So let’s stipulate that she may not be the ideal candidate, but the only task anyone should be focused on is seeing that whoever prevails in the primary wins in November.
I do want to push back on a couple of assertions you make in this article:
You state that “…the party appears to be on the verge of nominating Francesca Hong, a DSA candidate—someone who has called for canceling Thanksgiving, abolishing the Senate, and eliminating police funding entirely—as its gubernatorial nominee.” However you fail to note the fact that these are positions she does not currently hold. (According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “During the only televised Democratic primary debate, she said she doesn’t support defunding the police, abolishing prisons or abolishing the Senate.“)
In a world where Mike Rogers can go from congratulating Elise Slotkin on her 2020 Senate victory to a full blown 2020 election denier today, I think competent democratic operatives and party leadership can manage to navigate the journey from a 2019 post about Thanksgiving by a 30 year old Francesca Hong, to her appreciating the holiday in 2026.
You also assert that “…the conversation among Wisconsin Dems has slowly turned into a brainstorming session about what can be done to take Hong from a candidate regarded by a good chunk of the state as unserious, and convincingly reintroduce her as a legitimate politician prepared for the gravity of the job.”
I’m not sure how we get from a candidate that is polling around +20% in the Democratic Party primary, to the notion that “Wisconsin Dems” are dealing with someone seen as being “unserious.” It seems that “Wisconsin Dems” aren’t very well connected with Wisconsin Democratic primary voters.
Anyhow, the case you layout for the seriousness of what’s at stake here is compelling, and makes it abundantly clear that every single person here needs to put a 100% effort behind the winner of this primary.
The Republican Party got where it is today by embracing the MOST-RADICAL candidates, the batshit crazies with the non-mainstream agendas. Maybe it's time for Democrats to adopt this strategy...the political equivalent of "move fast, and break things?"
in the 20 years since Obama laundry list left of the left progressives have lost more votes or squandered them on 3rd parties than they've brought to the general election. That's why Clinton and Harris lost. I respect Bernie Sanders, Elizebeth Warren, AOC, they're authentic politicians and have been for years. Somehow this is presented as we need to try something new but we've seen this movie before. Democrats have bad maps as far as the eye can see and that means winning what little "independent" vote there is electorate
Hong? I like my Thanksgiving with turkey and cranberry sauce. With Trump in free fall,I am gobsmacked by the Democrats’ disarray. Ken Martin and the DNC are almost as bad as Trump’s ‘excursion’ into Iran.
Why can’t the Dems assemble a cluster of candidates with a good chance of winning the House and possibly the Senate in November? Hong doesn’t seem like a strong candidate, even if AOC and Bernie are thrilled. In Michigan, I rather like the ‘progressive’ candidate, but he has a tough slog in getting Black votes in a purple state.
With Trump and his programs the biggest negative bulls eye in my 92 years, I am deeply concerned that the Dems could blow it, especially in the Senate. Be visceral and seek to attract a moderate electorate with some creditable positions that reverse some of Trump’s most destructive programs.
Health care, SNAP, and ‘affordability’—a sound core, including Trump’s 2025 $2.2 billion Oval Office grift and his Pay for Pardons Office.
Dems need a “This ain’t your Father’s GOP” ad to run counter to the “This ain’t your Father’s Democrat party” ad that is out now. The GOP likes to say “Don’t Minnesota our Wisconsin,” well, I don’t want to “Alabama our Wisconsin,” either.
"But Hong’s success is also owed, in part, to the screwups of the establishment and the moderate wing of the party."
Imagine that. One "establishment" candidate couldn't manage to correctly file financial reports. Another is a sex creep. These people didn't just drop in off the street. Wisconsin voters put them into positions of power. I hear that Democratic voters are fed up with establishment candidates across the country. But Wisconsin Democrats would rather be angry at Francesca Hong than the people who couldn't manage to run a successful campaign against her.
If Francesca wins the vote, she deserves to be the candidate. If "moderate" Democrats sulk and don't do everything they can to help her win, then we already have the government we deserve.
One of the main problems is that when governments no longer effectively serve the public interest, people look to the extremes for the solution. Communism, socialism, far right wing ideologies arise during these moments. It already happened with the Republicans who weren’t saying the quiet part out loud, all of them went down like dominos to the racist who would.
The Democratic Party, as well as governors and mayors, simply aren’t getting shit done, cities can be a mess making it look like they don’t know what the fuck they are doing and most certainly don’t know how to fight this iteration of the Republican monstrosity. So people are now turning their eye towards the alternative. As they always have throughout history, but if history is any guide, these historical moments have not often ended well.
