Are Democratic Candidates Too Liberal?
Walker is very vulnerable, but his challengers are blowing it with far-left campaigns.
The candidates.
How vulnerable is Gov. Scott Walker?
The most recent poll, by Emerson University, found that Democratic front-runner Tony Evers had a healthy lead over Walker, with 48 percent of respondents saying they would choose Evers and just 41 percent picking Walker.
That came on the heels of a Marist Poll that had Evers doing even better, with 54 percent, compared to 41 percent for Walker.
True, the Marquette University Poll showed Walker with a lead of 48 percent to 44 percent for Evers back in June, but one month later it found Evers’ lead in the Democratic primary had increased, meaning he might have done better in match-up against Walker that month — but the poll didn’t measure it.
The full picture from all polls shows Walker is clearly in trouble. Marist found just 34 percent of those polled thought the governor “Deserves to be reelected,” while 61 percent wanted to “Give new person a chance.” The Emerson poll found 40 of respondents approved of Walker and 46 percent disapproved. Independents in that poll disapproved of Walker 47 percent to 36 percent, and chose Evers over Walker by 47 percent to 34 percent. By contrast the Marquette Poll found 47 percent approved of the job Walker was doing compared to 45 percent who didn’t.
Walker is one of the least popular governors in the country, an analysis by 538.com found. And he is a President Trump loyalist in a state where people disapprove of the president by 50 percent to 42 percent (MU poll) and 52 percent to 41 percent (Emerson poll), with just 29 percent saying he deserves to be reelected (Marist poll).
Besides the inevitable voter fatigue which Walker faces after 8 years in office and three elections, he is vulnerable on a huge list of issues. The second worst roads in the nation. Worst-ranked state in new business creation and behind most states in job growth. Second-worst state for internet broadband connections. Electric rates that are higher than in most states and a policy of opposing cheaper renewable energies, and a Foxconn plan that will raise people’s electric rates even higher.
Walker has cost the taxpayers at least $1 billion — and the cost keeps rising — for turning down federal Medicaid dollars, and he did it to help him in his failed run for president. He is giving a $4.1 billion subsidy to Foxconn, the biggest giveaway to a foreign company in U.S. history. This has meant Walker has far less to spend on state and local roads, which are falling apart, and on public schools, which have seen funding decline by a cumulative total of $3.5 billion under Walker, as a state Blue Ribbon Commission has found.
His Act 10 legislation took $3 billion in benefits away from mostly middle class public workers and gave it back through tax cuts that gave the vast majority of it to the wealthiest people, with the top 1 percent getting 57 times more money than the bottom 20 percent of taxpayers. He passed a Manufacturing and Agriculture Tax Credit that will cost $1.4 billion by 2019, with nearly all of it going to wealthy taxpayers. He passed a private school tax credit that mostly lowers tuition costs for wealthy people sending their children to some of the priciest schools in the state.
Walker’s tenure, in short, has done little for average voters, for middle- and lower-class Wisconsinites, while repeatedly rewarding the wealthiest people. There is no shortage of hugely important issues for Democrats to run on.
Yet what are they doing? The eight Democrats running for governor often seem to be competing for who can be the most socialistic, with nearly every candidate supporting free tuition for all students at two-year technical and community colleges. Some have also expressed support for free tuition for four-year colleges. And extending Badger Care to provide health care for every person in the state. And most want to greatly reduce the state’s prison population, with several calling for cutting the prison population in half.
Meanwhile the Emerson poll found 61 percent of independent voters in the state think there is not enough funding for education. The MU poll found 66 percent of people in the northern and western part of state think the roads are in fair or poor condition and 58 percent of all voters think Foxconn won’t benefit their local businesses, while just 30 percent think it will. An earlier MU poll found 68 percent of respondents believe environmental protection should take precedence over economic development — a telling result given how environmental protections have been decimated under Walker. And I don’t think we need a poll to show that most voters don’t support massive tax cuts for the wealthy.
Evers, wisely, has been the only candidate to disagree with free tuition for two-year colleges, and has less willing to jump on the far-left bandwagon. And Matt Flynn’s first TV ad smartly emphasized the need to stop Foxconn and spend more on schools and roads.
