Kathleen Falk to run for DPW Chair?

[Draino]

Word on the Capitol Square is that Joe Wineke is out and Kathleen Falk has been anointed for DPW Chair. The Big Divider now wants to be a Uniter.

It's questionable whether a candidate who couldn't carry her own county in a statewide race is the best choice to lead the party. Nonetheless, if Jim Doyle has given his blessing, it would bode well for Falk's chances.

This might be a smart political move for Falk. She sorely needs to rehabilitate her image after tanking the AG's race in a year when nearly every race fell for Dems. Falk would have a statewide platform to boost her Dem credentials from and more importantly, accumulate prized contacts while fundraising for the party. Raising money is Falk's strong suit. Expect that to be one of the pillars of her campaign for chair if this comes to pass.

[sybylla]

1. Just what we need

Another Madison politician running the party who thinks Madison and Milwaukee are the only important parts of the state.

When are we going to get a party chair who realizes that in order to have a majority in the legislature, you actually have to care about campaigns and the health of county parties outside of Dane and Milwaukee?

The only good thing about this is that I doubt she'll be worse than Joe. She actually had to run a statewide campaign a couple of times.

[dembotoz]

3. agree 100%

You have said it all short and concise.
I would like to add something-but damn, you are on target

[Jackpine Radical]

12. OK, I'll add something.

Kathleen is a stalking-horse for Doyle. Had Kathleen not split the liberal/progressive vote in the 2002 primary, Barrett would have been nominated, and he would now be in his second term. Had Doyle not been all cranked out of shape over Peg as AG, he wouldn't have prodded Kathleen into that stupid, divisive primary race, and we would still have a good and progressive AG in the state. I don't even want to get into what it was that Doyle was mad at Peg about, but let's say that DUI was just a handy excuse for mounting the attack.

So screw Kathleen.

Who we gonna run in her place? Let's all start thinking, and hit 'em with a solid northern candidate backed by a solid northern vote. I want a progressive from somewhere north of Baraboo.

[Jimbo S]

26. I disagree with you about the Ag race

Had Doyle not been all cranked out of shape over Peg as AG, he wouldn't have prodded Kathleen into that stupid, divisive primary race, and we would still have a good and progressive AG in the state.

Peg was toast. The swing voters of Wisconsin would never elect a DUI for AG. Falk was the only chance to keep the AG Dem.

[AdHocSolver]

36. Peg had a better chance of getting a pass on her DUI in this beer producing beer guzzling state...

than the slick, left-wing Madison Falk could win any state-wide election. Heck, I didn't like Falk (I do like Peg) and I supported Peg in the primary because I maintained that Peg had a better chance of winning than Falk. Falk proved me correct.

If Falk becomes party chair, she will further alienate moderate Republicans and independents. She would be a disaster for the party and her alleged fund raising skills are irrelevant. A candidate's "likeability" and campaign skills are much more important in winning races than the amount of money spent. The people who know Falk best, Dane county, went for Peg in the primary.

[dragonlady]

2. If there's anyone who doesn't like this

get yourself to be a delegate to the state convention (in Milwaukee this year, June 29-30). You must be a party member and contact the chair of your county party to find out how to be a delegate. The convention will elect the state officers, so if there are any contested positions, you can vote on who will be running our party.

[sybylla]

4. Agreed, but there has to be credible opposition for that to matter

So far, no one else has stepped forward. When Doyle hand picks the chair and makes sure they have a ton of money to campaign for the slot, it takes a sisyphus-wannabe to even try to oppose him.

It seems strange that in a state where we have a long history of hate for political machines, we have no trouble letting Doyle co-opt our party into a gubernatorial machine.

[dembotoz]

5. make sure your party membership is up to date

get if done early. There are cut offs for party membership before conventions.
Generally it is a good idea to get your paperwork in and to VERIFY your party membership with your local county PRIOR to the cutoff.
At times the membership listing process in madison has been pretty god awful.
In many counties, getting delegate status is not hard at all.

[RevCheesehead]

6. Get Peg Lautenschlager to run.

Now THAT would be an interesting rematch. :evilgrin:

[Jackpine Radical]

14. You're evil, Rev.

Fortunately, I LIKE evil.

[RevCheesehead]

19. Thank you.

:evilgrin:

[Dinger]

33. Yes, Hell Yes!

Next: Governor!
Sorry, but Falk really pissed me off.

[dragonlady]

7. Here's an interesting article on the subject

quoting this post by Draino.

