Bring the Troops Home, Bust the Banksters, Democratize the Economy

BARABOO, WISCONSIN -- Decrying the excesses of big banks and Wall Street
speculators, the Rev. Jesse Jackson told thousands of cheering
progressives at a county fairgrounds in rural Wisconsin Saturday that:
"There is a contest for the soul of America.

Cheered on by the crowd that had gathered for Fighting Bob Fest,
the annual progressive chautauqua on the Sauk County Fairgrounds in
this central Wisconsin community, the civil rights leader and two-time
presidential candidate declared that America would have to choose
between being of a country where a tiny elite controls the vast majority
of wealth or one where the great mass of Americans have a chance to
survive and thrive.

"We cannot subsidize bankers and leave people homeless on the streets of America," Jackson said. "It's time for a change!"

"We will fight back!" chanted the crowd, which packed the grandstand and
field for one of the largest Bob Fest gatherings in the nine-year
history of the event.

For Democratic strategists who worry about an "enthusiasm gap"
in this year's mid-term election season, Jackson offered the antedote.
His adamant address had thousands of people -- many of them from rural
and smalltown Wisconsin -- on their feet and cheering. And this year's
Fighting Bob Fest drew more than twice as many people as a highly
publicized and expensively promoted "Tea Party" event -- which featured
television personalies, "Joe the Plumber" and Congressman Paul Ryan,
R-Janesville -- held the same day in Racine, Wisconsin.

The enthusiastic response for Jackson's populist speech offered a
reminder that there is no enthusiasm gap. There's a message gap.

When the message is muscular, the enthusiasm is there.

Jackson wasn't the only one drawing cheers on a day that heard rousing
speeches from former Texas Secretary of Agriculture Jim Hightower,
Congressman David Obey, Congresswomen Tammy Baldwin and Gwen Moore,
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett and other prominent
speakers from Wisconsin and across the nation.

A Saturday that began with overcast skies and scattered rain showers
ended with bright sunshine and a rollicking, old-school rallying of the
progressive faithful in the tradition of Robert M. La Follette, the
Wisconsin governor, senator and 1924 presidential candidate for whom the
festival is named.

Jackson, who was honored with a lifetime achievement award by festival
organizers, hailed the progressive movement led by La Follette, which
campaigned for economic and social justice at home while opposing empire
building abroad.

Sounding anti-war themes that were very much in the La Follette
tradition, Jackson called for bringing U.S. troops home and reallocating
resources from fighting wars abroad to fighting unemployment at home.

"We want for America what we provide for Iraq and Afghanistan," said
Jackson. "We want jobs for Chicago... jobs for Milwaukee... jobs for Sauk
County."

Sounding economic justice themes that repeatedly brought the crowd to
its feet, Jackson warned that: "We've globalized capital without
globalizing human rights, without globalizing workers' rights, women's
rights, children's rights. Let's democratize our economy!