A fire destroyed adjacent downtown buildings Saturday, claiming six apartments, a warehouse and the local headquarters of a political organizing group just 10 days before an election. [...] Residents in the apartments all escaped safely, said Dave Vaslow, who manages the Jay Street building. Some cats are still missing. [...] The La Crosse headquarters for We Are Wisconsin, a left-leaning political action committee, was a total loss, said group spokesman Kelly Steele.

It is too early to say whether or not foul play was involved. The police are still investigating. However, two things are certain. First, this is going to severely hinder Democratic efforts in the Shilling versus Kapanke recall election. Second, if we don't win Shilling versus Kapanke, then there is no viable path to winning the recall campaign overall.

The local office of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin also had to be evacuated because of the fire. "Volunteers were literally carrying canvass packets, computers, etc out of the office," Gillian Morris of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin told me.

Whether there was foul play or not, this is a time we have to step up and help fill the resource gap caused by this tragedy. Please, contribute $1 to all of the Democratic candidates on the Orange to Blue page.