Some discussion of the internal party politics involved:

The first is that Joe Wineke isn't going to run for reelection. Kathleen would only be running for chair if she was Doyle's candidate, so her run would be coordinated with Joe's retirement. This would also indicate that Senator Lena Taylor, the current first vice-chair, won't be running again.

Draino points out some obvious benefits to Kathleen, but it's not clear to me that things would be that simple. There isn't much of a precedent for a sitting elected official also serving as DPW chair, so presumably Kathleen would step down as Dane County Executive. Due to her AG run she already has her ducks in a row in terms of succession on the County Board, so that transition should be relatively easy. But on the far end it might be more difficult. Serving in such an obviously partisan position as party chair might make it harder to appeal to swing voters in a later run for statewide office. It's certainly been done before, Herb Kohl ran successfully for US Senate after serving as party chair, but he took a fairly long break in between and he has more money than God.

...

There's also the matter of Peg Lautenschlager. Peg was, and is, far more popular inside the party than Kathleen, and a lot of Democrats are still steamed about the AG primary. Those Dems are unlikely to support Kathleen, but a bigger issue is that Kathleen earned a reputation as someone who divides, rather than unites, the Democratic party. That perception will be difficult to overcome.
http://reform-dem.blogspot.com/2007/03/kathleen-falk-next-democratic-party-of.html

[Draino]

8. 1st CD Convention today in Lake Geneva

This Reform-Dem blog post, Reform-Dem, was interesting, especially the stuff about former Falk staffers being lined up to work at the party office.

Is anyone going to the 1st CD Convention today in Lake Geneva? It's being held at Badger H.S. at 8:30am. I'd love to hear a first hand report of anything happening regarding the Chair's race. I think Reform-Dem is correct that Falk's attendance would signal she's going after it.

[goddess40]

9. Falk

Not that I have strong feelings on this, but, I would rather see SATAN or BUSH in charge of the WI Dems than that self serving bitch! Every time Mr. Van Hollen ignores corporate law breaking, every time he refuses to act against republican interests, you can thank her! She certainly will NOT be a unifying party for the Dems!

[goddess40]

10. That was Mr. Goddess 40

But while I wouldn't use such strong language, Ms. Falk's involvement in ousting Peg did put her on my shit list. But even more was the method of campaigning she used - especially to dyed in the wool dem's at the convention - she used marketing instead of telling us what she stood for and what she was against it was just superficial.

[Ben Masel]

11. Joe

As of a couple weeks ago he was seeking re-election. Horses mouth.

[Jackpine Radical]

13. Jeez, do I detect a theme here?

I could buy into Peg if she wants it.

How much the job pay, anyway?

[ldfdem]

15. not big money

I think it's around $50,000 a year:banghead: :woohoo:

[Ben Masel]

16. Volunteer position.

No pay, just re-imbursements.

[Draino]

17. Idfdem is correct.

It pays about $50,000 a year. Some chairs have elected not to take the salary. Linda Honold didn't take it most of her years as chair, but did at least for the last year. I don't know if Wineke is taking it or not.

[undeterred]

18. I nominate Ben Masel

He would be the least divisive party chair. :hi: Welcome to DU!

[ClassWarrior]

20. Can we get a "Draft Jackpine" movement going here?...

NGU.

[danielcody]

21. Like most rumors, this one's false.

http://dancody.org/archives/democratic-party-of-wisconsin-chair-rumors.html

[sybylla]

23. Thank goodness you're here...

We certainly need someone to keep us from getting "pretty out of hand," as you so eloquently state in you blog. :sarcasm:

Frankly, I'm appalled by your assumptions. First, that you believe none of us have our own connections within the party. Second, that any of us recognize this as anything but a rumor, which, if you pay the least attention you would know rumor constitutes about half of all DU discussions in any given forum. If you view the original post, you will see that the author even used the word "rumor" and was unafraid of stating clearly the nature of it. Third, that rumor or not it doesn't diminish the fact that we need a progressive party chair one way or another. And, lastly, because most of us do have our own varied connections within the party, we know from experience that just because Joe Wineke says it, doesn't make it true.

In fact, I believe that's Politics 101 - nothing is a fact simply because a politician says so.

However, in spite of your snarky blog post, I truly do appreciate your efforts to clarify the matter.

[danielcody]

24. Thanks,

Well when people start with the "X candidate can kiss my ass", that's getting out of hand in my opinion, and I wasn't going for snarky.

If people in this group decide to form up a campaign and try to get their candidate elected at the convention, I think that's great, and I think Joe would agree that competition is a good thing because if nothing else, it gets people talking about the issues.

