Ben Wikler Profile picture
Sep 19, 2020 9 tweets 3 min read Read on X
What we see with McConnell, Trump, and the whole GOP right now is a fundamental rot that threatens our democracy. And to beat it, we not only have to defeat individual candidates—we have to build a *party* capable of winning. Chip in—to win now AND in 2022:wisdems.org/donate
For all the decades of my life, the right has focused more systematically on investing in infrastructure, not just individual candidate campaigns. And that has paid off for them, and hurt the rest of us. Our job is to build institutions that make *all* our campaigns stronger.
Reince Priebus was the chair of the Republican Party of Wisconsin and helped Scott Walker flip the Badger State from a blue trifecta to a red trifecta in 2010—and then gerrymander maps so horribly that a blue trifecta is out of reach even if we win statewide in a landslide.
Reince then became the head of the Republican National Committee. There, he invested in a massive data and field operation. In 2016, Trump didn't actually have a campaign. Basically no offices, no staff. But, quietly, the Republican Party did. And it gave Trump the edge to win.
State Parties are the building blocks of the party overall, and they play a central role in what turns purple states into blue ones and red states into purple ones. Look at Nevada, or Colorado. Huge success stories, built in part on patient investment in infrastructure.
It's not *just* strong parties: you also need a great ecosystem of independent organizations, great candidates/campaigns/operatives, and a culture that makes all three additive rather than a circular firing squad. Strong labor movements are fundamental. But parties are crucial.
What we're doing in Wisconsin is building to win AND building to last (a phrasing I learned from @MinnesotaDFL chair @kenmartin73). We're going to win here this fall. And we'll come out of the cycle stronger ever. Because parties don't turn off the lights after Election Day.
If you have strong Democratic state parties, you create a disincentive for Republican Senators to do horrible things—because they know they'll face serious challenges. And then you beat them in elections. Ron Johnson is up in 2022. He should be on notice now.
There is so much that the GOP has done to structurally tilt the playing field away from what the public actually wants—and away from Democratic electoral victories. But it's up to us to even the field when it comes to party infrastructure. Don't just get mad. Get to building.

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More from @benwikler

Feb 20
NEW: California GOP rich guy Eric Hovde is running for Senate… against @TammyBaldwin in Wisconsin.

He’s being sent to Wisconsin from Orange County by Mitch McConnell and the megadonors in Washington to help pass a national abortion ban.

RT to help spread the word!
Why are the Republicans sending a California megamillionaire to Wisconsin?

It’s simple. They need someone who will put them, and their rich and powerful friends, FIRST while putting middle-class Wisconsinites LAST.

Eric Hovde is their #1 guy.
Just how luxurious is Eric Hovde’s California life?

🌴 He owns a $7M mansion in Laguna Beach.
🏅 He’s been named one of Orange County’s most influential people. Three times.
🏦 He runs a West Coast bank that does *next to nothing* in Wisconsin. California megamillionaire Eric Hovde's house in Laguna Beach is circled in red.
Read 7 tweets
Dec 31, 2023
END OF YEAR DEADLINE: Democracy or dictatorship? Trump’s threat likely comes down to a handful of votes in a handful of states—and maybe even JUST Wisconsin. Help @WisDems roar in ‘24: Chip in to help us reach our goal of 124 donations by midnight:
secure.actblue.com/donate/deceoy_…
If you’re freaking out about polls, do two things.

First, take a breath. Polling this early doesn’t predict much. It just tells us we have work to do.

Second, channel your anxiety into actually helping raise $ and volunteer in the places that will decide the outcome.
Biden could’ve lost 8 million votes across CA, NY, and IL and still won each state & beaten Trump.

But if Biden had lost 42,921 votes in WI, AZ, and GA, Trump would have won in 2020.
Read 29 tweets
Nov 30, 2023
MIDNIGHT DEADLINE: Tomorrow, Wisconsin candidates for local offices begin gathering signatures to get on the ballot for April elections. Their races will decide who administers the Nov 24 elections. MAGA is coming. Chip in to help WisDems stop them: secure.actblue.com/donate/noveom_…
Wisconsin elections are administered hyper-locally—by 1850 municipal clerks, who are in turn chosen by mayors and city councils. County judges make quick decisions about disputes. Hundreds of these officials will be up for election this spring.
These are the kinds of low-profile contests that often fly completely under the radar. Most go uncontested. But after Trump lost, Steve Bannon and the ultra-MAGA crowd realized they might be able to swing elections by taking over the machinery of democracy.
Read 16 tweets
Nov 16, 2023
The Poller Coaster: Sometimes, you’re up. Sometimes, you’re down.

And at the end of the day, those climbs and drops don’t always tell you all that much about where you’re going to wind up.

Tough polling. Strong elections. What gives, and what does it tell us about 2024?

1/
Before last week’s elections, Dems nationwide read with horror new polls: A New York Times/Siena battleground survey had President Biden lagging Trump in 5 of the 6 most critical swing states, while a CNN poll put Trump ahead 49%-45% nationally.
nytimes.com/2023/11/05/us/…
The one swing state that seems to be an exception is Wisconsin, where Biden led Trump in both the Times survey and a Wednesday release from the highly-regarded Marquette University Law School poll.
Read 33 tweets
Nov 2, 2023
Oh no—this is devastating news. Ady was the best of us.
I first knew Ady, starting in 2013, as a dear friend, dreamer, and fellow organizer.

Later, he was shattered by his ALS diagnosis. And then he figured out how to turn it into fuel for social change—and found transcendent, electrifying purpose.

Throughout, he was hilarious. Image
When we first met, he was dreaming up a campaign to try to affect monetary policy. As far as he or anyone else knew, nobody had tried to use direct action to affect Federal Reserve policy. At @CPDAction, he launched the Fed Up campaign—with huge results. politico.com/magazine/polit…
Read 22 tweets
Oct 31, 2023
🚨Mike Johnson is Speaker. Trump: GOP frontrunner. Senate: 2 seats from GOP majority. The threat of a "Trump Trifecta" is very real in 2024... & WI is the key. We have a plan to fight back & win. Join @briantylercohen, @IAmPoliticsGirl, and me this Friday:
secure.actblue.com/donate/octeom2…
Mike Johnson—the “key architect” of the House GOP’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election, foe of Social Security and Medicare, anti-abortion and anti-LGBT extremist—is now second in line to the presidency.
Every Wisconsin Republican member of Congress backed him. Five voted for him; the sixth, Derrick Van Orden, wrote “Mike Johnson is an outstanding man and will make a fantastic Speaker.”
Read 22 tweets

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