Sure, issues like prison reform are worthy of consideration for the next governor, but why run on these more controversial issues when there are so many issues that will give you an easy victory in a debate with Walker? The governor’s record makes for easy target practice, but many of these candidates aren’t just missing the bullseye; they’re not even aiming their guns in that direction.
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Flimsy evidence here Bruce. You basically dedicate a single paragraph to the claim made in the title of this piece. Also, just this morning Wisconsin Public Radio discussed the Dem candidates with Joe Wineke and John Sharpless, and they said the Dems are all playing it too safe and being too centrist. It’s important to remember that progressive policies are extremely popular with voters. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2018/07/24/remember-democrats-progressive-policies-are-popular/?utm_term=.a68636825117
I agree Bruce. I find this whole primary quite disturbing. We just need a competent, moderate candidate to steer us in a new direction. The state is in a crisis; we’re clearly losing our young and brightest to New York & San Francisco, DC & Seattle. Not long ago, we actually attracted bright minds to Wisconsin for college and then they would stay around for the good quality of life. Bright kids today want vibrant cities, transportation options, walkable places, camaraderie.
Walker’s has 1) cut money from schools & universities, destroying our state’s pipeline of top end talent, 2) cut the local aid formula to stiff Madison & Milwaukee’s city budgets, the 2 cities that are poised to be desirable to today’s most talented students and young employees, 3) undermined a really good rail link between Madison & Chicago via Milwaukee. The MKE-CHI connection desperately needs investment, as it’s often oversold/standing room only. It would have given a western suburb connection to Chicago, which is and obvious synergy, and connected the state’s top two economies. The Hiwatha already runs at a borderline break-even with downtown populations sky rocketing.. beyond the transportation value, it would have had no on-going local costs, unlike these highway boondoggles we were going to be stuck with. 4) he dilerberately had state law changed so that Milwaukee had to spend $70M in local money to relocate utility lines under the streetcar in a pathetic attempt to undermine the project. Nowhere else in the US has had this requirement, these streets all had streetcars on them historically, and today’s semi’s weight multiples of them. For this, he’s a total scoundrel.
These are turning out to be really bad decisions for the long term economic prospects of the state.
If things are so dire and bleak and we so desperately need major change, why is the answer a mushy moderate? Your post seems like a giant contradiction.
Local Control! Dems need to run on an old-GOP platform called Local Control. There is no consensus state wide on the highly contentious issue of gun control, but by making this an issue around Local Control, the Dems. could really take it to Walker and the GOP who have been acting like self-appointed dictators since gerrymandering gave them all the power. A rural hunting community can agree with a urban community that local control on a community’s view of guns is the way to go. This is true of other hot-button topics. Shared revenue needs to be sent back to counties and municipalities and let the locally elected officials make decisions. Loosen the power strings, Dems can run on this with their base and GOP has a terrible, I repeat terrible record on this.
I agree that Governor Walker is more vulnerable to a strong Dem candidate this year than at almost any time in the past. I also remain extremely confident that the Dems will blow this opportunity through sheer ineptitude.
These polls must make you a little nervous LTNTR. One of the most unpopular governors in the country. The way you (and WCD) always fervently cheerlead for him, that must make your head hurt a little.
The Left has given us the nuttiest peole: pelosi, Water, Ortze, Roys, warren and oterh that wany yo:
1. Kill ICE
2. open borders
3. 32 trillion dollar healthpaln
4. Kill tax cut
5. go to war with the Russinas.
6. Kill act 10
7. kill levy limits
8. Tax away the businesses
9 Kill Fox conn and the 50,000 jobs that will get kids off welfare, off the streets and into jobs solving many problems
10 Free college
11. skyrocketing property taxes
12. Let felons, illegals vote
13. Explode education spending for salaries bennies, nothing for the kids.
14. Fail to fix MPS,”National Disgrace”.
15. legalize Pot and kill of thousands every year.
16. Let half the thug out of jaill.
17.. Practice catch and release on gun wielding criminals.
18.. confiscate guns so we are defenseless.
8.
Yeah well the right has given us some nutty “peole” too, in all fairness. See the 2:26pm post for evidence.