What I personally don't care for, which will make me no more popular on this site, is the anti-DPW attitude that continually sprout up here. That's people's opinions as well of course, and I fully support that, it's just that ever since I've been keeping an eye here and participating the level of disgust towards anything to do with the DPW is discouraging. What's also discouraging is the serious anti-Falk attitude here. Yes, she lost the AG race, and that's hard to deal with. But that doesn't justify the level of disdain shown here by so called "progressives".

That aside, the rumors don't have anything with the desire by many here for a more "progressive" state Chair, you're correct. And like I said above, I think it would be great for the party to have some alternatives.

I think it's important for everyone to remember that despite what some think about the Governor getting to vote thousands of times at the state convention, that's not the case. It's the members of the party, including many here, who voted in Oshkosh to elect Joe two years ago.

And yes, I know that nothing anyone ever says is 100%. But like I wrote, he was very adamant about running for reelection at our CD convention.

Anyways, flame on! :)

Dan
http://dancody.org/

[dragonlady]

25. Members of the party voted for Joe

but there are two things to keep in mind. First, Joe put on an aggressive campaign with a professional campaign manager and lots of resources against a far less well funded opponent. Second, he ran as a ticket with the popular Linda Honold who was billed as the one who would be great at organizing. She resigned not so long after the convention for another job.

[sybylla]

28. So it's blind allegiance to party and candidates that you want

You're with us or your against us. Criticism only aids the enemy. Zieg Heil. :patriot:

Surely by now you've recognized you're in the wrong place for that. You see, most of us woke up to the problem that creates in November of 2000. So we've gotten involved in the game on the ground. We've become active in our party organization. We've become active in peace organizations. We've become active in local politics. We've helped political campaigns and candidates. The braver of us have even run for office.

You see, many of us realized on that terrible day in 2000 that while politics may be a game and is played just like a game, it has real consequences. And it doesn't take a very long interval on the ground to realize there are things the Dem party could be doing better, locally, statewide and nationally. It also doesn't take long on the ground working for a campaign to see how much an out-state candidate has to do on his own before the DPW and its companion organizations the ADCC and SDCC in Madison will even notice, let alone lend a hand.

I'm not surprised to see someone from Milwaukee carrying water for Joe. Things are great in Milwaukee County as far as the DPW admin are concerned. Heck, our first vice chair is from Milwaukee. Our last chair was from Milwaukee. Is anyone surprised that Milwaukee County has all it needs from the DPW? Does anyone think it will even be possible to wrest control of the DPW from the Milwaukee and Madison powers that be?

You know, I stood in line at the Verona Fire Department for an hour to vote for Joe Wineke when he first ran for a seat under the capitol dome back in the 80's. As a politician, I've always supported Joe. And then he ran for chair with Linda Honold. It was an election well funded by the powers that be. They put their money and their message out there hard and fast. They raided meetings of liberal organizations who were set to endorse their opposition and strong-armed them out of it. And the cherry on top of why I will never support Joe Wineke for chair if I have a choice, is when, three months after the election, after he had achieved the chair's position with the endorsement of Linda Honold and the promise that they would work hard together, she resigned and another Milwaukeean was appointed her replacement.

If you don't think there is a party establishment that wants to keep power in certain hands and dole it out to whom it sees fit, just watch the hall monitors show up at DU every time someone here says something Joe Wineke doesn't like.

He even shut down criticism at an admin committee meeting last summer because he didn't want to hear the complaints not just of CD officers but of county party chairs all across the CD. Don't show up here and pretend that Joe Wineke wants what's best for this party all across the state. And don't pretend that Kathleen Falk wants what's best for the party. There is a mountain of evidence that more than suggests you're wrong.

You can pretend this is reactionary. You can suggest it is out of hand. You can even cry that it's unfair. If that's really how you feel, I suggest you pick up your pompons and get back to the sidelines. Out here in the field, we don't play nice. The game is hard, bruising and, more often than not, muddy.

As long as that's the game we have to play to get our Dems elected, we'll continue to show up ready for a fight.

[danielcody]

31. Couple points...

First off, thanks for your feedback, I do appreciate it. I'd like to work backwards on this thread if thats OK.

He even shut down criticism at an admin committee meeting last summer because he didn't want to hear the complaints not just of CD officers but of county party chairs all across the CD. Don't show up here and pretend that Joe Wineke wants what's best for this party all across the state. And don't pretend that Kathleen Falk wants what's best for the party. There is a mountain of evidence that more than suggests you're wrong.

