simply begin putting the community back together.

Milwaukeeans were teased with the ripples of a Canadian centered earthquake, a “handshake” I’d rather not make on my travels! (We remember the family whose members were lost and seriously injured in the concrete collapse in Downtown Milwaukee.) That little rumble puts me in mind of the growing inability to make my voice heard across the state. I want to create tremors in our government, not with earthshaking ideas and innovations, but with a return to fundamentals that have been lost over the years. I do not want big government – I want government that listens to the people and uses the people’s initiatives to empower real change, real improvement, and real growth in education, employment, manufacturing and the dairy industry. To be heard, I need your funding support.

Ordinary citizens get short-changed by the current campaign system. A few spend a lot and gain incredible influence in our government while the vast majority of everyday citizens remain unheard because they have not been afforded a chance to gain a voice for their needs and ideas. I will not be mathematically eliminated from this race by dollar signs. I need you to step forward to help me reach out to all of Wisconsin.

I have walked your streets, from unincorporated crossroads to the inner city of Milwaukee, from the majestic Mississippi to the lapping shores of Green Bay. I have kept my thoughts and plans positive and upbeat, with no malice aimed at any opponent. I respect their thoughts and recognize their ideas and the potential of each while remaining true to what you, the people of America’s Dairyland, have asked me to do. I have generated laughter with serious focus on YouTube videos at www.youtube.com/timjohnforgovernor and offered myself and my insights through weekly newsletters. I have been frugal with the funds I have. I know times are difficult in Wisconsin and across the country and those who have contributed have likely sacrificed to do so. We all have learned how to do more with less and I am so very grateful for those who have given to my campaign. Now, and in the future, I will be a careful caretaker of funds.

The expense grows, even at this simplest of grassroots levels, and I must ask for your assistance to generate more recognition for what I firmly believe will put Wisconsin on the rise. Higher taxes and more government spending do not create a beacon of hope. At www.timjohnforgovernor.com you will find the directions for making your contributions and in so doing, you will help me guide this state back into the forefront of progress. Our inner city citizens, our unemployed, our farmers, our educators, our couples seeking marriage and its benefits, our industries, and our environment need me in Madison to spark a revival of the blue collar workmanship that made Wisconsin a national leader. I cannot get there without you and now is the time to reach out to our campaign – together we can make this step and make a better Wisconsin happen.

Please enjoy our most entertaining campaign Youtube videos at www.youtube.com/timjohnforgovernor that are the best in the land.

For now, Aloha – until we meet on the roads of our state as I continue to stride forward to become your governor or until you step on my porch to ask my views. I am here, healthy and more visible with you at my side.

6.14.10 — By Tim John

MMMMMPHFMMPH – Aw, forget the duct tape and HELLO Wisconsin!

On Friday and Saturday June 11 and 12, I attended the Democratic Convention in Middleton. With duct-taped meditations and arms fettered from distributing materials, but not from meeting, greeting, and shaking hands – the true Tim John way – I took a moment to view my wonderful new video on www.youtube.com/timjohnforgovernor. Miss Meaghan Owens wrote and performed the piece that truly captures the essence of what I and my campaign intend for Wisconsin. “A Tim John Journey” and the camera’s eye capture me in various towns, in fields by tractors with our great dairy farmers, with the blue collar working man, and, as always, in close “nibble” with an ice cream cone that keeps the smile in all our efforts.

Without question or doubt, the core of my journey to Madison to be your Governor centers on my love for this great state and its people, its heritage, its past, and the direction of its future. Inspired by my Great Grandfather Fred Miller whose work ethic and never quit attitude founded Miller Brewery, I move ever forward in my campaign. Roadblocks become bridges across which I find ways to carry my grass roots message to as many folks as possible.

