If you’ve been reading my recent columns, you know that this has been the summer of my discontent with the Democratic Party. This week’s column represents the latest in a series this summer in which I’ve hoped to provide some thoughtful reflection on the current state of the Democratic Party, both nationally and here within Wisconsin. I’m primarily concerned that what should have been an easy mid-term cycle for Democrats (and still will be in most contested House races across the nation), has been made much more difficult, not by Republicans but rather by Democrats running problematic candidates in several high-stakes races. For example, Graham Platner in Maine, who has since dropped out of the Senate race there, had a number of issues ranging from having a Nazi symbol tattooed on his chest to allegations of sexual assault. And now the rise of Democratic Socialism within the party threatens to cost Democrats two tremendously important races in purple states. Last week Dr. Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic primary for Senate in Michigan, a state that voted for President Trump two out of the past three elections. Here in Wisconsin the primary was yesterday (too late for the results to be known in time for the writing of this column), but every major poll has Democratic Socialist Assemblywoman Francesca Hong leading the primary.
We should know by the time this column runs whether the polls were right (the Michigan primary ended up much closer than polls said it would be), but if Hong ends up being the Democrats’ nominee for governor, she needs to get a better staff around her, because as it currently stands, she often comes off as a candidate who is not ready for prime time. Now presumably, if she does win the nomination, the national and state party will get behind her and those resources, including campaign professionals, will greatly aid her.
Hong’s issues were on display in a CNN interview she did last week with Kaitlin Collins. First, she did not look like the frontrunner of one of the major parties. Poor lighting, looking down at her computer like it was an interoffice Zoom call, only one campaign sign behind her. Campaigning is about projecting, and appearances matter. I want to be crystal clear that I’m not commenting on her personal appearance, as someone who has worked for female candidates, I am well aware of the double standard that female candidates face in terms of appearance. Nobody ever comments on how male candidates look, but their female counterparts are constantly put under the spotlight. No, I am talking about atmosphere. If you are going to be the frontrunner, and potentially now nominee, of a major party for governor, you need professional lighting, you need a professional camera set up, and you need to carefully curate your background. This is doubly true if you’re going to do national interviews.
The second issue with the CNN interview was her response to a question about cancelling Thanksgiving. Now, I don’t blame Hong for having social media posts in her past that have not necessarily aged well. If you have a social media presence, most likely you’ve posted something that could be used against you if you ran for office, I certainly am guilty of that. But if you are going to run for office, you better be ready to answer questions about those posts. The fact that Hong doesn’t seem to have answers ready to go about her past posts is an indictment on her staff. They should be preparing her for questions that are going to be asked. When Collins asked her about her since-deleted post calling for cancelling Thanksgiving, she dodged and equivocated the question. Anybody who has worked in politics for even a week knows that the correct answer to that question is, “No, I’m not going to cancel Thanksgiving. The greatest threat to Thanksgiving is the inflation being fueled by President Trump’s tariffs, which my opponent supports.” You address the issue head-on, and then you flip it onto your opponent.
The final issue is that apparently Hong’s staff put hands on a Channel 7 reporter when denying him an interview during a campaign stop in Wausau. If you have time for Fox News and CNN, you need to have time for local news stations. It sends the wrong message to deny local outlets when you have time for national outlets.
I don’t blame Hong for any of these issues. If she is going to be the Democratic nominee, she needs to get a better staff around her, a seasoned, professional staff, because her current staff is failing her and putting the governorship in jeopardy. Tom Tiffany voted to overturn the 2020 election. We cannot afford to have him in charge of the 2028 election here in Wisconsin. The stakes are too high. If Hong won yesterday, and I assume she did, it’s time for her to start acting like the major party nominee, we’re not running for a Madison assembly seat anymore.