I’m not a great fan of Governor Walker, but a couple criticisms of him puzzle me:
“had state law changed so that Milwaukee had to spend $70M in local money to relocate utility lines under the streetcar in a pathetic attempt to undermine the project.”
Milwaukee wanted the streetcar, which serves Milwaukee and Milwaukee alone. Why on earth should taxpayers from anywhere else subsidize Milwaukee’s transportation decisions? If the streetcar makes economic sense, it doesn’t need outside subsidies. If it doesn’t make sense, outside subsidies encourage bad decisions.
“A rural hunting community can agree with a urban community that local control on a community’s view of guns is the way to go.”
Actually, that isn’t true. The state constitution guarantees every law-abiding citizen’s right to carry a gun, just as it and the US Constitution guarantee everyone’s right to speak their mind without punishment by the government. Should we allow Madison and Milwaukee to prosecute people from Lomira if they go to Madison and criticize officials? Should people from Black Earth be arrested and prosecuted if they go to Milwaukee and speak against some local politician?
The 1st and 2nd Amendments protect us all from government. The Constitution puts certain policy options -good and bad- on the table. It leaves others -good and bad- off the table, and it explicitly prohibits other policy options, again, both good and bad.
Our state constitution prohibits local governments from imposing restrictions on speech and on weapons possession. As a practical matter, Wisconsinites should not have to research the local laws on speech or weapons before visiting. Creating myriad jurisdictional differences is a great way to make compliance and travel difficult and dangerous. Should milwaukeeans have to find out what Oshkosh’s speech restrictions are before speaking out during a visit? Should Milwaukeeans who are allowed to carry a gun be prosecuted for felony possession if they drive through Kenosha?
Local control is fine for many things. Other things, like civil rights, not at all.
@PMD. We simply can’t lose another state election. The big macro tend of the walker administration is that they’ve cut “state aid” in order to afford tax cuts. The GOP loves the idea because it has the word “aid” in it. But it’s totally anti-business/anti-industry. Cities fund themselves through property taxes, but big employment centers like factories and machine shops pay very little in property tax. They have crumby buildings down by the railroad tracks. They do, however, create a TON of jobs and big corpoate profits that’s taxed by the state of Wisconsin. Without a logical “state aid ” formula sending some of those dollars back to the city that supporting those jobs & commerce, no one would host these guys.
Job & industry centers like Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay are just getting crushed. We’re hosting all these major employments centers at enormous local costs & for the betterment of the entire state, but we’re nothing in return. This isn’t the time to run on social justice issues, this is blocking & tackling basic good government time. The alternative is that we chase our best employers and talent out of state to where the local municipalities can afford to pave their streets and police their neighborhoods.
@CalvinPi. Relocated the utility lines was work that DID NOT need to occur. All it has done is screw up the route design and add additional costs to the project. Walker and the GOP passed it in an attempt to stop the streetcar project. The city absorbed the costs and went ahead with building it anyway. No subsidy. Just government waste foisted on MKE tax payers by the state of Wisconsin.
So when is the right time to run on social justice issues Michael? 2020? 2022? You sound eerily like one of those right-wing nuts who insist, after every mass shooting, that now is not the time to talk about gun control. Why can’t a candidate run on economic and social justice issues? Aren’t they actually entwined in many ways? How do you know a moderate will do all of the things you are calling for? Maybe their moderate nature means they do nothing, or make very small changes. Who are you pulling for?
I would opine that voters in Wisconsin will be mobilized not by the Governor’s race but more so by reaction (positive or negative) to President Trump.
Unlike past years it is highly doubtful that many voters will split votes among the two parties at the level of Governor, US Senate and US House. If a voter picks “D” as a statement against Trump, he/she will pick “D” across the board for those top three races. In the past Wisconsin could be considered a “Purple” state because many voters would split party votes even at the top (e.g., voting for Obama in 2012 after Walker won a recall in the same year). I don’t see that happening today.
Bottom line is that it probably doesn’t matter much what Walker or Evers (or anyone else) does or says in the next few months. Voters will make their decisions based on opinions of President Trump. That is likely the major reason why Dallet won the Supreme Court seat. And whether he likes it or not, there are plenty of photo ops and policy decisions linking Walker to Trump.
