BEN WIKLER FOR DNC CHAIR
Democrats have never needed this proven winner more ...
On Saturday, Democratic insiders will gather just outside of Washington, D.C., to take an early, but important step in the journey out of the political wilderness: electing their party’s next national chair.
Just three months from losing the House, Senate and the presidency, the party must move quickly to restore faith in their voters that they can effectively punch back against a morally bankrupt Republican Party, that has proven it can always go lower to attain and hold power.
Safe to say, the party of Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Obama has never needed bold, brave, and new leadership more than it does right now.
We are reeling as the convicted felon who already violently attacked us once aims to finish us off for good. It’s early days, and I wish the very least I could say about about the Democrats’ response to this latest attack is that it has been chaotic.
Except it hasn’t even been that.
Mostly, there has been silence, handwringing, and just more of the same vanilla-flavored leadership that helped get us into this mess in the first place.
Let me give you a quick example of how badly Democratic leadership, or what passes for it lately, is failing us right now: The traitor, Trump, has got our — OUR — federal government in his blurry crosshairs. He is doing what he does best, lashing out and breaking things. We know he has no real answers for anything that ails us, unless renaming the Gulf of Mexico will bring down the cost of groceries.
There are hundreds of thousands of civil servants who are scared to death. That is not an overstatement. The past few days, I have spoken with a few of them who work in government at deputy-director level positions and above, and in addition to being scared, they are angry as hell.
According to one, “We aren’t hearing anything from anybody.”
So go ahead and tell me what the Dems’ response to this, and them, has been — I mean besides releasing strongly worded press releases, and begging for campaign funds.
Where are the members of Joe Biden’s cabinet, for instance? Understand: These civil servants spent the past four years reshaping the government in these cabinet members’ vision. They did nothing but show up to work each day, and Democrat, Republican or Independent, rowed together in service of the American people and at the direction of these officials.
Now their jobs and their lives are on the line. Not to mention the tens of millions of Americans who depend on these people to do those jobs.
Why aren’t these former cabinet members speaking up and defending these people right now while they are under attack by an anti-American lowlife like Elon Musk, who shouldn’t be within three countries of our federal government?
WHERE ARE THEY?
They all should be EVERYWHERE right now explaining what these workers do for all of the American public, and the real-life jeopardy they and their families are in as this wrecking ball destroys their lives. And when they are done doing that, they need to explain the pain ALL Americans will feel if the despicable Musk has his way.
They are subject-matter experts on these things, and they need to give these workers the same respect that was given to them during their time in government.
They don’t deserve this. WE don’t deserve this.
So to all of you former cabinet members out there: Get your shit together. You are failing the most basic test of leadership, by leaving the troops who served you behind. I promise you this won’t be forgotten when some of you invariably resurface to throw in for big jobs on the national stage.
So … high-level griping aside, back to this clandestine meeting outside of D.C., where 448 voting members of the lately inept DNC, will choose a new leader …
I admittedly have concerns that such secrecy surrounds this event, because things that are planted in the shadows will always do better in the light. Americans deserve to hear the debate over who will lead us, even if they have absolutely no say in the matter.
What is being discussed? What do these voting members think is the most important thing for the party’s next leader? Where did we fail in 2024, and how is that being addressed?
End of the day, I suppose I have some level of confidence that the most important question of all is being asked over and over again:
Who gives us the best chance to win?
So here’s where I vigorously throw my support in for Wisconsin’s Democratic State Party Chair Ben Wikler to help lead us back to the top of the mountain.
I am not an expert on what looks to be his main challengers, Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chair Ken Martin, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, and Faiz Shakir, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) former campaign manager, but I do know plenty about Wikler, and he has repeatedly shown he knows how to win.
It’s hard to describe to an outsider just how bad things were here in Wisconsin for Democrats in 2016. Things seemed hopeless. That’s the year Trump beat Hillary Clinton and Moscow’s now-favorite senator, Ron Johnson, convincingly thrashed the favored Russ Feingold.
Bleak is the kindest word I can come up with to describe things at the time.
Since taking over leadership here in Wisconsin in the wake of Democrats’ last big hurrah in the 2018 midterms, when they dramatically flipped the Congress, and had a net gain of seven gubernatorial races, including here in Wisconsin, Wikler’s Democrats have won eight of 11 statewide races. That’s a damn good batting average in a state that is the most 50-50 battleground in America.
Most important, Democrats under Wikler’s leadership, won a liberal majority in the state Supreme Court, that was responsible for finally securing fair congressional maps to the most Republican gerrymandered state in this country.
Yes, Democrats failed to deliver the state to Kamala Harris in November, but turnout wasn’t the problem. Harris actually secured more votes than Joe Biden in 2020, but Republican turnout simply overwhelmed us. Democrat Tammy Baldwin narrowly held onto her Senate seat, however.
Wikler is a tireless worker, and believes in competing everywhere, not just in Democratic bastions. He has assembled a network of hubs throughout Wisconsin that work tirelessly to drive turnout in their respective areas, and spread the good word.
He’s literally a giant of a man, standing 6’5”, but is kind, polite, and able to work a room. He’s also turned into a damn good speaker, and most recently kicked off many major rallies here headlined by Obama, Harris and others.
Relatable, is about the best way to describe all that.
I have every confidence that if Wikler secures the top job, a good old-fashioned work ethic will not be lacking at the DNC.
I have also heard through party faithful here in Wisconsin that Wikler understands that the communications landscape has radically changed, and that there’s far more to reaching voters than knocking on doors, and giving your phone a good working over.
If that’s all it took we would have won up here by 20 points in November, because Republicans beat us despite not having any noticeable signs of a ground game. Meanwhile, we were on the ground everywhere, for all the good it did us …
I have absolutely no sound intel about who will prevail Saturday, though I see Nancy Pelosi threw her support to him Wednesday night, which could be a sign of things to come.
The first to 225 votes wins.
I do know this, though: This needs to get settled pronto, and Democrats need to move out. Our country is once again under attack from a madman, and we need to take the fight to the bastards like never before.
Ben Wikler should be the person leading the charge.
(D. Earl Stephens is the author of “Toxic Tales: A Caustic Collection of Donald J. Trump’s Very Important Letters” and finished up a 30-year career in journalism as the Managing Editor of Stars and Stripes. You can find all his work here, and follow him on Bluesky here.)
If he can get the Dems to wake up and do something besides whine and handwring I'm 💯 behind him.
If we don't do something quick to PROVE we're the party of farmers, laborers, the poor as well as the middle and upper classes we'll just continue to lose.
Moved to SE WI from suburban Chicago 10 yrs ago. In less than a year, we regretted it.
Ben Wikler is the only reason I feel a bit of hope remaining here.
I trust Wikler to chose a qualified replacement for his position here if he wins the DNC chair - hopefully!
I don't think the Democrat powers that be understand how angry their constituents are towards their 'leadership'.
I'm personally seething!