CORRECTION: Mary Burke stands for many positive changes for Wisconsin

Criticism of "no promises" pledge shortsighted

I have to correct myself on a blog post I made last week.

I stated that the “No promises” pledge made by Democratic candidate for governor Mary Burke was a bad strategy.

I stand by the idea that making no promises during the campaign may be perplexing. But I must correct myself a bit, and admit an error in my reasoning from the original post.


Making a pledge to make “no promises” doesn’t mean that Mary Burke doesn’t stand for anything. In fact, Burke stands for a lot, as pointed out by the Wisconsin State Journal:

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke said Monday she wouldn’t have expanded private school vouchers statewide, which Gov. Scott Walker did in this year’s state budget.

...

“At this time there is no research that justifies statewide expansion,” Burke said Monday in an interview with the State Journal.

...

Burke also said in the 20-minute interview she backs same-sex marriage and voted against the 2006 constitutional amendment banning it, which passed with 59 percent support. She also supports the state’s domestic partner registry for gay couples, which a conservative group is challenging before the state Supreme Court this week.

Emphases added.

Those are two left-leaning positions for Burke to make, likely to even appeal to progressives who are starting out somewhat skeptical of her campaign.

She’s also said that she supports workers’ rights to negotiate their contracts, stating that:

I don’t think you have to make this choice about being on one side or the other side. My feeling is that when we are committed to growing the economy and making sure that our public employees have a place at the table through collective bargaining, everyone wins.

Emphasis added.

I still think her campaign website needs a tune-up, with more information on where she stands as a candidate.

But the more I personally learn about Burke, the more I like what I’m hearing. She seems to be a candidate who has a progressive mind with practical ideas for how to implement them.

Making no promises doesn’t mean she wouldn’t work to defend or even implement a positive direction for Wisconsin -- it merely means she's realistic about the type of legislature she's going to have as governor, due to Republican redistricting.

It takes cooperation and understanding to make a government function properly -- that’s what the people want, and it’s the opposite of what our current government in Washington reflects. Mary Burke, as I have said before, could be a catalyst for real change in Wisconsin -- for the better.