The Wisconsin State Journal reported this about Wisconsin Democrats, who with the exceptions of one presidential race (in a state that hasn’t given its Electoral College votes to a Republican since 1984) and one U.S. Senate race are 0 for the 2010s:
Wisconsin Democrats, hobbled by losses over the past six years, see this November as a chance to start winning.
Since 2010, they’ve lost a U.S. Senate seat, three gubernatorial elections to Gov. Scott Walker, two attorney general elections, control of the Assembly and Senate (twice).In the most recent election, they saw a three-time Walker appointee elected to the state Supreme Court, expanding its conservative majority. They’ve also seen their key ally — labor unions — atrophy after Republicans passed laws targeting them.
But Democrats smell opportunity this fall, starting with the rematch between GOP U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and Russ Feingold, the Democrat he displaced in 2010.
That, coupled with a presidential race in which Republicans face deep internal fissures, and stumbles at the state level by ruling Republicans, have Wisconsin Democrats hoping to turn the tide. …
History puts wind at the backs of Wisconsin Democrats in a presidential election year, state party chairwoman Martha Laning noted. Wisconsin has voted Democratic in every presidential election since 1984.
The flip-side of that opportunity, said UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden, is that it puts Democrats in a must-win position. If they can’t capitalize on advantageous circumstances this fall — in the context of the last six years, and with a larger turnout that typically works to their benefit — the consequences would be disastrous, Burden said.
“If that were to happen, the Democratic Party would be not much more than a shell,” Burden said.
Former Democratic Party chairman Joe Wineke agreed that a Feingold loss in November would be “pretty devastating.” …
Democrats tell the Wisconsin State Journal they’re increasingly recognizing the value of backing candidates in local races for city councils and school boards.
They also recognize the 2018 election will be crucial. The winner of the gubernatorial election will have veto authority over the legislative district maps that get redrawn after 2020. Democrats frequently mention partisan redistricting that occurred after the 2010 election as part of the reason why they have been helpless to block the Republican legislative agenda.
Also in 2018, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, whose 2012 defeat of former Gov. Tommy Thompson remains the Democrats’ brightest victory of the past six years, will be up for re-election.
“If this was just the governor, it probably would be tougher for the Democrats,” Wineke said. “But Tammy Baldwin will excite the liberal base. If we can get a Democratic candidate who can get the right message and raise the resources you need, it’s very doable to win the governorship back.”
Still, the campaign challenges facing Democrats are significant. They include the likelihood they will be outspent, plummeting union membership and — to a far greater extent in Wisconsin than nationally — an energized and unified Republican establishment.
Brandon Scholz, a Republican strategist and former director of the state GOP, said Democrats’ weakened position in the state showed in their failure earlier this month to beat conservative incumbent Justice Rebecca Bradley.
“When you’re going up against a majority that has all the resources … it’s awfully hard to pull yourself out of the desert,” Scholz said.
The story goes on to mention something I brought up here last week:
But as the Supreme Court race demonstrated, relying on antipathy toward [Gov. Scott] Walker may not be enough to carry the day.
Republicans nationally and in Wisconsin have done a better job than Democrats in promoting a brand, said Mike McCabe, founder of Blue Jean Nation, a nonpartisan grassroots group that advocates for “citizen-centered, people-powered politics.”
McCabe said Republicans have conveyed to voters the principles in which their positions are rooted – less government, lower taxes and individual freedom – while Democrats struggled to do the same.
Interestingly, no one quoted after McCabe in the story had a response to McCabe.
Also interestingly, no one quoted the senior Democratic member of the Wisconsin Congressional delegation, U.S. Rep. Ron Kind (D–La Crosse), who sent this news release separately:
U.S. Representative Ron Kind (WI-03), Chair of the New Democrat Coalition, will speak with hundreds of business leaders from across the country on a conference call Tuesday to discuss the Coalition’s American Prosperity Agenda. He will provide an overview of progress on the agenda and gather input from participating business leaders.
The New Democrat Coalition developed the American Prosperity Agenda as a set of guidelines to help America remain competitive in a changing economy. The agenda focuses on supporting U.S. small businesses by increasing access to capital, expanding export opportunities, and investing in innovation.
Congressman Kind will update business leaders on the Coalition’s legislative progress, and business leaders will provide feedback on how initiatives would help their companies.
Remember the New Democrats? Apparently they never got to Wisconsin.
Kind is successful enough as a politician in that he keeps getting reelected in a relatively swing district, and he comes across in public far better than, say, the previous Democratic chair, let alone people who are supposed to represent the Democratic Party in the media. Of course, the state Democratic Party has demonized business for so long that the concept of not being knee-jerk hostile to business must be a foreign concept at Dumocrat headquarters.
Steve Prestegard.com: The Presteblog 
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