I attended my first ever candidate announcement the other day when Vicky Selkowe declared her candidacy for the 48th assembly district, replacing Joe Parisi. Even though I am not in the district, I wanted to see what a “formal announcement” was all about.
Vicky gave a very good speech, she stressed two aspects that were most important. First she said that she would fight for the 48th district and the people of WI. I think that this is what is needed in a time like this. As nice as Joe Parisi is, and I agreed with most of his decisions, I do not think he could be considered a fighter. In an assembly with people like Scott Fitzgerald, Robin Vos and Steve Nass, the time to be a really nice guy is behind us. Being a really nice guy just means you don’t yell “shame” when they take a vote in 17 seconds and run out of the chamber. We on the democratic side(of which I consider myself one) are in need of fighters at this moment in history.
The second thing that Ms. Selkowe stressed is her leadership. This makes me cringe when elected officials(I know she is not one yet) call themselves leaders. I understand why she did it, and I understand why all elected officials refer to themselves as leaders to help frame the debate. Let’s be clear though, we do not ELECT leaders, we ELECT representatives. The word leader is nowhere to be found in the Constitution and that is on purpose. Leadership does not mean the person who gets the most votes. Let’s be real, would anyone consider a Fitzgerald brother a leader? how about Vos, Darling, Nass, Grothman, Hopper, Kapanke, well you get the idea. Leadership emerges when people are doing what they are supposed to be doing and doing it well(which means elected officials can still be leaders, but they have to earn it). I personally think that in the last three months Mark Pocan, Cory Mason, Peter Barca, Jon Erpenbach, Chris Larson and Lena Taylor(among others) have all emerged as leaders in our government. Not because they were elected but because of the roles that have taken in regard to the circumstances they were placed. This is not a complaint of Ms. Selkowe, just a complaint of politicians in general. I actually think that there is a strong possibility that if elected Vicky Selkowe would emerge as a leader. I liked what she had to say in her declaration speech.
Even though I do not live in the 48th(I am very capably represented by Gary Hebl) I still endorse Vicky Selkowe for Assembly!
Two last things. I like her use of Orange as a campaign color. The whole world saw the assembly wearing their orange t-shirts everyday in solidarity(I actually think someone missed a money making opportunity by not selling them to the general public but that is another topic). Finally she went to Beloit College, and with the notable exception of Vicky Pyzysnki, that is a good thing!