Wrong
No more status quo for this voter. I have kids and grandkids coming and I worry about them. I voted Democrat for many years, so I started asking myself why things are getting worse, rather than better for most people. I started reading more. Voraciously. Books. Taking classes. Reviewing my years of life experience. Asking questions. Looking for answers. Asking more questions. My response at this time? Moderates and complacency and taking democracy and moral, responsible government for granted have led us to where we are. We are now governed by greed supported by hate and those who really do think they are exceptional. The status quo might be working for Mr. Murphy, but I see way too many it isn’t working for. I will vote for who I think will address needs of the people over the wants of the greedy. We can’t get there with status quo, my friend. The greedy will always do their thing. Government is supposed to regulate that. Not promote it. Not climb in bed with it. Democrats do that too, you know. They always have. It’s a crap shoot every time we cast a ballot, but I will vote left. I want a brave left that is willing to tax and regulate capital, not require me to support someone else’s cost of doing business. Swimming upstream? Oh, yeah. But status quo is failing all over. About time, I say.
It is irrefutable that Bruce Murphy’s observations about Gov. Walker’s performance are founded on facts, although one fact is very hard to understand considering the others: more than 40 percent of state voters still support him – or at least would vote for him over any Democrat.
When we look at the elements of a political entity that differentiate it from the Third World, most people might agree to consider public transportation, access to education, affordable healthcare, the standard of living, availability of clean water and government checks and balances as indicators. Failure in all these areas is Walker’s legacy.
The remedial cost of these failures requires a commitment of public funds because there has been so much neglect. Unless we want to privatize roads, water utilities and education, there are just two options: let the state deteriorate further or invest public money. And like a car with the engine hanging by one last bolt, the cost of delaying the repair is much more than fixing it now.
Even if the fear of a “socialist” remedy drives Republicans into Walker’s arms yet again, the one thing that must not be privatized is democracy itself. The process should not be for sale. Fat cats and special-interest groups like the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) have corrupted the system and their huge political contributions make public officials indebted to them. This is the precious gift of the Republicans that requires “socialism” to correct. If a person eats ribs every day, the eventual remedy will be heart surgery and as scary as that sounds that is what it takes to regain health and you should not have it done by the guy running the slaughterhouse.
Yet it is also irrefutable that until this unabated flow of out-of-state and special-interest money stops a change of parties will just replace the influence of right-wing benefactors like oil companies, private prison operators and pharmaceutical manufacturers with groups that advocate for progressive values and reforms, like a living wage for workers, the right to organize labor, debt-free education, women’s rights and affordable healthcare. It should be obvious that folks who oppose these progressive reforms probably have clean water, health insurance and can afford big contributions to candidates to avoid the cost of the remedy. But since the necessary remedies to the neglect and inequity that the Republicans have blessed us with have raised the specter of “socialism,” both parties should acknowledge that special-interest money has turned this state into a political cesspool that requires a lot of public money to fix.
Regardless of what you may think of Walker or the Democratic candidates, only one of them acknowledges the corruption and advocates for campaign finance reform; that Democratic candidate is the independent government watchdog, Mike McCabe.
McCabe is not taking PAC money from unions or manufacturers; he’s not soliciting tens of thousands of dollars from CEOs. He isn’t asking every lawyer in the Yellow Pages for money or flying out of state for party fundraisers.
McCabe wants to fix what’s broken because it needs to be fixed.
Call the solution what you will; it is a solution and it is long overdue. Call it socialism; call it liberal if you will. But isn’t a clean government that fixes problems better than a corrupt one that creates them?
No. Not when Republicans have taken the Nazi platform and have become to party of traitors.
@dumbledore. I’m with WCD on this one. If one of these left of left candidates win, I am pretty sure Walker is wiping the floor with him or her, regardless of Trump’s latest buffoonery. There’s just a widening gap between the left wing of the DNC and the Wisconsin Democratic base of labor, minority families, environmentalists, and urbanists. These “social justice and pot” platforms don’t win in our state, like they might in Oregon.
