Republican Congressman Mark Green's run for governor has opened up his 8th congressional district seat. The Republican candidate to replace him will likely be current assembly speaker John Gard. Democratic challengers are former Brown County Executive Nancy Nusbaum, allergist Steve Kagen, and consultant Jamie Wall.
Brown County Democratic chair John Baraniak has personally endorsed Steve Kagen, even though a poll conducted by national Democratic pollster The Mellman Group (and not paid for by any of the candidates) showed Nusbaum as the only Democrat beating Gard (43-38). The pollsters said that all three Democratic candidates could beat Gard, though Nusbaum enjoys better name recognition and "surprising strength among independents."
The Mellman Group findings make Baraniak's endorsement of Kagen, at this stage at least, puzzling. All poll data should be taken with a grain of salt, but the Fairbank poll cited by Baraniak showing Kagen with a commanding lead is saltier than Mellman because it was done FOR Kagen. Baraniak also cites Kagen's "energy, resources, and campaign team" as reasons for his support. Those of us who are recovering Democrats recognize that as code for "he's got money and will spend what it takes to win." Kagen, an allergist, started his campaign by donating $1 million of his personal fortune to it.
The Democratic Party chair can endorse anyone he wants, but it sure looks as if he is drawn not to Steve Kagen, but to $teve Kagen. Nancy Nussbaum has great name recognition, campaign experience, and a record of governing. No doubt the Dem chair would have supported a Nu$$baum against Kagen.
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Did you ever think he may have made the endorsement based on his beliefs and values rather than polls? Interesting concept huh? If people were to vote based on polls you would not have received one vote last election.
Kagen is by far the most liberal of the field. Tony should be happy he is ahead. Kagen is firmly anti-war, pro-health care. In fact, Kagen's father ran as an anti-war candidate for Congress during Vietnam. His roots in the party go way back, which could explain his support fron the core members.
Dear Tony :
If you go to this website : http://www.8thcd.com/officers.html- you will clearly see that the 8th CD Democratic party Chair is Jack Krueger not the person you mentioned.
So I question the source of your information or his claim to be 8Th Cd Chair.
Mike,
You're right. Baraniak is the Brown County Democratic Chair, not the 8th CD Chair. I got them confused. Will correct in the post. Thanks. --Tony
a recovering Democrat???!
Hello, my name is Tony and ...*sob*..I was a Democrat
I have heard talk - among Republicans actually in one case, a couple of others were Democrats - the conversations involved people assessing the strength of various candidates. Personal wealth was a top consideration in those discussions. Position on issues is often far down the list. In my area I can name seeveral candidates who puposely avoided revealing their stands on issues so that voters would react to cute family photos and assume the candidates felt as they did. Total PR campaigns.
Money is a HUGE issue, isn't it. Anyone considering a run is going to at first think "what about the money".
Money is the first concern IMHO because that is what works. It is a dysfunction that rests on the shoulders of The People, not the parties.
If the people were not choosing candadates based on superfluous slick PR info, but on informed and serious consideration, then the money thing would not be so important.
We pinkos can put the proletariat on a pedestal but they are lazy as hell. We pinkos like to blame corporations for social ills. Like a plastic throw away culture and the corruption of the political system. But corporations only do what works. The public is responsible for it's own responses. No one is putting a gun to their heads to make them act shallow.
How many people go to council meetings? Ever try to rally a group to go to a meeting? Pretty frustrating. Everyone has a reason why it's a waste of time. Going door to door petitioning will let you see that the vast majority of residents have NO idea about even the existance of various issues, let alone positions on them. They look at you like you have 2 heads for even showing an interest in that. One of the things that never ceases to amaze me on these blogs is the huge number of comments that are variations on "why are you even talking about this?" People get angry that someone is even discussing an issue. They're like - "Just let it be, people are taking care of us, they know better than we do, and I'm very busy, everything's fine. Just be quiet and eat your peas"
An activist friend of mine recently said "most people will not make any effort to work to improve their own lives". I think that is true.
People want a quick and slick ad, and a sound bite. After that you'd better grt out of their face.I still think the "diseases" in all political parties are symptoms of national level sociological dysfunction because we are in a severely imbalanced society at this time.
Jan says I can be very pedantic - can you beleive that kid?
I agree with you Jody.
As far as Kagan, I met him not too long ago. He appears very down to earth. Though he may be labeled liberal, he seems very conservative except for that part about him thinking everyone should and could have affordable health care if it wasn't for pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, and politicians. What is he thinking??? And that garbage about funding his campaign with his own money. My God, he should be flogged with wet noodles. AND he is anti-war? What do I as a voter do when presented someone like that? I hope he isn't in my district, I might have to sit home with my head in the sand like the vast majority of voters in Oshkosh.
The Mellman Group poll was paid for by Emily's list, which has endorsed Nusbaum. The poll was also done before Kagen spent a bazillion on his TV ads, which surely adjusted his name ID upward.
If you want to compare polls, a poll paid for by the Kagen campaign (and featured in today's Roll Call--behind their subscrption wall) showed Kagen leading the primary (46%) over Nusbaum (20%) and Wall (3%). I can't find the poll or realease about the Roll Call piece on Kagen's site, but I have the poll memo as a .pdf, if you'd like to see it. Email me.
I'm still not pulling the trigger on an endorsement in this race (my endorsements are often the kiss of death, anyway), but you should take Anonymous #2's comments to heart: Kagen is far to the left of Nusbaum--a "recovering Republican." I agree she's got experience, but let's make decisions here based on issues, rather than polls.
Jay is right. The Mellman poll was taken before Kagen went on TV, and a subsequent poll showed him leading. Personally, I usually support the most liberal/left candidate who has a chance to win. I'm through casting protest votes.
But questioning people's motives and dividing the left is counter-productive. Who knows -- or cares -- why the Brown County Dem chair endorsed someone? Do you think that will tip the election?
Whoever wins the primary is going to be 1000 times better than John Gard. Let's not lose sight of that.
Well well, the mighty Xoff has actually come down from the mountain to labor in the valley of T2T. :-)
Why do some people feel so strongly against Kagen funding his own campaign? Would you rather he get all his money from special interests like the Republicans do? I have met all of the candidates except Gard, and Kagen is by far and away the best for the job. Nussbaum has too much dirt on her. She doesn't file her campaign finance reports properly such as not identifying her major "private citizen" contributions. Wall is just plain out of touch with people. Gard is nothing but a protege of the horrible Bush/Cheney/DeLay philosophy. It's sad that Gard will probably win the Republican nomination even though McCormick definitely carries a better presence and connects with the people. Gard already has his hands in the pockets of the big drug companies and Wal-mart. The Dems need to win this seat or I'm moving to another district.
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