I sit on the admin committee, and I've sat on it for two years now and made very meeting. I'm also a CD officer and this statement is news to me. In fact, the minutes of the admin committee meetings are available, so I'd like more clarification on where you're getting this information from.

To be clear, I'm no Joe fanboy, but I don't understand where this information is coming from. I also don't get the pompom reference or any suggestion that I personally haven't done all I could to get Dems across the state elected. Maybe there's something not coming across in the text, but to suggest or say that there are things going on at the admin committee that are suspect, or that I'm somehow not aware of the hard fight we face as Dems in Wisconsin, or that I'm just here pulling the party line is silly. If you knew me you'd know that's not what I'm about.

Again, thanks for the feedback, I hope I cleared up a few things, and if you have any information that contradicts what I've said, I'd appreciate hearing it.

Dan

[Dinger]

22. Falk Can Kiss My Ass. I Wanted Peg As AG, Now Look What We Have- vanhollen-A

Guess what the "A" is for?

[jef4wi]

27. Just to Clear the Air

I spoke with Joe about this on Saturday as well.

He is running. I am running with him. He does not know of Kathy Falk running for anything.

I am not part of the Madison political scene, so I really know nothing about these rumors of the reasons for them.

As you may know, I ran with Jeff Rammelt 2 years ago. Unfortunately, I won but Jeff did not.

I can say, however, that Joe has done a good job overall managing the party.

Some things to remember:

- We took back the State Senate
- We ran in more than 85 of the Assembly districts
- We re-elected the Gov
- We were the first state Dem party to take a position against a marriage ban, Joe testified before the statehouse as to it, the first state party chair to do so.
- We increased communcation regarding membership between the state party and local county parties.
- Joe did regular columns for the media stating concrete positions for the Dems on subjects such as: SeniorCare, minimum wage, school funding, stem cells, environmentalism, universal healthcare, etc

Have the last 2 years been perfect, no. But, they have been productive.

[sybylla]

29. Thanks, Jef, for your clarification

As for the 85 assembly campaigns and taking back the senate, I differ with you laying that at the feet of the DPW. Two year ago, we left a record number of seats uncontested. What was the difference? Having DNC field directors out-state 16 months before the election recruiting candidates and building resources within the county parties. No one wants to run alone. Why bother? But when you think you have some support and a person with campaign experience to go to for advice, it makes all the difference.

And yet, what did Joe say to a party member just last month when asked about this program. "Gee, what a shame the DNC isn't doing that any more."

WTF?

Why aren't we raising funds for the sole purpose of continuing that program? I donated to the DNC when they asked for money for their 50 state program because I believed in it. I'm sure many others did here as well. If the DPW was really interested in seeing this kind of success again, shouldn't we be hearing them gear up in just this way? Or are we going to rest on Joe's laurels and wait for the DNC to bail us out?

[jef4wi]

30. As I understand it...

The program through the DNC continues, but the organization has changed.

There is now a statewide organizer, a Milwaukee organizer and a new deputy political director hired with the funds.

As for candidate recruitment, I know Joe was active in that, because he called and helped secure several candidates.

[sybylla]

32. This is better how?

Before the Field Directors, all we ever had were more staff in Madison and Milwaukee.

One of the real benefits of having locally nurtured Field Directors is that they really do know the politics here. They're not pitching a plan that doesn't work here. And, they get very familiar with the abilities of each county party in supporting Dem candidates, learning what they need and how to help them build their resources from raising money to recruiting and maintaining volunteers.

I hope I'm wrong, but this looks like a return to the old losing strategy. Don't expect me to be thrilled by it. Don't expect the Chequamegon Dems, Rusk County, Iron County, Barron County, Forest County or Oneida County Dems to be happy about it either. In fact, my guess is few Dems will be pleased by this turn north of Portage.

[jef4wi]

34. The New Deputy Political Director...

Is based out of Marinette - Steve Melenthin. You may know him from the County Chairs Association, which he sits on as Chair.

There is still a committment to out-state organization.

[ewagner]

35. Hey Jef...

I've been staying out of the fray but I have to join in here....

in our experience the lack of serious local support by the State organization still exists....it didn't go the way of the dinosaurs....

Many of us feel that the Dane/Milwaukee clique is too strong and that we get treated as "local yokels"...there's some resentment there and Joe hasn't done much to defuse it....

[dembotoz]

37. tend to agree

the i-94 corridor thing is real. Past experience has given us past experience.
The rest of the state has been promised before. Perhaps this time the state party will deliver.
I don't not intend to hold my breath while I wait for it however (allergies are bad this time of year.)