With Hong the likely winner, Wisconsin Democratic leaders should politely, but bluntly explain the political facts to her and the danger she poses, especially with the likelihood of an election denier Trump supporting governor not certifying Presidential or US Senate election results in 2028. She must told in no uncertain terms national political stakes are too high. A chef who also is, I believe, a college dropout will not go over well with more mainstream rural Wiconsinites
It is NOT helpful to have reaction buttons (Like-Comment-Restack) at the end of the post that don't work! I submitted a comment when the new Bulwark site launched requesting that reaction buttons return to the end of posts (it's fine to have them at the top, as well--but I don't select any of them until AFTER I've read a post and it is a pain to scroll back to the top each time). I cheered when they had returned. Alas--they are figures that don't work. Please, please, please--add FUNCTIONAL reaction buttons to the end of your posts again!
And thanks, Lauren, for another great post. But I had to (again) make known my displeasure about the reaction buttons.
Hong’s obviously got issues. But believing the Senate should be abolished isn’t ludicrous—it’s a position anyone who believes in small-d democratic governance should hold.
I think the most you get is 5-3. Democrats use to have 2-3 more seats but all of those have been flipped to Republicans and that’s way more due to the culture changes and candidate selection in the two parties than geography. Tiffany’s district was represented by a Democrat for a very long time.
Wisconsin is definitely a split state but so much of the Democratic vote is in Milwaukee and Madison there is only so much redistribution you can do.
I’m a moderate Dem whose positions best align with Crowley. But I voted for Hong precisely because I’m tired of milquetoast Dems. I’m convinced that Bernie would have beaten Trump in 2016. And because of this, I want to put a DSA candidate on the state ballot and see this put to the test. I’m tired of worrying about “electability” and instead, want a candidate with some bold proposals.
Additionally, are any Republicans not election deniers these days?
So let’s stipulate that she may not be the ideal candidate, but the only task anyone should be focused on is seeing that whoever prevails in the primary wins in November.
I do want to push back on a couple of assertions you make in this article:
You state that “…the party appears to be on the verge of nominating Francesca Hong, a DSA candidate—someone who has called for canceling Thanksgiving, abolishing the Senate, and eliminating police funding entirely—as its gubernatorial nominee.” However you fail to note the fact that these are positions she does not currently hold. (According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “During the only televised Democratic primary debate, she said she doesn’t support defunding the police, abolishing prisons or abolishing the Senate.“)
In a world where Mike Rogers can go from congratulating Elise Slotkin on her 2020 Senate victory to a full blown 2020 election denier today, I think competent democratic operatives and party leadership can manage to navigate the journey from a 2019 post about Thanksgiving by a 30 year old Francesca Hong, to her appreciating the holiday in 2026.
You also assert that “…the conversation among Wisconsin Dems has slowly turned into a brainstorming session about what can be done to take Hong from a candidate regarded by a good chunk of the state as unserious, and convincingly reintroduce her as a legitimate politician prepared for the gravity of the job.”
I’m not sure how we get from a candidate that is polling around +20% in the Democratic Party primary, to the notion that “Wisconsin Dems” are dealing with someone seen as being “unserious.” It seems that “Wisconsin Dems” aren’t very well connected with Wisconsin Democratic primary voters.
Anyhow, the case you layout for the seriousness of what’s at stake here is compelling, and makes it abundantly clear that every single person here needs to put a 100% effort behind the winner of this primary.
The Republican Party got where it is today by embracing the MOST-RADICAL candidates, the batshit crazies with the non-mainstream agendas. Maybe it's time for Democrats to adopt this strategy...the political equivalent of "move fast, and break things?"
in the 20 years since Obama laundry list left of the left progressives have lost more votes or squandered them on 3rd parties than they've brought to the general election. That's why Clinton and Harris lost. I respect Bernie Sanders, Elizebeth Warren, AOC, they're authentic politicians and have been for years. Somehow this is presented as we need to try something new but we've seen this movie before. Democrats have bad maps as far as the eye can see and that means winning what little "independent" vote there is electorate
So she wants to cancel Thanksgiving and he wants to cancel elections. Priorities, people.
Why is everyone assuming it’s over before Tuesday. They should be fighting to the end.
Hong? I like my Thanksgiving with turkey and cranberry sauce. With Trump in free fall,I am gobsmacked by the Democrats’ disarray. Ken Martin and the DNC are almost as bad as Trump’s ‘excursion’ into Iran.