End of the day, we want to live in places with good neighborhoods, a sense of fairness, & solid platforms for wealth creation. Creative & authentic places that our kids are excited to come back to. Walker has tried to position the state as “slightly lower taxes and slightly less messed up that Illinois without Chicago.” Clearly, that’s not good enough. He’s starving the state’s greatest asset. Without Milwaukee, Wisconsin is just a colder Iowa.
I think mostly what we’re seeing is the candidates’ recognition that the primary voter base is different from (and, for Democrats, lefter than) the general election voter base.
Re the streetcar: actually, no: it does not serve “Milwaukee and Milwaukee alone.” How many non-Milwaukeeans attend Summerfest, or Bucks games, or patronize businesses in the Third Ward and elsewhere? For Milwaukee to solely fund amenities that benefit others amounts to a tax on Milwaukeeans, and free gifts to everyone else: “here, we paid for this nice transportation system – you can use it for free.”
Transportation is a regional issue–not a local one–because users of transportation, by definition, move from place to place.
Spot on column Bruce.
I am a dyed in the wool Democrat, but the collection of ultra left wing nut jobs running for Governor make me embarrassed to tell friends that I support Democrats. There seems to be some sort of competition among the Democratic candidates to see which one can make the stupidest proposals in this primary.
For the better part of my lifetime, Wisconsin has been a purple state; a state that elected moderates from both parties. Walker himself ran as a moderate in 2010, little did anyone know (save for his mega-donors like Diane Hendricks) what his real plans were to be once elected. Three weeks before the election, Walker was giving TV interviews stressing his intent to engage all sides in working together to solve the state’s financial woes. Then, once elected, he decided to “drop the bomb” and govern this state using “divide and conquer”.
Walker has so fundamentally changed Wisconsin that the state I grew up in doesn’t exist anymore. We are a state that loves to hate; divide and conquer reigns supreme. Most Wisconsinites derive great pleasure when they succeed at some else’s expense. No compassion for the less fortunate anymore here in Walker’s Wisconsin. Divide and conquer baby.
That’s why I have urged my own children to leave Walker’s Wisconsin upon college graduation. (all of them are building their careers in the Twin Cities area) and why I strongly urge all young people who want the best possible lives to leave Walker’s Wisconsin as soon as they are able. Eight years of Walker and strong GOP control, including the most corrupt State Supreme Court in America has made Walker’s Wisconsin the Mega -Shithole of the Midwest. Doesn’t matter WHO the Democrats run for Governor, the Walker dark money machine will destroy them. But it would be nice if the Democratic candidate wouldn’t take such stupid wild leftist positions to make it easy to be defeated. Sigh…..
Of the Dems in the race, who are thr so-called left-wing nutjobs and who are the moderates? And what makes you believe that?
One caution: The polls are of registered voters, not likely voters.
And one observation: Some of the issues highlighted, like reducing the prison population, were questions asked at forums or debates. You don’t see that in their TV spots.
These “wild leftist” positions like being able to buy into Badgercare and reducing the non-violent prison population are ideas that the majority of Wisconsinites approve of. Why wouldn’t Dems want to meet the voters where they’re at? Michael’s post is a good example- he wants to go beyond the same ol’, same ol’, but he should know that his solutions aren’t “moderate”, but instead come from the LEFT.
Wisconsinites want to move on from Walkerism and it’s regressive cronyism. A fierce agenda that reverses that and brings power and higher wages back to the people is what they are waiting for. Dems should deliver that agenda over choosing defensive, mushy “moderation” (read: corporatism) that won’t do enough to reverse our state’s downward spiral.
The winner of the primary will likely move towards the middle for the general election. Voter’s memories are challenged these days, so far left rhetoric in the primary should not cost many votes in the general.
Wisconsin Conservative Digest
1. Los Angeles
2. New York
3. Boston
4. Chicago
5. San Diego
6. Miami
7. San Francisco
8. Philadelphia
9. Dallas
10. San Jose
11. Honolulu
12. Seattle
13. Oakland
14. Portland, Or
15. Denver
( Milwaukee is 37th )
These are the top 15 most visited cities in the US ( info by AAA ) by people both in the US & around the world.
all blue, all Democratic, there’s not one GOP lead town anywhere on top 100 places in the USA ( has listed by Travelocity.com )
people want to live in places with good neighborhoods, a sense of fairness, & solid platforms for wealth creation. Creative & authentic places!
