Ben Wikler wins the election for head of the Wisconsin Democratic Party

Congratulations to my friend Ben Wikler on winning the election for Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

He ran a positive campaign against David Bowen, a State Representative who’s also the Party’s outgoing Vice Chair.

Congratulations also to Ben Wikler’s running mates, Felesia Martin and Lee Snodgrass, who’ll be Vice Chairs.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports:

Former MoveOn.org leader Ben Wikler has been chosen as the new leader of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, the party announced Sunday.

Wikler will lead Democrats into the 2020 campaign in which Wisconsin is widely viewed as potentially decisive in the race for the White House.

“The Democratic Party of Wisconsin voted today to embrace a vision that can defeat [President Donald] Trump, elect Democrats up and down the ticket and end the GOP’s assault on Wisconsin values and Wisconsin families,” Wikler said.

It’s too early to know the full consequences of this, but Wisconsin is obviously a state to watch. As we’ve seen in one election after another, my home state can’t be pigeonholed as “blue” or “red.” Wisconsin is a purple state, and the great decision that was made today has the potential to be a big deal for Wisconsin and beyond.

I did this post about Ben's campaign on March 24. Here’s what I said:

I've known Ben Wikler for over 25 years. We don't agree on all issues; I consider myself a political independent, while he's a solid Democrat. But I've spent hours and hours having civil discussions of politics and policy with him, not on social media but in person, one on one. For years, we worked closely together on a monthly student publication in high school.

So I wasn't surprised in 2014 when I heard Howard Dean, the former head of the Democratic National Committee, say during a TV appearance with him: "I happen to know Ben, and he's one of the smartest people under 35 in the entire country." (He's now 38.)

If you know Ben, you know he's an incredibly hard worker who's passionate about putting his progressive ideals into action. I'm confident that Ben Wikler is the right person to lead the Democrats in our home state.

As Wisconsin’s one-word motto says: Forward!

Why is Ben Wikler running to lead the Democrats in Wisconsin?

As I was recently saying, Wisconsin matters in presidential politics.

My friend Ben Wikler is vying to lead the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, the state where he and his wife are raising 3 young kids in our hometown, Madison.

When Wikler announced his campaign last month, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported:

MoveOn senior adviser Ben Wikler announced . . . he is running for chairman of the state Democratic Party.

Martha Laning this month announced she would not seek another term this summer. She was first elected in 2015.

"I'm running for chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin because I believe in the power of grassroots activists," Wikler said in a statement. "It's time to supercharge our party in every corner of the state to fight for our progressive agenda, defeat Trump, and win Democratic victories up and down the ballot." . . .

He worked on political campaigns starting in high school, helping Democrats including [now-Senator] Tammy Baldwin [and then-Senator] Russ Feingold. . . .

Under Laning, Democrats lost the presidential election in Wisconsin for the first time since 1984. The party bounced back last year, with Democrats winning all statewide races.

Democrats remain deep in the minority in the statehouse — a situation Democrats attribute to Republican-drawn districts that favor the GOP. Wikler said he wants to recruit and train high-quality legislative candidates so Democrats can chip into the Republican majority and if a Democratic wave comes, take advantage of it.

"You have to run hard everywhere," he said.

Click the SoundCloud thing below to hear Wikler (interviewed by Jessie Opoien of Madison's Cap Times) talking about some of his formative experiences, including his leadership in the fight against global AIDS, that led him to running for Chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party.

(One of the questions in the interview is now out of date because it was about him running unopposed; shortly after the interview was recorded, State Rep. David Bowen announced he's also running.)

Wikler and Opoien don't just talk politics; they also talk about other aspects of Wisconsin, like cheese.

And if you have the same reaction I did to the interview, you'll come away from it saying: "MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice?!"

The interview starts a minute and 33 seconds into this. (The embedded thing might not work for you if you're on a smartphone — in that case, you can listen at this link.)




I've known Ben Wikler for over 25 years. We don't agree on all issues; I consider myself a political independent, while he's a solid Democrat. But I've spent hours and hours having civil discussions of politics and policy with him, not on social media but in person, one on one. For years, we worked closely together on a monthly student publication in high school.

So I wasn't surprised in 2014 when I heard Howard Dean, the former head of the Democratic National Committee, say during a TV appearance with him: "I happen to know Ben, and he's one of the smartest people under 35 in the entire country." (He's now 38.)

