At a recent professional conference of publishers and editors from business publications across the country in Providence, R.I., I can’t tell you how many times I was asked a version of the following question: “What in the hell is happening to Wisconsin?”
Indeed.
The national spotlight has chronicled each and every wacky turn. Rallies and Capitol sleepovers. Drumbeats and sing-alongs. Senators fleeing the state and living on the lam. A prank phone call gets through to Gov. Scott Walker. Laws being passed in violation of the state’s open meetings act (“Just because we can.”) Supreme Court justices upholding those laws anyway. Collective bargaining rights being revoked for some, upheld for others. Temporary restraining orders. Federal lawsuits. Missing ballots. Recounts. Protesters drowning out the governor with boos and chants of “shame” at a public ceremony. Recall elections featuring “fake” Democrats on the ballot. Sudden redistricting plans being drawn behind closed doors without local input.
We’ve even got one Supreme Court justice accusing another of putting her in a chokehold.
No matter which side of the aisle you are on, Wisconsin’s national political image has been forever changed in the past six months.
So, who in his right mind would want to voluntarily enter this nasty fray?
Well, one who is considering just such a venture is former Bucyrus International Inc. chief executive officer Tim Sullivan.
The ink hadn’t even dried on Caterpillar Inc.’s recent acquisition of Oak Creek-based Bucyrus when Sullivan’s company e-mail and voicemail accounts were turned off and he walked out the door to ponder his next move.
Sullivan told my good friend Mike Gousha of WISN-Channel 12 that he has not yet made up his mind about whether or not he will throw his hat into the ring to succeed Herb Kohl in the U.S. Senate.
If he runs, Sullivan said he would do so as an independent.
“I couldn’t pick sides. Quite frankly, I have a problem with both sides,” Sullivan said. “The whole country was founded on collaboration and compromise. I don't know what happened.”
Indeed, America’s two-party system has devolved into a dysfunctional mess. To win primaries, Republicans must receive the blessing of the Tea Party purists, and Democrats must attain the seal of approval from the labor unions. There is no room for compromise on either side.
The moderates have been cast to the sides or flushed out all together. When was the last time you heard a politician say, “I’m a moderate.” In fact, the notion of being willing to cross the aisle for compromise to do the right thing for the people is akin to treason to the party faithful on both ends of the political spectrum.
In his farewell address to the American people, George Washington warned against the inherent evils of political parties. The first president feared that powerful parties could lead people to put their partisan politics ahead of their patriotism and the pursuit of what is best for the country.
"The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism,” Washington wrote.
If Sullivan could run and win without the restrictions of a party label, it would be a breath of fresh air for democracy in Wisconsin. But in the meantime, I’m not going to hold my breath.
Steve Jagler is executive editor of BizTimes Milwaukee.
15 Comments
Walker + Fitzgeralds + Prosser + Darling = Extremists who are turning Wisconsin into Wississippi. Let's recall all of these idiots.
I don't vote for a party, I vote for candidates that will support my position on the issues. So, I don't care what letter Sullivan runs with after his name. What I'd like to know is, what his positions are on the issues? The "golly-gee, I'm against what both sides are doing" isn't a winning platform. I saw his interview with Gousha a few weeks ago and he had took no position on the issues the electorate cares about. Is it that he has the proverbial "finger in the wind" to see what's popular, or does he have any solid stances? It's way to early to throw support behind a guy that only seems concerned with the the current political climate.
Let's face it, if you do not stand for something, you stand for nothing. We have reached a point where the fundamental approach to government is being questioned. We have been a largely "ungoverned" nation for years. Now, as the governement gets more and more involved in the processes that affect our lives, there seems to be those who say "keep going" and those who say "stop". Compromise has led to budget deficits and a growing inability to be able to live without some level of government assistance and oversight. Sometimes compromise needs to be evaluated based on what is being given up. Compromise may not be that good when it leads to greater problems in the future. Tim Sullivam may run for the Senate, but he will have to indicate his positions. Once he does that, how many votes will he get if he says that he will compromise to the point of not holding to his positions? Unfortunaltely, the editorial is mostly just "letting off steam" and is really not about any level of compromise. Mr. Sullivan's potential run for the Senate is not very relevant in that context.
Unfortunately, there can be no compromise with the Tea Party. Those freshman lawmakers who rode the Tea Party into office are all beholden to a stupid Grover Norquist pledge and are stuck singing the one-note no tax increase tune. Boehner knows that if he were to compromise, he would be thrown out of the Speaker's office because of the Tea Party crazies. It's a freak show. The lunatics are now running the asylum. There is no compromising that can be done with zealots.
Walker is the most extreme governor in the country.
