I've written two diaries about the Democratic Party of Wisconsin chairmanship -
Democratic Party of Wisconsin - Open forum for new chair, April 9, River Falls. and
Candidates for Chair of the WI Democratic Party - in their own words.
I haven't stated my own preference because I wanted to give everyone an impartial view of the candidates for chair.
The need for new leadership is obvious. The state party has badly mismanaged the last several legislative elections. In 2014, nearly half of the republican incumbents went unchallenged. That meant that, in these districts, we had no proxy to campaign for Mary Burke. It meant that, right now, the Democratic Party is at its lowest level of representation in the Assembly since 1957. That's right - we're at a 60 year low.
The party governance and structure is opaque and needs to change. The party leadership has for too long focused on a strategy of running in only a few locations (cough Madison and Milwaukee cough). Well, you can't win in Wisconsin with only Madison and Milwaukee. We've got expensive fights over who will be the best progressive to represent districts in those two cities, and we're not even running candidates in a third of the state! We need a 72 county, 99 Assembly seat strategy, and we need to have party policy set by the people not by a group of elites. We need to welcome the activists to the table and listen to them, instead of asking them to help us every two years and then blowing them off. We need to empower our local parties.
I am voting for Martha Laning at the state convention because I believe she brings a fresh perspective to the party. She has been successful in organizing and fundraising, and knows how to work within an organization. She ran as a state senate candidate in Sheboygan, a red district, and did a respectable job. Ms. Laning has been endorsed by Sen. Kathleen Vinehout and AFSCME.
Ms. Laning is one of us who joined the party after the debacle of 2011 when Scott Walker "dropped the bomb". Talking with her, she's upfront, she's honest, she's personable. I believe that she has the perspective, the fresh look, and the skill to turn the party around, and she has my support.
I know that a lot of people will be supporting Joe Winecke. I've spoken with Joe, and he gives a good talk. He was chair in 2006 and 2008, when we won. But local Dems are wary of Joe, and say that he was instrumental in centralizing control of the party in Madison. I've spoken to him personally, and he's a little too cocky about his insistence that the party needs to be led by an insider. (The way the party has been going, I think that being an insider should be a liability, not an asset.) If I were to bet, I'd say that he will win the chairmanship, but I'd rather see Ms. Laning at the helm.
I know Jeff Smith personally. He's a former legislator who lost by 74 votes in 2010, and he's run a hell of a couple of races here in western Wisconsin since then. He ran in 2012 and did several events with my wife, who ran in the district just north of his. He works hard, his heart is in the right place, he's a dedicated progressive... and yet I'm just not sure he has the skill set to be the chair of the party. I know Jeff is the favorite of some Wisconsin bloggers and has been endorsed by Mike McCabe, former executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.
I think Steve Smith, another former legislator, is a good guy, but when I compare the organization he has in running for chair with the others... he just doesn't have what it takes to win. And if you can't put together an organization to win party chair, what hope do you have of putting together an organization to win elections?
I oppose Jason Rae. To quote Sen. Kathleen Vinehout, he represents all that's wrong with the party right now. He's a member of the campaign consultant class, taking money to run losing campaigns, playing the identity politics that isn't going to work here. Here's Sen. Kathleen Vinehout's take on Jason:
He represents the corporatization of the Democratic Party. He represents the power of money to control what I believe is the power of the people. The party of the people, the little guy, that guy is not represented.
And for the love of Chthulu, Jason, we did not lose to Walker because Walker spent more money on social messaging. We lost because we had shitty messaging! More social messaging is just more lipstick on that pig.
Of course, YMMV. I want to be respectful of everyone and their choices. The thing we can't have is a fractured party. So tell me why I'm right or wrong, and who your choices are for DPW chair!
I'd like to close with Sen. Kathleen Vinehout's take on the election. She's a little harsher than I on some of the candidates, but she also endorses Laning. If you want to hear her take on the general party ills, start from the beginning. If you just want to hear her take on the candidates, forward ahead to 10:00.
And don't forget - you too can be a delegate. You need to be a member of the party and you need to check with your local county party. For details, see this site.