Martha Laning was elected Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin (DPW) this afternoon by a sizable majority in a clear rejection of outgoing DPW Chair Mike Tate and his chosen successor.
Amid a historic decline of Wisconsin public school funding, the University of Wisconsin System, environmental protection and control of local
governments by the state, the DPW faces the political equivalent of a Manhattan Project against Republican forces and billionaires.
Martha Laning was elected Chair among five candidates of out an unofficial delegate total of 1,321 votes, with the possible addition of some 25 alternate votes.
Manitowoc County delegate, Bernie Starzewski, said, "I will stand watch and give Martha a fair chance."
Laning received 53 percent of the vote.
Starzewski declined to comment on widespread allegations of an unfairly rigged convention.
Rick Adamski, a Shawano County delegate, said was surprised by the margin of the win.
Some sixty-seven percent of the vote rejected the Tate-Rae-Nation Consulting faction that presided over a once powerful political Party.
Showing posts with label Joe Wineke chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joe Wineke chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party. Show all posts
Jun 6, 2015
Long Lines at Wisconsin Dem Convention Chair Vote
 |
| Sample Ballot for election for Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin |
Update III: Unofficial total votes cast: 1,321, still being tabulated.
Update II: Five candidates on ballot. Laning, Wineke or Rae's game.
Update: Source reports, some 1,942 voting delegates expected to vote which would make a winning candidate garnering 389 delegates as a mathematical minimum, assuming five candidates. Thx to Aaron Camp for the math.
A voting delegate phoned me saying voting began before Noon at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin's (DPW) Convention in Milwaukee.
Source says voting is heavy and the lines to pick up the ballot for voting for Chair are long.
Four candidates were nominated, no word if four or five names are on the ballot.
Source reports the line to grab a ballot loops around and loops again and so on. People are stepping out of line because the line is so long. Voters have to be in line by 2:00 p.m. to cast votes but this is going to be a long day.
Source estimates between 1,000 and 2,000 delegates.
Martha Laning delegates are getting sleazy saying, a vote for Wineke is a vote for Rae with no basis in fact as Wineke came out of retirement to re-energize and repair the damage wrought by outgoing Chair Mike Tate, Rae and Nation Consulting.
That bullshit is enough to turn any rational person against Laning. Another voting delegate says it's between Laning and Joe, but his basis for calculating this is unclear.
Laning delegates are putting signs up in the bathrooms slurring opponents, apropos, source says.
The election for DPW Chair has generated political interest because of the radical reengineering project of Wisconsin public schools, the University System, SeniorCare, healthcare, environmental protection among a host of other public policy initiatives none of which Scott Walker and the GOP ran on during the 2014 campaign.
Walker is expected to declare his candidacy for the presidency in weeks.
Jun 5, 2015
Reformist Legislators Break Joe Wineke's Way in Race for Dem Chair
 |
| Joe Wineke |
Reads a Wineke press release:
Senator Jon Erpenbach (Middleton), and Representatives Terese Berceau (Madison), Chris Danou (Trempealeau), Dianne Hesselbein (Middleton), Andy Jorgensen (Milton), Robb Kahl (Monona), Tod Ohnstad (Kenosha), and Lisa Subeck (Madison) issued the following statement:
We support Joe Wineke for Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Having served as a local elected official, in the state legislature for 16 years, and as party chair for 4 years, Joe's unmatched experience uniquely qualifies him to lead our party.
As elected officials, we see firsthand the damage done to our state by the Republican majority. We need a strong leader who will stand up for our core Democratic values and who has a proven track record of winning elections. Joe Wineke has long been a strong voice for labor and hardworking people. While Joe was in leadership he led Democrats to win majorities in both houses of the Legislature and held the Governor's office.
With Joe as our Chair, we are confident that the voice of the Democratic Party will be heard loud and clear throughout the state. We are confident Joe Wineke can and will lead us down a path to Democratic victories in 2016 and beyond.
Wisconsin Dem Party Chair Election's a Debacle, Could Get Worse Saturday
 |
| Gaylord Nelson for governor from 1958. Will the legacy of Nelson and the founders of the modern Democratic Party of Wisconsin be betrayed this Saturday? Stay tuned. |
On the eve of the State Convention of the Democratic Party, patronage is the objective of a faction of the Party: Nation Consulting lobbying firm, (a for-profit Milwaukee outfit whose founder and senior partner is a large contributor to Republicans,) and Nation and outgoing Chair Mike Tate's chosen candidate, Jason Rae.
