How Do You Defeat Elon Musk? Ask the Team Behind Judge Susan Crawford’s Victory.

Gaslit Nation

Trump, Politics, Left, Democracy, Resistance, News, Society & Culture, Progressive, Liberal, Kendzior, Chalupa, Resist

4.8 • 4K Ratings

🗓️ 21 April 2025

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Thank you to all who joined our live-taping last Monday with senior advisors from Judge Susan Crawford's team that defeated Elon Musk, who lost bigly even after handing out million dollar checks.

Patrick Guarasci, chief political strategist for Judge Crawford, and Sam Roecker, senior campaign advisor and communications lead, share how they pulled off a landmark win in Wisconsin’s pivotal Supreme Court race, offering a blueprint for reclaiming power in GOP-dominated states.

In Wisconsin, the land of cheese, beer, and GOP ratf*cking, progressives scored a major victory. And they did it despite daunting odds, including opposition from none other than the world’s richest man/psychopath. When Musk is not launching cars into space or tweeting himself into SEC investigations, he has been throwing his weight, and giant checks, behind efforts to tilt the judiciary in his favor.

Judge Crawford's campaign wasn’t about crypto hype or culture war distractions; it was about qualifications, a smart strategy, and staying laser-focused on issues people actually care about: reproductive rights, fair electoral maps, and keeping the courts independent.

This wasn’t just a Wisconsin win. It was a blueprint for how to beat big money with big people power. Students, first-time voters, and folks who typically only turn out for Packers games showed up in force. The lesson? When campaigns speak to real concerns and mobilize communities, they can overcome even the deepest pockets. Senator Ron Johnson, MAGA/Russia loyalist and 2028 re-election hopeful, might want to start updating his résumé.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to this special live taping.
0:07.0	The Gaslination Salon welcomes two senior campaign advisors for Judge Susan Crawford's
0:13.0	extraordinary campaign.
0:15.0	They helped defeat Elon Musk in the pivotal Wisconsin Supreme Court race.
0:19.0	We're joined by Patrick Grosse, the campaign's chief
0:22.1	political strategist and Sam Rucker, head of communications. And so this was a massive win in
0:29.0	Wisconsin. My mother called me the night it was announced that you not only won, but won by a
0:36.1	massive margin. And my mother was like singing on the phone to me.
0:40.3	They just pure joy. And I think that's how the country felt and much of the world.
0:46.3	What were the stakes in this election?
0:48.3	When you're walking down the street, this rarely happens in my career. And someone I know stops me and says I heard you're working on
0:55.6	that race it's really important to me don't lose that one you felt the pressure of that race I don't know
1:00.7	about you Sam absolutely absolutely do I mean it's all you can think about right and it's such a
1:06.8	compressed timeline too going from November to then an election in April that's
1:11.2	statewide and the stakes are so high. You feel like everything is kind of on you to prove that,
1:15.1	you know, progressive Democrats can still win these tough races. And it's like just to just jump in
1:20.7	here. I calmed myself thinking about this. Maybe others did too. Thinking about two things always.
1:26.9	One, Susan Crawford never doubted
1:29.5	that she was going to win. If she was on this call with you or on this Zoom or on this recording,
1:35.7	she would tell you that. She had this sense that she was going to do this. And we had a great team.
1:42.5	And that team was led by Cassie Finnelli, who's one of the best
1:45.8	campaign managers in the country. And anytime I got nervous, I just reminded myself, we have a great
	...

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