Rebuilding Democrats: a tall order
Liberals like to blame Gov. Scott Walker for everything — for killing the unions, gerrymandering the state, nixing the Wisconsin Idea and leaving widows and orphans to starve in the chilly, midnight air.
But what some of them don’t realize is that the problem isn’t Walker. It’s them. When you can’t win elections, you don’t call the shots, especially in a game of hardball with a capable opponent intent on winning. Walker and the Republicans are doing what they’re hard-wired to do.
The Democrats’ electoral impotence matters. Citizens benefit from competitive politics that encourage ideas from across the political spectrum. A more competitive politics in Wisconsin would force both sides to listen more often to voters — and to one another — and would force politicians to tailor ideas to a broader swath of the electorate. The Democrats’ recent weakness ensures that rarely happens. Democrats controlled both houses of the state Legislature and the governor’s office going into the 2010 election. Now, they are outgunned in the state Senate 18-14 (soon to be 19-14) and by a whopping 63-36 in the Assembly — the biggest deficit in the lower house since Ike was president. Republicans moved quickly to lock in their power after that watershed 2010 election, using a computer-guided redistricting model to gain an edge that may last for years.
Did I mention that winning elections matters?
With the exception of Tammy Baldwin’s campaign in 2012 against former Gov. Tommy Thompson (“he’s not for you, anymore”), the Democrats have lost all of the important statewide elections in recent years. State chairman Mike Tate is a lame duck, and there is a fight to replace him. The Dems have a weak bench and a collection of elected officials that skews either young and inexperienced or, let’s put it this way, “quite experienced.”
These are the rebuilding years. The next state chair needs to hack out the dead wood and encourage the green shoots — state representatives such as Mandela Barnes, Evan Goyke and Daniel Riemer or Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson. The Democrats seem to have settled on Russ Feingold to take on Sen. Ron Johnson next year, and in a presidential year against a vulnerable Republican when Democratic turnout traditionally is stronger Feingold should be competitive. But who runs for governor two years later?
Just as important: Do Wisconsin Democrats know what they stand for? I don’t. Until Democrats have a message that rings as true to taxpayers in Appleton as it does in Milwaukee they will lose in Appleton.
Democrats needn’t let go of the mysteries of the liberal faith, but they had better embrace opportunity alongside those mysteries. They need to tap the natural instinct of people to rise. A pro-growth business agenda that focuses on emerging sectors of the state’s economy is one idea — but it might be a tough sell for some in the party who remain skeptical of business. They should go all-in with Wisconsin’s smartest, ablest young people. Advance policies to train and retain them.
Many voters in Wisconsin worry about taxes and the size of state government; Walker has made those concerns the cornerstone of his message. Democrats too often seemed indifferent to them and ceded that ground, defending traditional constituencies. Democrats should learn to walk the walk on taxes.
Wisconsin needs a more competitive Democratic Party as a counterweight to the power that Walker and the Republicans are amassing. The partisans will never believe it, but over the long haul a competitive politics is good for everyone — even them.
There is a road back for the Democrats, and it starts with these words: the middle class.
A competitive politics is good for everyone.