"The late political journalist Walter Karp, I think articulated this most clearly when he argued that the most defining feature of American politics is the effort of self-interested hacks to keep morally driven reformers out of power," writes Tony Palmeri of the Oshkosh Independent.
Rae, Tate and cohorts drafted the election rules and sited the convention in Milwaukee, Rae's home city, prior to the Milwaukee County Party giving accreditation to delegates based on allegiance to Jason Rae.
Patronage in the form of a Party job is precisely the motivating factor among Rae and his band of happy election riggers, including the late-endorsing and current Chair of the Dane County Democratic Party, Mike Basford, who is looking for a gig after running a disastrous campaign against Madison Mayor Paul Soglin.
Yesterday, Chair candidate Jeff Smith (a late entrant into the election whose name will still be on the ballot) endorsed Martha Laning leaving three serious candidates for Chair: Rae, Laning and Joe Wineke. Smith as late as this week mailed out a glossy 8 1/2 by 11'' piece to delegates promising to turn around the Party from the ground up, a theme Laning and Wineke share, and Rae rejects.
A Laning-voting delegate tells me this morning half-joking there will be a "riot," Saturday and more seriously that acts of civil disobedience and protest against the rigged election are expected.
Another delegate tells me that anyone who tells you, in light of the mounting criticism against Tate-Rae-Nation Consulting, they know who is going to win is kidding you.
Joe Wineke tells me, "I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing and stay out of the drama. Everyone knows the score now."
The state party, if staffed by activists working for the public interest, can be critical in recruiting candidates, grassroots Party building, fortifying county and field offices, and effective communications and message to the press and social media.
In other words, doing what Nelson, Proxmire, Lucey, Kastenmeier, Dave Obey and Snarlin' Marlin Schneider fought for, building the Wisconsin Democratic Party in the mid-20th century through the 1970s from the people, for the people and of the people.
Wisconsin still has lions honoring this legacy such as Baldwin, Feingold, Risser and Pocan.
But this Saturday at the Party convention could be a pretty sad show, at worst a victory by Jason Rae followed by mass resignations of Party members across the state, a best-case scenario a victory for Joe Wineke bringing small town and rural Wisconsin back into the movement against Walker, and a mediocre outcome, the inexperienced but well-meaning Laning beating back the corruption of the self-interested hacks of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.
Jun 3, 2015
Lobbying Firm Wants Total Control of Wisconsin Dem Party for Profit
Want to know why the once prominent and progressive Democratic Party of Wisconsin (DPW) keeps getting waxed?
Scott Walker and Republicans are only part of the reason. The DPW has also abandoned public service and grassroots party building because lobbyists and flunkies looking for a quick buck are running the Party.
And, as anyone living in Wisconsin since 2010 knows, this bunch knows virtually nothing about running campaigns, throwing away race after race.
Chris 'Capper' Liebenthal at the Wisconsin Urban and Rural Progressive Coalition notes the effort of the for-profit lobbying firm, Nation Consulting [which does work for Republicans], to transform the Wisconsin Democratic Party into less than it is now.
Nation Consulting is based in Milwaukee and one of its senior associates, Jason Rae, is running for Chair of the Democratic Party this coming weekend at the convention sited in Milwaukee, per Rae and Nation Consulting's ally, outgoing Wisconsin Dem Party Chair Mike Tate.
Nation Consulting has already effectively taken control of the Milwaukee County Dems. Milwaukee County Democratic Party members have let the word out that under Jason Rae/Nation Consulting's machinations, the Chair of the Milwaukee County Democratic Party is choosing their delegates to the state convention based on how much they support Jason Rae for Chair.
Writes Liebenthal:
Others tell me Joe Wineke has enough support statewide in rural Wisconsin to spring a surprise.
We'll see this Saturday. In the meantime, Scott Walker isn't breaking into a sweat worrying about the Democratic Party of Wisconsin getting its act together.
Well, maybe the feckless former Dem spokesperson Graeme Zielinski will pray for the Dems to throw itself to the higher power, fake Democrat Milwaukee County Exec Chris Abele.