Interesting the number of left leaning to extreme raging lunatic left wingers who like to post on the SBT site. 2 people make reasoned points and then there are those that have never had to sign the front of a paycheck (only the back after the union dues have been deducted). Our boy scout guv has brought this state back from the edge and guess what, the world did not end. We need that same leadership nationally but what we have is an empty suit trying to get re-elected by dividing, NOT LEADING. It's pathetic and so are those that are now crying & screaming that no one is going to pay for the free ice cream they have been getting for years. What we need is another boy scout from Wisconsin...Paul Ryan to save this country from becoming a Euroland Socialistic mess. On Wisconsin!!!
Great post Steve. I stand for data and pragmatism, something both parties fail to pay enough attention to. Collaboration is not compromise. Collaboration is two people finding solutions that achieve a shared goal (more jobs, less debt) that neither side would have come up with on its own - it is a win win outcome. When either side is unwilling to listen to learn, or respect others points of view then there can be no collaboration and we end up with the mess that we're in.
A few observations:
- These columns about moderation seem to only come out when Republicans are in charge.
- A person with my political beliefs could never get elected. I agree with everything Walker has done on the budget so the Unions would certainly hate me. I'd be accused of beating up kids and seniors and perhaps even ending Medicare. Then again, I have no issue with gay marriage and am generally liberal on most social issues. While liberals would embrace that side of me, they would hate the fact that I'm pro-life. Conservatives would feel that I was not pure enough on the social issues although I'm with them on their big issue of pro-life I'm not quite there on many of the other things they stand for.
- I'm not sure that my beliefs make me a moderate. I try to come to a reasonable conclusion on an issue by issue basis, but I'm firm in my beliefs which would alienate both sides of the aisle.
- I think what commentators like Mr. Jagler really want when they say they want "moderation" is a left-leaning solution to things.
Interesting that the dialog of comments here reflects what is happening nationally and in Wisconsin. To the tea party extremists, anything short of endorsing their extreme positions is considered "left-leaning." There can be no reasonable compromise in the middle, there can be no moderation in their minds. They are wackos, and they're against anyone who isn't wacko like them. And boy scout governor? Um, yeah, I suppose. After all, he dropped out of college, so boy scout was about as far as he got.
I'm all for opinions -- fact based opinions. The idea that we need voter ID because of rampant voter fraud or conceal/carry because of "bad guys oozing through your windows or that tax cuts pay for themselves is pure nonsense -- just for starters. But the problem is the hated "liberal" news media seldom calls them out on it and worse, set up a false equivalency (see creationism).
I hardly know of a single elected liberal politician who is far to the fringe of the left as the T-Partiers that have been put in office. Add in their refusal to discuss on the basis of facts and dialogue is damned difficult.
In the old days, Republicans used to argue on facts. No more. I spent a Sunday night wincing and groaning through Jim Sensenbrenner's howlers.
One of the most hilarious on this string is the reference to our "boy scout governor." We are just in the first month of the Walker budget -- not enough time to create a single job by the way -- and so have no idea of what it will do.
But we know what he has done. Boy scouts are supposed to leave the campsite cleaner than when they found it. Not this one when it came to Milwaukee county government.
Apparently being against ever-increasing taxes and government spending is considered to be "extremist", "idiotic", "stupid", etc. in lefty land. Its funny how the lefties will shriek when the other people's money pot is taken away from them.
But with regards to compromise- Where was the Jagler compromise editorial when the dems/socialists had all the power in Wisconsin? Did Jagler editorialize against the Doyle late night budget and billion dollar tax increases? I'm sure his lefty friend didn't call then and ask about what was going on in Wisconsin. Because that is what Wisconsin naturally did under lefty control- increase taxes, create new taxes, increase govt. spending, increase the budget deficit, squeeze anyone and anything that could feed the ever-growing lefty government beast. Did Jagler then yearn for some compromise with the anti-tax and spending crowd? Just curious.
There was a time when the responsible adults on both sides eventually got together and herded enough of the stray cats to get the right thing done. Not anymore. These Tea Party people are signing pledges before they even get into office and will not compromise. Ever. And the Republican Party has decided to let these mutants run their show. Hey Marsh: There can be no compromising with a lunatic. But then, you already knew that.
Hey Keith, that's a priceless example of liberal eliteism. I've gotta bookmark that one. I'll also identify a few far lefties that make tea partiers look moderate for ya. Bernie sanders, Kucinich, Maxine Waters, Lena Taylor, Gavin Newsome. Some of my favorites. A couple are self-admitted socialists to take the cake.
Bruce Bartlett, former deputy assistant treasury secretary for George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, has the straight answers, the real answers, here. However, someone so reasonable – and honest - would not even be allowed in the room with the Tea Party calling the shots today.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/43917503#43917503
Socialists Joe have done a heck of a better job running the city of Milwaukee than Scott Walker did with the county.
I fear for what he is going to do to the state. He was over his head when had is old job. Too bad people fooled themselves into thinking he had the answer to creating jobs in Wisconsin.
He doesn't have a clue, thought there is evidence he really doesn't care because if he does get booted out of office the Kochs are waiting with the first private sector job he will ever have.