If you know Ben, you know he's an incredibly hard worker who's passionate about putting his progressive ideals into action. I'm confident that Ben Wikler is the right person to lead the Democrats in our home state.

This is the campaign website, which has a bio of Ben here. If you want to donate to the campaign, or volunteer, follow those links. If you want to be a delegate to support Ben Wikler and his running mates, Felesia Martin and Lee Snodgrass, at the convention in Milwaukee on June 1 and 2, here's how. (Note that you must be an official member of the party by May 18.) Or if you want to volunteer at the convention, go here.





UPDATE: Ann Althouse, a retired University of Wisconsin law professor who's also my mom, links to this post and says:

I myself am not a member of any party, and I don't contribute to any candidates or even endorse them. . . . But I like linking to John's blog, and he certainly does know Ben very well. I know Ben very well too. That "monthly student publication" they worked on got edited right here in the house where I still live. I've had long conversations with Ben, from when he was a teenager, and he's just an all-around fine person.

Amy Klobuchar: On, Wisconsin!

"Amy Klobuchar trolls Hillary Clinton with Wisconsin jab," reports the Washington Times:

“We’re going to be in Iowa and in Wisconsin,” the Minnesota Democrat told reporters after she announced her 2020 presidential bid in Minneapolis.

“I think we’re starting in Wisconsin because as you remember there wasn’t a lot of campaigning in Wisconsin in 2016,” she added. “With me, that changes.”

Mrs. Clinton infamously neglected to campaign in Wisconsin after she won the 2016 Democratic Party nomination. She wound up . . . becoming the first Democrat to lose the state since 1984.

Mrs. Clinton addressed the loss in her campaign memoir “What Happened.”

“If there’s one place where we were caught by surprise, it was Wisconsin. Polls showed us comfortably ahead, right up until the end,” she wrote. “I would have torn up my schedule . . . and camped out there.”

Over and over during the 2016 race, I said we shouldn't call my home state of Wisconsin a "blue state." I kept saying it's a purple state, a swing state, a state that could go either way.

People told me I was wrong because Democrats had won Wisconsin in the past several presidential elections.

I told them to look at the margins of those elections in Wisconsin:

Al Gore won Wisconsin . . . by 0.22%, making it the third-closest state in 2000.

John Kerry won Wisconsin . . . by 0.38%, making it the closest of all 50 states in 2004.

Barack Obama won Wisconsin by more than 10% in 2008, but that was an unusually large margin for anyone to win Wisconsin (the biggest since 1964). Why did that happen? In November 2008, the economy seemed to be in free fall at the end of an 8-year Republican administration. An outlier under extraordinary circumstances like 2008 is a less reliable predictor than close elections like 2000 and 2004.

I also said to look at Wisconsin's governors. The governor back in 2016 was a staunchly conservative Republican, Scott Walker, who succeeded a Democrat, who succeeded two Republican governors in a row (including Tommy Thompson, a pioneer of welfare reform in the '90s who went on to serve in President George W. Bush's cabinet).

I grew up in the very left-wing state capital, Madison, but the rest of Wisconsin is not Madison. It was a terrible mistake for Democrats to overlook Wisconsin or make assumptions about the state.

Blogger of the Day: Lynda Barry, great cartoonist

Lynda Barry's blog is called The Near-Sighted Monkey, named after a recurring character. (via)

I love her octopus dictionary page.

Barry will be teaching a course at my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin - Madison, in spring 2012.

Here's a very long, recent interview with her, and a shorter, older interview.

Who are the real winners in Wisconsin?

Mickey Kaus says:

For now, this looks like a victory for [Governor Scott] Walker. In the very long run, if it allows government to work more efficiently without, say, elaborate rules that often require the retention of the least productive workers (who, even if threatened with layoffs, then get to “bump” lower-seniority employees, who then bump other employees) the winner will be the party that most desperately wants the government to work. That’s the Democrats. . . . I think. … At least in theory. …

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker: "We don’t have anything to give."

This is Walker's explanation for why he's trying to cut benefits and take away most collective-bargaining rights of public workers in Wisconsin:

“I’m just trying to balance my budget,” Mr. Walker said. “To those who say why didn’t I negotiate on this? I don’t have anything to negotiate with. We don’t have anything to give. Like practically every other state in the country, we’re broke. And it’s time to pay up.”

If that's true — if he has no choice because he simply doesn't "have anything to give" — then why does he want to exempt police and firefighters?