Why this blog..........

Simple answer....it was needed.

Living in Juneau County, Wisconsin as a vocal and active liberal is not an easy task. While in the last presidential election the county went for Obama (people voted for hope) the standard is that it is a red county with some very powerful Republicans running the show.

When I first moved up here from the Chicagoland area in 2002 I was not prepared for the culture shock I suffered. It had nothing to do with the slower pace but rather the status quo of if you're a liberal living here...you do so in silence and out of the fear that if your employers and friends found out your left of center viewpoints, you'd be an outcast...and one on unemployment.

I never was able to swallow that bitter pill....

But even harder to swallow was how if you took that risk and spoke up, like minded people and politicians in the larger more populated areas would grasp on to you to help promote their cause...their campaign...but in return you often heard a "No" when you asked them to reciprocate and show up to help you build a larger base among the cornfields and dairy farms that dot the landscape. The reasoning most could understand ..as why should they concentrate and effort in an area that wont make or break them?...but for me, I see it as more why wouldn't you want to help create a terrrain of voters that WOULD help to make or break that campaign...and support those of us who saccrafice more than just a few hours of volunteer time canvassing or manning the phones??

Also having been a liberal from an urban and suburban area to now one that lives in the center of rural USA - I also know that perceptions on issues that bond us all can be quite different...

So...all that being said...is the reason for this blog and website - a chance to highlight the voices who do take those risks in not only speaking up but also acting upon their liberal viewpoints and beliefs in a terrain where the grain works against them.

Time to honor the voice that is not often heard ...The Progressive Voice of Rural Wisconsin.

If you care to join us ...have that opinion you want to share...know of a rural progressive event that others should know about...then please contact us at The Progressive Voice of Rural Wisconsin

Until then.........enjoy...and share!

And now a special thank you to the women who made it possible for me to begin this new road in front of me....