Yesterday, the day before the Republican Party of Wisconsin's state convention, a crazy thing happened.
The former chair for the Wisconsin State College Republicans switched sides, choosing to become a Democrat rather than aligning herself with a party that she considers too extreme.
The former Chairperson and current Eau Claire Senior Lora Rae Anderson previously expressed concerns that the Republican Party in Wisconsin was "alienating a younger, more progressive" generation within the state.
Anderson also expressed concerns over the GOP's rhetoric vs. action in the past, making the case that the Republicans were all talk. "Republicans complain a lot about taxes, but actions speak louder than words," she recently said, noting that, "under Democrats, Wisconsin's tax ranking dropped to its lowest level in almost 50 years."
In fact, that's true for most of the country -- taxes haven't been this low for Americans since Truman was in office.
Anderson's desire to sever ties with the state GOP isn't uncommon these days -- in fact, it's fast becoming a trend. Before Scott Walker was officially nominated by the party's delegates earlier today, Republican candidate for governor Mark Neumann challenged the idea that the state party should give its endorsement to either man.
Last week, Neumann announced that he wouldn't seek the party's seal of approval, opting instead to try and persuade the voting public during the state's primary rather than the heads of his party. "The next governor of Wisconsin should be picked by the voters," he said.
It's clear that Neumann is reading the writing on the walls: if you're a party-line Republican, you're not going to fare well in this election cycle. But if you're a TEA Party Republican, you'll probably fare worse, especially in "purple" states like Wisconsin.
The last time the state GOP did endorse a candidate, the people did in fact choose someone else: Lee Dreyfus, then chancellor of UW-Stevens Point, who went on to win the election outright. Dreyfus, of course, would probably not be part of today's Republican Party, just as Lora Rae Anderson has stepped away because of extremist elements.
The people of Wisconsin are fed up with the Republicans, and the GOP knows it. Some will learn from it, like Anderson, and move away from a party that is continually choosing extremism; others will move further right, alienating more and more within their party until only the far right fringe elements remain.
The Democrats sure are looking better and better this year within the state of Wisconsin.
Her own comments speak more to the point. She said that the Wisconsin GOP was "alienating a younger, more progressive" generation.
ReplyDeleteThe young people she is talking about are "progressive", not conservative. The GOP is conservative, not progressive (read that as "liberal").
Also, she claims that "Republicans complain a lot about taxes, but actions speak louder than words". True. That is why the GOP has suffered the losses it has had recently.
Any conservative worthy of the label will admit that the current Republican leadership has moved far from their conservative roots, and if they are going to have any meaningful success in the upcoming election cycle, they need to move BACK to their conservative base, not farther from it.
She has finally admitted that she is a "progressive" (read that Liberal), and has more intellectual honesty than many liberals, and is leaving the GOP, where her views do not fit.
Good for her, and to be honest, good for the GOP.