From black families in our inner cities, to the Hispanic communities, to the western border, and the mighty Mississippi River, to the wee, unincorporated “crooks in the road”, to the prairie-like farm fields, and to the factories I have carried my outstretched hand, sincere smile, open and hearing ears and caring heart to the people who will make Wisconsin the Beacon of Hope for our country. I have kayaked with the water nymphs of the three Milwaukee rivers, stooped and greeted the Trolls of Mount Horeb, gleaned hope from the travels of Hobbits, and look forward to whomever else crosses my path and wants to share a greeting, pass on a thought, and offer an idea for making our great state even greater. I believe the old fashioned way and old school rules can meld and become the new route to change from the status quo.

I took on this effort without a large “war chest” to launch a preponderance of mainstream media, get the votes at any cost advertising. I want to earn the privilege of being your new governor the old fashioned way, the “front porch campaign” way, and daily use a grassroots, get-my-message-across-one-on-one approach to truly listen to what the electorate wants in the future. The task proved large and, like bygone times, folks gathered to help with the work, joined me via www.timjohnforgovernor.com in fund raising and in volunteer treks around communities to get my messages out. And also like those good old days, when the work day drew weary breaths and the sigh of tired feet, we took moments to play, moments to remember that in unison we move forward and in doing that, we smile. When elected, we will make the changes with good old fashioned hard work and Wisconsinites will see a better future. A community like Harmony Grove, in name, offers just the message I see throughout my travels, the message of harmony to make real change happen. On my water journeys in search of origins, the peaceful respites presented the imagery of old school rivers coming together to create the watershed for change.

As my eye-catching new video “A Tim John Journey” concludes on www.youtube.com/timjohnforgovernor, I stand with clasped hands in front of the sign announcing the little community of Unity, population 368. When we join hands to unite the voice of this American Dairyland, we can achieve our goal of taking the helm and steering the good ship Wisconsin onto a better way. We can lean on each other, we can trust our proud past, and we can bring the Wisconsin Way back to our government. And when a good old fashioned day’s work is done, let’s join in ice cream socializing and laughter – perhaps even a delightful Root Beer Float – and revel in knowing that chapped and calloused hands made a better sunrise tomorrow.

And for now, as I sojourn in Middleton and everywhere else in Wisconsin, MMMMMPHFMMPH ......

Willingly,

6.10.10 — By Tim John

Guten Tag, Hola, Hej, 3ApaBo, ahoj, ciao, czeÅ›Å›Beta;et, and HELLO Wisconsin!

Our friends of the Tim John for Governor Campaign keep hitting the roads and byways of our state to gain signatures for the upcoming election! I have been hard at work, carrying my clipboard from streets to my son’s graduation and asking our good citizens to support my efforts to “get on the ballot” and keep me on track to the governor’s office. With my usual smile and an offered pen, I express to folks that at the very least, getting me on the ballot gives them another politician to get mad at over issues – why should the other guys get all the focus?!

But in all seriousness, and not without a bit of frustration, this Friday and Saturday, June 11 and 12, I attend the Democratic Convention in Middleton. I have been precluded from speaking and, in a sense, forced to duct tape my mouth in a forum that should welcome my voice, my ideas, and my challenges to the status quo. The party leadership has even denied me passing out brochures and campaign items, adding duct tape to my arms as well. I feel a bit like our wonderful dairy farmers who spend hours in milking parlors and are then denied the right to personally sell their product. Some even are forced to dump their healthy raw milk in their fields!

I sense even more strongly the plight of black males as their voices calling for work go unheard. I see the desire of some couples to wed but by law cannot say “I do” and thus gain the privileges of marriage. I am, at this important Democratic Party moment, silenced.

Frustrated, but never stymied – a bit piqued, but ever moving forward – my campaign will persevere and my voice will become that Beacon of Hope for Wisconsin. Fortunately, my voice can be heard at www.timjohnforgovernor.com. and, while you visit the site and review my ideas, why not join our efforts through volunteering and through financial support? We could use your unfettered voices and hands to get our messages to the people!

