I just heard someone from Wi is running for DNC Chair and his name is Ben Wikler. The State Chair. Before him was Martha Laning another terrible chair. I was more involved when Fmr Chair Laning was elected and remember there was a more progressive state chair candidate fmr State Sen Jeff Smith who seemed to get pushed out.
I would be extremely skeptical of anyone from the WI Dem Party… They mirror the existing DNC and WI progressives get screwed over by establishment favorites. We do not have progressive leadership in the state party. I would like to know if another DNC member from WI Jason Rae supports Wikler… if he does, then hell no!
We got the red wave of Gov Scott Walker and Repub maj in State Houses who gerrymandered our districts because the Dems were too weak to protect the maps leading up to that election when they had the chance.
They have repeatedly pushed the more conservative Gov candidates over more progressive options. They pushed Mary Burke over State Sen Kathleen Vinehout and lost to Walker. They did not back the Walker Recall. They likely coordinated with the Teachers Union to support our current Gov Evers over several better more progressive options especially Mike McCabe, but even Kathleen Vinehout, and Mahlon Mitchell would probably have been better than Evers.
The last time I got involved as a state delegate it was obvious they were in the bag for Hillary and Biden over Bernie.
While what you say is true about the WI Democratic Party you can’t blame Ben Wikler for things that happened before he was chair. While it is true that we are not getting exceptional progressive candidates, I don’t think that Ben Wikler has substantially changed who is selected for office. If you have an example I am interested. What Ben Wikler has done in the state is identify the laws as they related to campaigning and has taken advantage of them with zeal. The laws as set up by the Reps was that the state party can give unlimited money to the candidates of their choice regardless of affiliation. So Wikler was able to put like well over $20M in the non-partisan WI Supreme Court race and he won which, in turn, got gerrymandering overturned in WI. Now we have Fair Maps.
His ability to raise money is unsurpassed and will be the primary reason corporate Dems will choose him.
He did not allow Cenk on the Presidential Primary ballot without signature collection and I know Cenk is more than a little pissed off about that but Ben Wikler has done more that anyone else to save our state. Cenk should be pissed and Wikler made the wrong decision. I cannot judge whether he would be a good DNC Chair but I am also not opposed to it in our current environment.
We did not fight for fair maps Evers still gave Repubs an advantage rather than having the new court decide.
Dems fought to try and keep Greens off the ballot but loved the Green Party when it lead a recount in the Hillary v Trump election.
How is our state ‘saved’??? Trump won. Barca lost his seat. I guess Sinykin eeked out a win but it is not like we had a shift in Republican control of state legislature. Maybe things will improve over time but that is assuming we still have fair elections under Trump.
I am so sick and tired of Tammy Baldwin mamby pamby weakass establishment puppetry. Mark Pocan is not gonna lose in Madison.and Gwen Moore is not losing Mke so bfd. And none of these folks have been resisting the establishment hold on the state and country.
Now if someone said the Nebraska Dem Chair Jane Kleeb was running for DNC chair i would be intrigued. She is someone who could represent real change in the party!
I am just saying that without Protasiewicz on the court we would have had no chance at fair maps and without the money that Wikler put into the campaign it would have been lost on money alone.
Your comments are about a lot of problems with the Dem party in WI before Wikler was responsible for it and I am all about learning that Wikler is putting his finger on the scale but I just haven’t seen it. He is just the guy to make it rain money and there are a lot of them out there. And while money would be a major part of my decision in a primary I can’t ding the Dem on that issue because of the rules of the game. It is the only reason that I would vote Rep is a candidate that rejects PAC money and that ain’t gonna happen.
But if you’re ready to run someone in a primary again Evers or Baldwin I am all for it.
Wikler aimed at the WI Supreme Court race and won by a lot. His on the ground organization for the Presidential was present and it was responsive. You have to have a candidate that can win though. So Wikler cannot be blamed for those outcomes. He did his job.
I am just asking for evidence that Wikler is the guy preventing the party from becoming more progressive. As far as a progressive shift the Senate is almost assuredly Democratic in two years and many Dems won this time in the Assembly. So the shift from where it was is undeniably progressive. Now that 98 of the assembly districts have been at least been contested we are moving in the right direction. If you see progressive candidates that are being shut down by Wikler I am interested.
I heard Wisconsin performed better than all the other swing states in 2024. I’d be thrilled if Wikler was given a bigger platform to beat Republicans nationally.
I have been canvassing for 15 years and the on the ground organization funded by Wikler was the best I have seen. Motivated people and well organized canvassing. I think back to the 50 state strategy and if we come back to that under Wikler at DNC then we have a winning support strategy.