Scott Walker and Republicans are only part of the reason. The DPW has also abandoned public service and grassroots party building because lobbyists and flunkies looking for a quick buck are running the Party.
And, as anyone living in Wisconsin since 2010 knows, this bunch knows virtually nothing about running campaigns, throwing away race after race.
Chris 'Capper' Liebenthal at the Wisconsin Urban and Rural Progressive Coalition notes the effort of the for-profit lobbying firm, Nation Consulting [which does work for Republicans], to transform the Wisconsin Democratic Party into less than it is now.
Nation Consulting is based in Milwaukee and one of its senior associates, Jason Rae, is running for Chair of the Democratic Party this coming weekend at the convention sited in Milwaukee, per Rae and Nation Consulting's ally, outgoing Wisconsin Dem Party Chair Mike Tate.
Nation Consulting has already effectively taken control of the Milwaukee County Dems. Milwaukee County Democratic Party members have let the word out that under Jason Rae/Nation Consulting's machinations, the Chair of the Milwaukee County Democratic Party is choosing their delegates to the state convention based on how much they support Jason Rae for Chair.
Writes Liebenthal:
Nation Consulting's Andy Suchorski was elected Corresponding Secretary at [the] Nov. 27, 2013 meeting of the Milwaukee County Dems. Notice he still does not have a Bio under his name like the other [officers]. That's because he is an employee of Nation Consulting [a supporter of Republicans]. These guys are clearly scheming to control the Wisconsin Dems. Also, notice in Nation Consulting bio link, Andy Suchorski bio does not mention he is secretary for Milwaukee County Dems. Clearly an attempt to hide his ties to Nation Consulting.There are several good candidates challenging Tate's handpicked Jason Rae from Nation Consulting, but unless two of the candidates get together, the rigged election appears already over to some observers.
Others tell me Joe Wineke has enough support statewide in rural Wisconsin to spring a surprise.
We'll see this Saturday. In the meantime, Scott Walker isn't breaking into a sweat worrying about the Democratic Party of Wisconsin getting its act together.
Well, maybe the feckless former Dem spokesperson Graeme Zielinski will pray for the Dems to throw itself to the higher power, fake Democrat Milwaukee County Exec Chris Abele.
Jun 2, 2015
Joe Wineke Has Solutions for Ailing Wisconsin Dems
Back in 1989-90 when the notorious Enron Co. was a hard asset pipeline entity, its subsidiary tried to ram an environmentally destructive natural gas pipeline through northern Green and Dane counties.
Small communities like Paoli and Belleville joined larger cities, such as Fitchburg and Madison, in knocking down the effort, successfully moving the pipeline to a different route.
What was striking was the bipartisan opposition from then Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin), State Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Middleton), State Rep. Joe Wineke (D-Verona), State Sen. Chuck Chvala (D-Madison) and local Republicans such as Dane County Supervisors Denise Solie and the late Lyman F. Anderson of Oregon with legal assistance of super attorneys, Ed Garvey and Michael R Bauer.
Farmers, landowners, environmentalists, radicals, progressives and other citizens joined together across parties to protect the land and the Little Sugar River and in colorful terms told Enron what to do with their pipeline idea.
What is sorely missing from politics throughout the country is this kind of bi-partisan support for issues that matter greatly to local populations. Joe Wineke would bring that much-needed focus back to Wisconsin politics.
I had some coffee in January with Joe Wineke (who was my most prolific source for a Capital Times series on the Enron pipeline), discussing his current run for the chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin (DPW), which he had held in 2005-09.
I said to Wineke: Everyone, I mean everyone, from Sunny Schubert of the Wisconsin State Journal to Isthmus and the Capital Times to every politico I talked to went to bat for the citizens of Green and Dane counties, never missing an opportunity to blast Enron and Northern Natural Gas for what Chvala called the "off-the-charts arrogance" of Enron.
“That wouldn't happen today. The Republicans have abandoned their constituents for special interests. Republicans are the most extreme, the most destructive I have ever seen them operate and this is precisely because they have abandoned the people who they are supposed to be in office for," said Wineke. "What floors me is the cavalier way they have attacked public schools, which is a blow across the state and especially rural communities. What we need to protect the people of Wisconsin is effective representation. But first we have to win elections. When I was Chair, we fielded a variety of candidates in every legislative and local race we could, not just competing in the ‘so-called’ competitive seats. Not to mention we were pretty darn successful in doing it, filling the vast majority of seats for the Assembly and Senate. [But] in 2014, we left 31 Assembly Republicans off with ‘free rides.’ If I am elected Chair those days are over.”