Not in racist hotspots like waukesha, west bend, mayville,
WPR’s morning show was talking about the Dem race yesterday. One of the guests mentioned something I found interesting. In June 2010 only 10% of state voters had heard of Ron Johnson. So it doesn’t really take long for people to get to know a nominee for statewide office.
let’s stop wringing our hands. democrats in the primary are not nut jobs, we can leave that title to the gov. (he isn’t either,actually, just very mean spirited). we can unseat walker. vote in the primary and then work your ass off for who wins. man, woman and anyone else, up.
…”Not in racist hotspots like waukesha, west bend, mayville…”
Hey Dragonkat, you worthless POS FIB, take your baseless racist accusations and shove them up your ass.
Hey LenaTaylorNeedsToResign ( aka racist moron from Mayville )
L.O.L The truth hurts doesn’t it
Mr. Walker’s Ain’t That the Truth Blues:
Disregards broken streets and highways; Underfunds public education; Fabricates Foxconn fantasy; Ignores and isolates the big cities; Denies Medicaid to low wage workers; Squelches taxing authority to support safety and quality of life in our communities; Discourages public transportation; Pollutes our natural resources and environment; Raises fees instead of taxing the rich; Smashes investment in infrastructure for workers; Allies with extreme capitalists; Shrugs at University grads leaving Wisconsin for more prosperous locations; Celebrates the many new low wage minimum wage jobs; Suppresses the voter turnout; Hates unionized labor; Disrespects the reproductive rights of women; (and) Befriends the Tawdry and Terrible Donald Trump! CAN THE CANDIDATES STRATEGICALLY ADDRESS THESE HORRIFICS?
Like I said before people want to live in places with good neighborhoods, good transit, a sense of fairness, & solid platforms for wealth creation.
Not in unwelcoming racist hotspots like waukesha, west bend, mayville, etc
but back to the OP, It really doesn’t matter WHO the Democrats run for Governor, has long has that person has the willpower needed to A: kick the GOP in the butt & B: Get both the city of Milwaukee and city of Racine on the same page
By removing the retarded GOP regs forced on Milwaukee & Racine, those 2 cities could really grow into something great
What is too liberal, too progressive, too conservative, too libertarian? This are nothing but meaningless labels, look at actual policies instead:
Wisconsin needs a brand new Transportation plan for WI, decent, drivable, safe roads, and start to get serious about mass transportation.
Wisconsin needs to reclaim its place among world class educational systems, from pre-school through the university system. And the highest standards for the teaching profession, whether private or public.
Wisconsin needs to balance the economic playing field. It’s tilted way too far in favor of tax payer largesse to corporations, the millions give away to Fiserve so they could have naming rights to the new basketball arena is a big slap in the face to people who work for a paycheck, who pay way too much in State taxes (sales, income, fees) relative to the breaks given to multi-millionaires.
Wisconsin’s industries need a rational global trade policy. The next governor has to loudly support trade and explain to skeptics why it is so important.
Wisconsin has to address it’s high reliance on fossil fuels, and move as quickly as possible to alternatives, this is neither liberal nor conservative, it’s called doing our part to save our environment.
And among the horrible policies of the past 8 years, perhaps the one that has the most negative long term consequences is the total disregard for Wisconsin’s natural resources, especially water. Unless we address that soon, we risk far too much damage to precious and life-giving resources.
Maybe we can draft a nice centrist Democrat.
Like Mary Burke.
How could we possibly fail?
At this point it seems inevitable the USA is going to move toward socialism. The question is whether it is Democratic Socialism ie. Universal Healthcare, Debt Free College. Or Republican Socialism ie. corporate welfare.
Hopefully the younger generations of Americans can make the right decision, cause the Baby Boomers seem to have forgotten how strong unions and social programs benefited them.
This is the right time for a stong, progressive message. I hope we will look back at the Great Recession and ensuing election of Trump, Walker and there ilk as the impetus for a new progressive era in this country.