End of Grusome Week Round Up

1. Brenda, some people might think of you as being a little bit of a grouch. 🙂

   Let me ask you this, is there someone in Progressive Dane who takes party loyalty a step too far? Who is PD’s Bigelow? Wayne is the chair, but he is not the whole party.

   Yes, in my opinion Wayne takes it too far. But, I do not question his commitment as a progressive. Though, his love of the Democratic Party sometimes blinds him.

   You write “Bigelow is single-handedly responsible for me ending my membership in the Democratic Party 10 years ago.” My question is “why?” There was then and there is today many involved in the party who are not on Wayne’s side when it comes to these questions. Several of them (including local Dem Party officers) stood up Wednesday night and supported PD endorsed candidates.

   I hope Sam and others who asked for the Dane Dems endorsement several nights ago and did not receive it know that most of the people in the room (and there were a lot) want them in the party and want them to bring new ideas and energy to the organization.

   BTW, on his less grouch days I believe Wayne agrees with me.

   P.S., Thanks for your blog.

2. You tell me, I think both co-chairs and at least half the steering committee of Progressive Dane are Dems. As is our elections committee chair. This PD/Dem thing has become a Dem fight. It’s the Dems that have the “no endorsement if endorsed by PD/Greens” policy. We don’t even ask our candidates what other parties they belong to.

   When I tried to get involved in the local Dem party (I was a member 1995 or 96 – 2001 or 2002 roughly), by bringing forward an issue to work on, Wayne and others took Eileen Bruskewitz’s side of the issue and made it very clear to me I was not welcome. In fact belittled me. And so, I chose another path in my life. A third way, so to speak.

   And we, well you and others, re-live this stupid battle year after year after year, and still Wayne is there, offending new young people and nothing changes. Despite all the plans and promises not to do this again “next year” and to solve it “after the elections”.

   I’ve lived through this battle since the mid-90s . . . and much more with the fighting between PD and the Dems and I don’t even care to try to fix it anymore, because there is no will from the Dems, and yes, it starts with the chair. Nothing has changed since I quit.

   p.s. a progressive believes in election reform that makes it easier for people to run for office and win on a level playing field, not putting obstacles in their way. I have a hard time calling Wayne “progressive”. “liberal” maybe.

3. Lindsey, you raise an interesting point regarding party loyalty in PD. I want to briefly respond to your inquiry.

   The methods the right-wing of the local Dems (who seem to be in control, starting with Bigelow) use to exclude those in other parties do not exist in Progressive Dane.

   No one in Progressive Dane would ever say, as Sue Ellingson said at Wednesday’s meeting, that “There is nothing more important than the party.”

   Progressive Dane would never create a rule, as the DPDC has done, excluding members of other parties from seeking their endorsement.

   Progressive Dane members would never verbally assault those critical of its policies in the way DPDC members did to Sam Stevenson.

   It’s clear that Bigelow – who owes Sam an apology for his juvenile intimidation – and those like him insist on maintaining strict adherence to a party line. The result is the consistent alienation of young progressives.

4. @Lindsey Lee – Thanks for saying what you said about Sam. It was a classy thing to do, especially considering you are supporting the incumbent.

5. I find the Dane Dem Endorsement night so early in the campaigns, shortly after filing period, to be a strategy of control by the powers that be…and in the end, as Sue Ellingson’s quote points out, more about controlling Groupthink and thus creates an Election environment that stears the races to be more about Personality and Connections,(which then engenders “Favors” if elected) rather than about Public Policy.

   At this stage in the game, candidates with fresh new ideas are just finding their “legs” and getting out..racing to do doors, answer surveys and create a message…yet this extremely important endorsement ignores all of that..yet then this system touts that all of the endorsements are based upon Policy Positions of the candidates, which aren’t even formed…when nothing could be farther from the case.

   This then creates candidates telling this group, and other endorsement groups, hopefully, what they “want to hear” rather than what they “should” hear about policy directions…IMHO. Again, not good for the performance of our fair city.

   How’s this working out for us? Not good I’d suggest…Madison Public Policy…how’s this working for ACTUAL Economic Development, Job Creation, Solving issues of Poverty?

   Nah…”the Party Comes First”…and you see that lockstep groupthink obligation leading us further down the wrong road.

   I’d feel less negative about this set up if the “Party” and their condensed “Leadership” were actually making Madison better and realizing its amazing potential…but unfortunately, our glass is Half “empty”in what we should be, an amazing amount of lost SIGNIFICANT opportunities…perhaps more…and a LOT has evaporated out of that glass in the last 8 years under this Mayor’s Regime and Power Politik where “Progressive” is a marketing work and not the action verb it should be.

   In the end..the Style over Substance wins…and since the Dane Dems and their leadership help propogate this result(s), they’ve lost my support and my membership. I’m a person currently without a party in this County…like a majority of our citizens just trying to make a living and improve our lot..with little help from the people who have the most ability to impact it.

   My thanks go out to all the candidates and advocates trying to make a difference.

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