Facing the massive amount of money (open and dark), the domination of Wisconsin government by the Republican Party, and the fecklessness of the Democratic Party, Wineke was asked if the DPW needs the political equivalent of the Manhattan Project.
“Yes, but you have to remember you have to dance with the girl or boy that brung you, i.e., we can’t change the rules right now. The United State Supreme Court five years ago stacked the deck for rich people and corporations to play the elections. Somehow, a corporation is a person who has the right to vote? I don’t even know who that person is,” said Wineke. “But until we can get a better Supreme Court, and if we can elect a Democratic president in 2016, which is one of my top goals, along with getting back the U.S. Senate seat in 2016 and I sure hope Russ Feingold runs [he is], if we can elect Hillary and we have four to eight more years of a Democratic presidency, we will get a Supreme Court that will be better on these issues that doesn’t kowtow to the billionaire crowd. And then we will be able to fix the mess we are in. Until then, we have to play by the rules we got and since we cannot compete dollar-to-dollar with the Koch brothers and the Republicans we have to go grassroots. And grassroots is the way it should be anyway.”
Wineke sees a once dominant state Democratic party that has abandoned the fundamentals of running campaigns.
“Democrats have been so focused on their hatred with Scott Walker, the problem the Democrats have is that we identified ourselves as against Scott Walker but we’re not getting through with our own message. We need an opportunity agenda. What I want do is: Economic security, educational opportunity and equal opportunity.” Wineke says, “I don’t believe in confiscatory tax rates, punishing people because of wealth. It is really true the current system is just ripping off the poor and working class, Joe and Jane lunch bucket making $25,000 to $50,000 a year are in trouble right now.”
Wineke says if he is elected and the Democrats lose more seats, he'll resign. If the Party loses seats after his prospective two-year term, the former legislator of 16 years said by phone, “I’ll promise to leave the post because I would not have been doing my job. Look, since September, 2012 I have been retired; I don’t need the money. What’s driving me is the direction our state and our party are careening.”
Wineke several times brought the conversation back to the mechanics of running campaigns.
“Message. Message. Recruitment of candidates. Message. When I talk about that opportunity agenda, I’m talking about creating a simple message that we pound home over and over. And the point I want to really raise on this is the sharp contrast between where a Democrat stands and where a Republican stands so that people have a clear idea that if you’re concerned about the future of your rural school—and in a rural area the school is the community center, everything revolves around the rural school district—if you care about equality for people so your child is not being discriminated against because they happen to be black, they happen to be gay, they happen to Native-American, vote for the Democrat because the other side is pandering to prejudice.”
There are five announced candidates for the election of the of the Chair of the Democratic Party next weekend in Milwaukee.
Unless two candidates for chair come together to defeat Tate's hand-picked successor, Jason Rae (who would spell disaster for the people of Wisconsin), I don't see anyone other than Rae winning this rigged election held in Rae's hometown, per Tate.
That's another fundamental Wineke mentioned: Coalition building and grassroots against special interests. "You don't win from the top-down," said Wineke last year on the Joy Cardin show (WPR).
I strongly urge the delegates to the Wisconsin Democratic convention to vote for Joe Wineke for chair.
Small communities like Paoli and Belleville joined larger cities, such as Fitchburg and Madison, in knocking down the effort, successfully moving the pipeline to a different route.
What was striking was the bipartisan opposition from then Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin), State Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Middleton), State Rep. Joe Wineke (D-Verona), State Sen. Chuck Chvala (D-Madison) and local Republicans such as Dane County Supervisors Denise Solie and the late Lyman F. Anderson of Oregon with legal assistance of super attorneys, Ed Garvey and Michael R Bauer.
Farmers, landowners, environmentalists, radicals, progressives and other citizens joined together across parties to protect the land and the Little Sugar River and in colorful terms told Enron what to do with their pipeline idea.
What is sorely missing from politics throughout the country is this kind of bi-partisan support for issues that matter greatly to local populations. Joe Wineke would bring that much-needed focus back to Wisconsin politics.
I had some coffee in January with Joe Wineke (who was my most prolific source for a Capital Times series on the Enron pipeline), discussing his current run for the chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin (DPW), which he had held in 2005-09.