Why can’t the Dems assemble a cluster of candidates with a good chance of winning the House and possibly the Senate in November? Hong doesn’t seem like a strong candidate, even if AOC and Bernie are thrilled. In Michigan, I rather like the ‘progressive’ candidate, but he has a tough slog in getting Black votes in a purple state.
With Trump and his programs the biggest negative bulls eye in my 92 years, I am deeply concerned that the Dems could blow it, especially in the Senate. Be visceral and seek to attract a moderate electorate with some creditable positions that reverse some of Trump’s most destructive programs.
Health care, SNAP, and ‘affordability’—a sound core, including Trump’s 2025 $2.2 billion Oval Office grift and his Pay for Pardons Office.
Dems need a “This ain’t your Father’s GOP” ad to run counter to the “This ain’t your Father’s Democrat party” ad that is out now. The GOP likes to say “Don’t Minnesota our Wisconsin,” well, I don’t want to “Alabama our Wisconsin,” either.
"But Hong’s success is also owed, in part, to the screwups of the establishment and the moderate wing of the party."
Imagine that. One "establishment" candidate couldn't manage to correctly file financial reports. Another is a sex creep. These people didn't just drop in off the street. Wisconsin voters put them into positions of power. I hear that Democratic voters are fed up with establishment candidates across the country. But Wisconsin Democrats would rather be angry at Francesca Hong than the people who couldn't manage to run a successful campaign against her.
If Francesca wins the vote, she deserves to be the candidate. If "moderate" Democrats sulk and don't do everything they can to help her win, then we already have the government we deserve.
One of the main problems is that when governments no longer effectively serve the public interest, people look to the extremes for the solution. Communism, socialism, far right wing ideologies arise during these moments. It already happened with the Republicans who weren’t saying the quiet part out loud, all of them went down like dominos to the racist who would.
The Democratic Party, as well as governors and mayors, simply aren’t getting shit done, cities can be a mess making it look like they don’t know what the fuck they are doing and most certainly don’t know how to fight this iteration of the Republican monstrosity. So people are now turning their eye towards the alternative. As they always have throughout history, but if history is any guide, these historical moments have not often ended well.
When I inevitably develop a stress ulcer, I'm sending my medical bills to Lauren.
She might forward them to Ken Martin. And several others.
With Hong the likely winner, Wisconsin Democratic leaders should politely, but bluntly explain the political facts to her and the danger she poses, especially with the likelihood of an election denier Trump supporting governor not certifying Presidential or US Senate election results in 2028. She must told in no uncertain terms national political stakes are too high. A chef who also is, I believe, a college dropout will not go over well with more mainstream rural Wiconsinites
It is NOT helpful to have reaction buttons (Like-Comment-Restack) at the end of the post that don't work! I submitted a comment when the new Bulwark site launched requesting that reaction buttons return to the end of posts (it's fine to have them at the top, as well--but I don't select any of them until AFTER I've read a post and it is a pain to scroll back to the top each time). I cheered when they had returned. Alas--they are figures that don't work. Please, please, please--add FUNCTIONAL reaction buttons to the end of your posts again!
And thanks, Lauren, for another great post. But I had to (again) make known my displeasure about the reaction buttons.
What a damned disaster. Hong will get smoked. Way to go, Wisconsin Ds.
Hong’s obviously got issues. But believing the Senate should be abolished isn’t ludicrous—it’s a position anyone who believes in small-d democratic governance should hold.
Wisconsin having a 6-2 congressional split in favor of the GOP is so gross.
I think the most you get is 5-3. Democrats use to have 2-3 more seats but all of those have been flipped to Republicans and that’s way more due to the culture changes and candidate selection in the two parties than geography. Tiffany’s district was represented by a Democrat for a very long time.
Wisconsin is definitely a split state but so much of the Democratic vote is in Milwaukee and Madison there is only so much redistribution you can do.
I’m a moderate Dem whose positions best align with Crowley. But I voted for Hong precisely because I’m tired of milquetoast Dems. I’m convinced that Bernie would have beaten Trump in 2016. And because of this, I want to put a DSA candidate on the state ballot and see this put to the test. I’m tired of worrying about “electability” and instead, want a candidate with some bold proposals.
Additionally, are any Republicans not election deniers these days?
Crowley would have an extremely difficult time winning. Milwaukee Democrats do terribly in sate wide races.
'Bold proposals' that cause an electoral wipeout do no one any good. This position defines privilege.
You must have a crystal ball to see into the future (or a DeLorean).
Can you clarify what you mean in your last sentence?