Quite often in politics, it is much easier to elect the incumbent than to sit and think and compae the candidates and figue out which one you think would represent you. It happens in Waukesha and it happens in Madison and everywhere in between.
When people do not pay attention, it is easy to think, since I have not heard anything bad, then everything must be good. Unfortunately that is not the case, or else Paul Ryan would actually be competent at his job.
The city of Madison, specifically the south side, is now faced with such a choice. Their current alder Tim Bruer, has a reputation(and it is not a good one). The thing is, Bruer was first elected in 1984 and now is facing a serious candidate. Bruer is resting on his incumbency laurels and has no website and no apparent real interest in campaigning(the power of incumbency). yet in the stories that have been written about him, he is starting to have a reputation for not caring what the people from his district have to say and not being very good to work with. Bruer also says he is non-partisan, but has tried(and failed) in the past to get the Democratic Party’s endorsement!
Running against Bruer is John Strasser. Strasser has lived on the South Side of Madison upwards of ten years(apparently thats not long enough for Bruer). Strasser has built up a solid list of endorsements and a accomplishments and vision for the south side.
I highly recommend this time taking the time to get to know the candidates. call or email them, find out which one bests fits with YOUR vision of YOUR neighborhood. Let’s NOt make incumbency an automatic win, let’s make elected officials earn their votes on their record and their campaign not based on the fact that you voted for them last time.
Take some time and get to know WHO you are voting for!