This Tuesday I participated in the candidate forum in Morrison. The meet and greet was hosted by the North Eastern Wisconsin Patriots at the Evergreen Bar and Grill. This organization promotes “Town Hall Meetings” to discuss issues and concerns people have about the state and the country. Guest speakers bring ideas to the forums and all attendees kick in thoughts and ideas. These gatherings represent the kind of grassroots efforts I cherish in my trek to the governor’s office – citizens wanting to express frustrations and offer ideas to resolve them. I walk to listen to these voices and to carry these concerns and hopes to Madison. I will give the people of Wisconsin a real voice in government.

At www.youtube.com/timjohnforgovernor you can view our newest effort which finds me on the shores of the majestic and mighty Mississippi River near La Crosse. Wisconsin waterways lie close to my heart and my campaign includes strong support for maintaining and nurturing pollution free creeks, streams, rivers, and lakes that provide so much enjoyment to Wisconsinites and our tourist guests. Though making a slight “mistake” in the video, I will never be on the wrong side of environmental issues! Check out the video and all our clips to enjoy the smiling side of my nature that carries a serious thought for voters.

And so, with my workman’s belt buckled and with pen, clipboard, and a second pair shoes attached, I press forward. This weekend, I must add a bit of duct tape to my supplies while working in Middleton. Duct tape, that wonderful gray tape that can “fix anything,” will not put a “fix” on my efforts as your next governor. “We stride forward in unison” and will be heard as the September 14 election approaches.

Willingly,

6.7.10 — By Tim John

Our Front Porch Campaign

In August 2009 I made the decision to open my door and step onto the porch of Wisconsin politics. In November I filed candidacy papers as a gubernatorial candidate for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and pledged to put Wisconsin on a course for creating jobs, particularly for black men. Since then, with a light and humorous, minimally funded, grassroots campaign, I have stretched my hand to citizens of the state in a personal contact approach to hearing the electorate’s ideas for redirecting our state onto a better, steadier path.

This weekend I saw a glimpse of that path toward the future. My wife Karri and I witnessed our son address his classmates and many guests in his commencement speech. He spoke of what he learned from Prairie Hill Waldorf School: “character, independence, appreciation, and above all, apology, and forgiveness”. Those words captured the essence of our campaign. From attending his 8th grade graduation in Delafield to speaking at the Fighting Bob Fest in Chippewa Falls, I continue to meet and greet the people with an ear to their issues and an open mind for their imaginative approaches to reform.

My YouTube videos – at www.youtube.com/timjohnforgovernor - generate laughs with a pointed silliness. My smile should not belie my commitment to generating jobs for black men, to returning the right to sell dairy products to the farmers of this great dairy state, to providing marriage privileges to all citizens, and to reincorporate the voice of the people into Wisconsin government.

My campaign faces challenges, not the least of which comes from my own party whose leadership, to date, has denied me the right to speak as a candidate and denied me the right to distribute campaign material at our Wisconsin Democratic Convention. I do not have the fund chests of other candidates and so far am denied steady mainstream media coverage. But, the drawbacks do not become setbacks – I sincerely believe in the paths of old, the grassroots campaigners and those pols who used “front porch” campaigns to directly address issues with constituents and spoke on issues one on one to earn votes and risk rejection.

With courage I take my ideas to the streets of the inner cities, to Hispanic communities, with American Indians, and to the quiet, rural farmlands. When asked by an elderly, black woman on the streets of unemployment and despair in Milwaukee, “Where’s your bodyguard?”, I could, with smile and no trepidation, reply, “You and the people here are my bodyguards because you know I will be your voice in our government.” All have been unheeded for far too long and I will take their grassroots heard message on the road to Madison. My heritage, through my great grandfather Fred Miller, founder of the Miller Brewing Company, has taught me how to persevere and has given me the blue collar ethic that drives the people of Wisconsin. I know my way can and will be effective, but it is a difficult route. The way of quiet voices building from a murmur to a resounding clout has earned respect across our nation, a murmur like that mild tremble now echoing demand for accountability in the BP disaster that threatens so much of all our futures.

