"Defeated in Walker recall, Democrats vow to fight on."

At their annual convention.

And yet, in the recall, their candidate Tom Barrett, made it his central issue that he would "end the civil war in Wisconsin." We were supposed to oust Scott Walker so that the fight would end. That was always, obviously, a bogus issue. It only meant: Our side will stop fighting when we win. Did anyone fall for that?

But the Democrats, out of power, have spent the last year and a half depriving us Wisconsinites of the feeling of peace. They offered to take over as the only way to get to peace. The offer was rejected, and less than a week later, they tell us they'll keep fighting.

Now, we are headed into the election season this fall, and it is time for the political parties to gear up for a fight. Unfortunately, however, the Democrats forced us into off-season fighting that has gone on since February 2011, and we might be sick of fighting. That was Tom Barrett's theme over the last month — that we're sick of fighting.

But the Democrats are up for a fight. Or am I making too much of a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel headline? What's the evidence that Wisconsin Democrats remain bellicose? Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (from my district) urged Wisconsin Democrats to keep fighting "our fight for Wisconsin's middle class," which "isn't a political fight, it isn't a partisan fight, it is a moral fight." (Baldwin is the near-certain Democratic candidate for the Senate seat that Herb Kohl is declining to continue to occupy.)

Nothing else sounds particularly pugnacious. Herb Kohl, Congressman Ron Kind, Party chairman Mike Tate, and Tom Barrett himself made remarks. Nothing particularly worth quoting. It sounds like they tried to minimize the significance of Scott Walker's win in the recall. Maybe people just oppose recalls. It wasn't really a mandate for Walker. We need to do a better job of getting our message out.

Is the headline justified? Obviously, the Party must fight on. That's built into the idea of a party. No vowing is involved. They didn't disband. But they sound weak — depleted by the recall fight and unready to trudge forward into the fall elections. Does anybody picture Tammy Baldwin beating Tommy Thompson for that Senate seat? Are they stoked about helping Obama win this state?

The Party needs "to do a better job of connecting with the middle-class people to make them understand that on the economic arguments, that what we are talking about is really in the best interests of everyone," said Tom Barrett, whose defeat in the recall showed that the Democratic Party in Wisconsin has no idea how to do that better job of making the assertion that it could do a better job improving life for people in this state.

They need to do a better job of impressing me that they could do a better job of getting out their message that they can do a better job.

And the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel needs to do a better job of writing headlines or a better job of collecting sentences to support the headlines they've chosen to write for whatever reason. I'd like to know what the reporter (Tom Kertscher) really thought of that convention.

I'm guessing: Wow, this is lame. This is sad. Barrett is pathetic, and everyone knows Tammy Baldwin is going to lose, but there's nothing they can do about it. And no one seems to give a damn about helping Barack Obama here after the way he treated them...