I said to Wineke: Everyone, I mean everyone, from Sunny Schubert of the Wisconsin State Journal to Isthmus and the Capital Times to every politico I talked to went to bat for the citizens of Green and Dane counties, never missing an opportunity to blast Enron and Northern Natural Gas for what Chvala called the "off-the-charts arrogance" of Enron.
“That wouldn't happen today. The Republicans have abandoned their constituents for special interests. Republicans are the most extreme, the most destructive I have ever seen them operate and this is precisely because they have abandoned the people who they are supposed to be in office for," said Wineke. "What floors me is the cavalier way they have attacked public schools, which is a blow across the state and especially rural communities. What we need to protect the people of Wisconsin is effective representation. But first we have to win elections. When I was Chair, we fielded a variety of candidates in every legislative and local race we could, not just competing in the ‘so-called’ competitive seats. Not to mention we were pretty darn successful in doing it, filling the vast majority of seats for the Assembly and Senate. [But] in 2014, we left 31 Assembly Republicans off with ‘free rides.’ If I am elected Chair those days are over.”
Facing the massive amount of money (open and dark), the domination of Wisconsin government by the Republican Party, and the fecklessness of the Democratic Party, Wineke was asked if the DPW needs the political equivalent of the Manhattan Project.
“Yes, but you have to remember you have to dance with the girl or boy that brung you, i.e., we can’t change the rules right now. The United State Supreme Court five years ago stacked the deck for rich people and corporations to play the elections. Somehow, a corporation is a person who has the right to vote? I don’t even know who that person is,” said Wineke. “But until we can get a better Supreme Court, and if we can elect a Democratic president in 2016, which is one of my top goals, along with getting back the U.S. Senate seat in 2016 and I sure hope Russ Feingold runs [he is], if we can elect Hillary and we have four to eight more years of a Democratic presidency, we will get a Supreme Court that will be better on these issues that doesn’t kowtow to the billionaire crowd. And then we will be able to fix the mess we are in. Until then, we have to play by the rules we got and since we cannot compete dollar-to-dollar with the Koch brothers and the Republicans we have to go grassroots. And grassroots is the way it should be anyway.”
Wineke sees a once dominant state Democratic party that has abandoned the fundamentals of running campaigns.
“Democrats have been so focused on their hatred with Scott Walker, the problem the Democrats have is that we identified ourselves as against Scott Walker but we’re not getting through with our own message. We need an opportunity agenda. What I want do is: Economic security, educational opportunity and equal opportunity.” Wineke says, “I don’t believe in confiscatory tax rates, punishing people because of wealth. It is really true the current system is just ripping off the poor and working class, Joe and Jane lunch bucket making $25,000 to $50,000 a year are in trouble right now.”
Wineke says if he is elected and the Democrats lose more seats, he'll resign. If the Party loses seats after his prospective two-year term, the former legislator of 16 years said by phone, “I’ll promise to leave the post because I would not have been doing my job. Look, since September, 2012 I have been retired; I don’t need the money. What’s driving me is the direction our state and our party are careening.”
Wineke several times brought the conversation back to the mechanics of running campaigns.
“Message. Message. Recruitment of candidates. Message. When I talk about that opportunity agenda, I’m talking about creating a simple message that we pound home over and over. And the point I want to really raise on this is the sharp contrast between where a Democrat stands and where a Republican stands so that people have a clear idea that if you’re concerned about the future of your rural school—and in a rural area the school is the community center, everything revolves around the rural school district—if you care about equality for people so your child is not being discriminated against because they happen to be black, they happen to be gay, they happen to Native-American, vote for the Democrat because the other side is pandering to prejudice.”
There are five announced candidates for the election of the of the Chair of the Democratic Party next weekend in Milwaukee.
Unless two candidates for chair come together to defeat Tate's hand-picked successor, Jason Rae (who would spell disaster for the people of Wisconsin), I don't see anyone other than Rae winning this rigged election held in Rae's hometown, per Tate.
That's another fundamental Wineke mentioned: Coalition building and grassroots against special interests. "You don't win from the top-down," said Wineke last year on the Joy Cardin show (WPR).
I strongly urge the delegates to the Wisconsin Democratic convention to vote for Joe Wineke for chair.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)