With joy and in making an underscored point that I will be the voice for all Wisconsin citizens, I speak to the Trolls of Mount Horeb, hear and enjoy the water nymphs of the three great rivers of Milwaukee, and sense the difficult journey of Hobbits as they set course to put right the long standing wrong in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. Wisconsin faces serious issues in employment, in re-establishing itself as “America’s Dairyland”, in addressing everyone’s rights to marry and enjoy the privileges marriage offers, in improving education for all children, and in putting its government back in tune with the voice of the electorate. The road from my porch door has been and will continue to be arduous. One step does not equal change, but my step will always be in the right direction. I sincerely want Wisconsin to be the “Beacon of Hope” for this country and I will move step by step to “stride forward in unison” with the citizens – face to face, hand shake by hand shake, we will leave the euphony of the status quo and become the cacophony of vitality, of new life for Wisconsin.

Respectfully,

6.3.10 — By Tim John

Olarlar’gh! – Hello Wisconsinites!

I greet you in the language of Trolls, my newest acquaintances as I continue to meet and greet citizens of our Great State! You can share my visit with the Troll community in Troll City at Mount Horeb by dropping in at www.youtube.com/timjohnforgovernor. My squat to shake a hand and say hello was met with firm greeting and solid support, as these folks pledged to become the newest stones in my voting foundation. By the way, that Troll-ish translation of “hello” must be read right to left per Troll teaching and never, ever put an accent on the final letters, as that creates great insult and just might result in meeting the Troll’s substantial blade. Trolls have great difficulty learning other languages – they are a +10% in studies in their own language, but a -5% in all other language efforts. Ahh, the difficulties of education…

Education cannot happen without connection with and support of parents and without reinforcement of concepts in the home. Our young people must shut off electronic devices, those TVs, IPods, computers, Game Boys, and Wii games, and turn on the world of imagination. The mind expands through reading, through the discovery of writing that, in the words of John Donne, can “make a little room an everywhere.” Our children need to play, need to get outside, and dive into nature and the world that surrounds them – need to discover, not just be told. They must try their hand at music and writing. They need to create with the mind’s eye, as they run with the summer breeze instead of watching the sway of pines on a TV show.

Education should stimulate our youth with the spice of what was and the aroma of what is so our young learners can create the delicacies of what might be. With rejuvenated imaginations, our young people will help us change the world and make it a better place. They can meet the water nymphs I found on my river journeys and enjoy bumping shoulders with the Trolls of Mount Horeb. Education is a crucial focus of our campaign and education must be vibrant, should teach how to paint the mountains that create the letter “M” and make music with a flute self-carved; teach how to draw from history to see a new and better world and how to chase the chill in winter to find just the “write” words for a holiday greeting. Parents, teachers, and administrators, working in concert, make schools – continued, cooperative efforts on their part make education.

This past Saturday, my wife Karri and I attended an event that supports education, presenting scholarships to deserving students in memory of Rev. James W. Spann, II. I was honored to be with many politicians, pastors, and activists, some coming from New York. The musical accompaniment was special. Great job Dr. Wilma Spann!

Over the Memorial Day weekend, our family enjoyed the mighty Mississippi River near Hudson. Summer slips its warm fingers around our spirit. I smile in recalling another Youtube video in which I take a “taste-test” to determine which beer is that of my great grandfather, Fred Miller, or the beer of Chippewa Falls, Leinenkugel's. Check out my choice – a hint lies in the history of a candidate STILL committed to earning a spot in Wisconsin leadership.

Please sign in to www.timjohnforgovernor.com and join our campaign with your contributions and active participation as we stride forward “trolling” for votes and shaking loose the status quo that has allowed Wisconsin to turn away from employing black men, turn away from recognizing the rights of our dairy farmers, and the heritage of “America’s Dairyland,” and to turn away from the rights of all to enjoy the privilege of marriage. I learned with the touch of hands in greeting, with the lap of gentle and rough currents beneath my kayak, with the splash of voices sharing dreams, and with the brush of my history. This week will return my footfalls to communities and events in Wisconsin in efforts to get our message out and to gain even more support for what our imagination can do in illuminating the “Beacon of Hope” for the rest of this great country.

Adiós para ahora – goodbye for now – “nowr for groodbr’”