The Progressive Midwesterner

Despite a very large gubernatorial candidate field seeking the Democratic nomination in Wisconsin (including ten candidates who were invited to speak at the Wisconsin Democratic convention a few days ago, eight of which received at least 8% of the vote in the non-binding convention straw poll ), the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association (WBA), a trade group representing the right-wing corporate media in Wisconsin, only intends to invite a total of four candidates to a scheduled Democratic gubernatorial debate: The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association says no more than 4 candidates will be invited to its debates on July 21 for Republican Senate candidates and July 27 for Democratic governor candidates. Criteria includes being in top 4 of latest @MULawPoll pic.twitter.com/ilwGLcSAoH — Scott Bauer (@sbauerAP) June 4, 2018 It's important to note that, unless Marquette University does another pre-election opinion poll before the scheduled July 27 debate, the Marquette poll that was r...

As I do not live in Wisconsin, I was unable to attend this year's Democratic Party of Wisconsin (DPW) convention in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, so I wasn't able to hear Kelda Roys address the convention. However, someone at the Kelda Roys campaign for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Wisconsin live-tweeted highlights of her speech, and I'll post a few tweets from the livetweet in question below: In our Wisconsin, every baby will be welcomed by parents who have 12 weeks of paid leave. #WiDems18 #Kelda2018 — Kelda Roys (@keldahelenroys) June 1, 2018 It’s time to unleash the real power of our economy by allowing student loan refinancing, expanding public service repayment, and making all UW’s 2 year colleges tuition free. #WiDems18 #Kelda2018 — Kelda Roys (@keldahelenroys) June 1, 2018 And as a mother and your next governor, it’s time to stand up to the gun manufacturers lobby and pass meaningful gun safety laws. #WiDems18 #Kelda2018 — Kelda Roys (@keldah...

On Tuesday, Kara Eastman, the chairwoman of Omaha, Nebraska's Metropolitan Community College (MCC) board, pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Nebraska political history by defeating former Congressman Brad Ashford in the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District of Nebraska by a narrow margin, but a large enough margin to avoid an automatic recount, in the Democratic primary. Eastman will face Donald Trump crony Don Bacon in the general election in November. One big reason why Eastman won is because she is willing to stand up to those in her own party that oppose progressive values; this campaign ad is an actual campaign ad Eastman ran during the Democratic primary campaign: Eastman's victory in the Democratic primary will live in the glories of the progressive movement for generations to come. Democratic primary voters in Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District rejected the notion that Democrats need to appease Republicans, or even run Republican candidates as Democrat...

As I am writing this blog post, Minnesota State Representative Erin Maye Quade (DFL-Apple Valley) is leading a sit in on the Minnesota House of Representatives floor in an effort to convince the Republican-controlled state house to bring up proposed gun control legislation for votes: 18 hours later, @ErinMayeQuade is still on the House floor #mnleg #SitInSpeakOut #wcco @WCCO pic.twitter.com/hFZEO0esOq — Mary McGuire (@mcguirereports) April 25, 2018 Like Americans all across the country, Minnesotans are demanding common-sense gun control and gun safety measures. I applaud Maye Quade for her courageous act of leadership , although I can't really write a blog post about the sit-in without mentioning how Maye Quade has done a fantastic job using social media to promote her cause. Maye Quade posted several gun violence stories on Twitter, and here's a few of them: Stephen A. Starr Killed 12/30/1994 His daughters abuser/stalker/rapist broke into the house when she was...

This is how the frontrunner in the crowded race for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Wisconsin is acting about his campaign: “I think it’s a one-person race,” Evers responded on “UpFront,” produced in partnership with WisPolitics.com. “When you have a 10-point lead, I’ve run statewide three times. There’s no other candidate that can say that. Last time I got 70 percent of the vote and won 70 of 72 counties, including Ozaukee County, which hardly ever has gone to a progressive. So no, I think it’s a one-person race,” he said. “I feel very confident that we’re going to win that primary and beat Scott Walker,” Evers said. For added context, UpFront is a Wisconsin adaptation of ABC's This Week political talk show that airs on the ABC affiliate in Milwaukee. Literally every poll I've seen of the Wisconsin gubernatorial Democratic primary has had Evers ahead of a very large field of candidates, largely because Evers is the only Democratic candidate who has w...

Believe it or not, Tom Barrett, a longtime career politician who is currently the Mayor of Milwaukee, is considering whether or not to launch what would be his fourth gubernatorial bid in Wisconsin : Yep, (Milwaukee) Mayor Tom Barrett is thinking about running for governor.  For a fourth time.  Sources confirmed this week that the fourth-term mayor has been sounding out his team of advisers about entering the Democratic primary for governor later this year. If he runs, he would need to submit his nomination papers by June 1. Barrett has run for governor three previous times. Two of them, one in a general election and one in a recall election, ended in losses to Republican Scott Walker, and the third ended in a Democratic primary loss to Jim Doyle. I'm not from Wisconsin, but it's inherently clear to me that Kelda Roys is a far better gubernatorial candidate than Tom Barrett ever could be. Kelda has real plans to fix Wisconsin's problems, including ideas t...

Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which is the largest owner and operator of local, over-the-air television stations in the United States and also owns and operates the Ring of Honor professional wrestling promotion and Tennis Channel, has come under heavy criticism in recent days for forcing their local news anchors to read a far-right screed attacking the news media on air . While pretty much all local news in the United States has a right-wing bias to it to some degree, Sinclair's efforts to inject far-right propaganda into the local newscasts of the stations is a threat to American democracy. Jimmy Kimmel, the host of ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! , publicly criticized Sinclair , which owns many ABC affiliates, over the scripted, Sinclair-ordered screed against the news media. Some political activists are even calling for Sinclair employees to go on strike on May 15 , even though Sinclair employees lack union representation. Sinclair's far-right propaganda machine has even prom...