Baldwin Promises Medicare/Medicaid Protection

Senator-elect Tammy Baldwin told an enthusiastic crowd in Milwaukee last night that she’ll try to protect key government programs in the weeks ahead.

Eighty-seven percent of registered voters in Wisconsin’s largest city cast ballots on Tuesday, and Democrat Tammy Baldwin got 77-percent of those voters in her win over Republican Tommy Thompson. Progressive Milwaukee labor and religious groups held a rally last night to chart what they hope is congress’s course over the few months. Baldwin told the crowd that she’ll fight for programs like Medicare and Social Security.

“We will not let these folks destroy them, do away wth them, on our watch,” she says.

Baldwin will first take some votes in the House of Representatives before being sworn in as a senator in January.Milwaukee construction worker Marvin Catrell says as Baldwin moves to the statewide job, she’ll have to be good to her word.

“The recession, jobs, education.That’s what I’m looking for to keep my vote, to keep me on the boat,” he says.

Catrell’s friend Dante King says it’s not justjobs, but good-paying ones, “To help the underwage, and those who work hard.”

Senator-elect Baldwin urged the crowd to hold her and other politicians accountable.