Rodriguez And Crowley Have Some Explaining To Do

Both Sara Rodriguez and David Crowley owe the public for their recent behavior.

All of the gubernatorial candidates were invited to a forum hosted by the Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance and the Wisconsin Muslim Civic Foundation.  Rodriguez and Crowley had originally accepted, but they backed out when they were provided the questions ahead of the forum. 

The questions included whether the attacks occurring in Gaza were a genocide and whether there should be a formal boycott of Israel.  

Both campaigns offered a mealy-mouth excuse on why they couldn't attend and offered to meet with the groups privately. 

That will not suffice. The public deserves to know why they were afraid to show up and answer those questions. 

If Rodriguez wants to serve the people in Wisconsin, how do we know she will serve all of the people in Wisconsin and not just certain groups?  Likewise, even though Crowley dropped out of the gubernatorial race, Milwaukee County has a Muslim population, as well. Is he representing them or not?

After all, Islamophobia is just as bad as antisemitism or any other form of bigotry, and we need to know if we are voting for bigots or not.  

At least there's no doubt about Tom Tiffany. All he does is blow his racist dog whistle.

The Democrats Have A Listening Problem

For years, people would say that the Democrats had a messaging problem, which is true. However, their messaging problem is secondary to a listening problem. 

For example, in 2014, as Wisconsin began to feel the real impact of Act 10, people wanted someone to take on Scott Walker and reverse the Republican attack on workers. Instead, Mike Tate and the Democrats forced Mary Burke, a millionaire who said she liked parts of Act 10, on us. They weren't listening, and Burke lost.

In 2016, we were calling for Hillary Clinton to come to Wisconsin. She didn't listen to us, never came to the state, lost the state, and the election to Donald Trump.

In 2024, people from all over the country said that they didn't want their tax money going to Benjamin Netanyahu's genocide against Palestine. But Kamala Harris told us she was talking, so she didn't listen, and then we got a Trump presidency again.  

Jeff Simpson and I would complain about this until we were blue in the face. And the establishment Democrats would only say, "Sit down, shut up, and vote the way we tell you to vote."  Needless to say, it rarely worked out well for them.

Unfortunately, this year isn't looking any better.  The people are calling for an end to the corruption. They are calling an end to the grift. And they are calling for an end to the rich not paying their fair share. 

So what does the Democratic establishment do?  They give us Sarah Rodriguez, who takes PAC money left and right, including from the power company after she voted their way.  They give us Sarah Godlewski, a millionaire who doesn't have to pay taxes. 

Unfortunately, Godlewski is a given because no one good is running. But if the establishment forces a Rodriguez-Godlewski ticket, there could be a serious enthusiasm gap, like there was in 2024.. And if they should lose, the Dems will just do what they always do. Blame the voters they didn't bother listening to.

Good job, guys.