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looked at me and she said, "Well, I've heard of you," and she turned to Proxmire and she said,
"I've never heard of you." He thought that was funny as hell. He really did. (laughter) I did, too.
And then the other thing I remember of that campaign which is very, very nice is the election
night. Obviously I was losing. I got about thirty-nine percent of the vote. And historically, since
then, they've gotten a lot less. But Bill Proxmire was the color commentator on Channel 12 or 4
for the Democrats. And I think Ody Fish, the Chairman of the Republican Party, was color
commentator on the other side. And the TV anchor said, "Well, it looks pretty bad for Flynn. Our
figures show that he'd have to win Waukesha County two to one to win this." Of course,
Waukesha County is the most conservative county in the State, so it's not going to happen. And
Odie Fish said, "Well, and that's absurd. When has that ever happened?" and Proxmire said,
"Well, that happened the last time I ran. I did it, and I think Matt can do it." Of course, Matt, you
know, couldn't do and wasn't going to. But he stood up for me and it was really great. I mean, he
was a great guy.
What can you tell me about his campaigning style?
His campaigning style was so different from anything now. He would simply get in the car by
himself with no driver, no security, and nobody at all, just drive around. And he'd go out to the
flower show at the State Fair. He'd go to, you know, the Bucks, the Brewers; whenever he was in
town, he'd go wherever there was a crowd and just stand there. And he kept a clicker in his left
pocket and at the end of the day, he'd write down how many hands he'd shake. And he estimated
he'd shaken several million hands in his career. But I've never met anybody who lived in
Wisconsin during that time that hadn't shaken his hand, any adult. And I'd met many who'd
Matthew Flynn interview Transcript 18 Proxmire Oral History Project
Object Description
| Title | An oral history interview with Matthew Flynn |
| Author/Creator | Flynn, Matthew J. |
| Additional Authors/Creators | Hecht, Anita |
| Description | Matthew Joseph Flynn was raised in Harlem, New York, by Gerard and Geraldine Monahan Flynn. In 1965, he graduated from Portsmouth Priory in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, and then attended Yale University, earning a degree in Spanish. After college, Flynn attended the Navy Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, and in 1970, he was commissioned as an officer. He received an honorable discharge in 1972 to attend Law School at the University of Wisconsin. After graduation, Flynn joined Quarles & Brady, a Milwaukee law firm, where he remains a partner. In 1978, when there was a vacancy in a Congressional District 9, Flynn decided to run for Congress and Senators William Proxmire and Gaylord Nelson campaigned on his behalf. District 9 was the most conservative district in the state, and he was defeated. Over the years Flynn and Sen. Proxmire campaigned for one another. In 1981, Flynn ran for Chair of the Democratic Party and won; in 1986, he ran for Senate, and in 1988 and 2004, for Congress. Flynn recalled Sen. Proxmire's uniquely personal campaign style and his well-known frugality. |
| Language | English |
| Decade | 1970-1979; 1980-1989; 1990-1999; |
| Type | Interview Transcript |
| Publisher-Electronic | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| Publication Date-Electronic | 2011 |
| Rights | Copyright 2011 by the Wisconsin Historical Society (Madison, Wisconsin) |
| Digital Format | XML |
| Digital Identifier | Flynn.trn.final |
| Source Creation Date | 2009-01-05 |
Description
| Title | Page 18 |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Shaking Hands (Campaigning Style); Democratic Party (Wis.) |
| Type | Interview Transcript |
| Publisher-Electronic | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| Publication Date-Electronic | 2011 |
| Rights | Copyright 2011 by the Wisconsin Historical Society (Madison, Wisconsin) |
| Digital Format | JPEG2000 |
| Digital Identifier | Flynn.trn.final_Page_18 |
| Full Text | looked at me and she said, "Well, I've heard of you" and she turned to Proxmire and she said, "I've never heard of you." He thought that was funny as hell. He really did. (laughter) I did, too. And then the other thing I remember of that campaign which is very, very nice is the election night. Obviously I was losing. I got about thirty-nine percent of the vote. And historically, since then, they've gotten a lot less. But Bill Proxmire was the color commentator on Channel 12 or 4 for the Democrats. And I think Ody Fish, the Chairman of the Republican Party, was color commentator on the other side. And the TV anchor said, "Well, it looks pretty bad for Flynn. Our figures show that he'd have to win Waukesha County two to one to win this." Of course, Waukesha County is the most conservative county in the State, so it's not going to happen. And Odie Fish said, "Well, and that's absurd. When has that ever happened?" and Proxmire said, "Well, that happened the last time I ran. I did it, and I think Matt can do it." Of course, Matt, you know, couldn't do and wasn't going to. But he stood up for me and it was really great. I mean, he was a great guy. What can you tell me about his campaigning style? His campaigning style was so different from anything now. He would simply get in the car by himself with no driver, no security, and nobody at all, just drive around. And he'd go out to the flower show at the State Fair. He'd go to, you know, the Bucks, the Brewers; whenever he was in town, he'd go wherever there was a crowd and just stand there. And he kept a clicker in his left pocket and at the end of the day, he'd write down how many hands he'd shake. And he estimated he'd shaken several million hands in his career. But I've never met anybody who lived in Wisconsin during that time that hadn't shaken his hand, any adult. And I'd met many who'd Matthew Flynn interview Transcript 18 Proxmire Oral History Project |
| Source Creation Date | 2009-01-05 |