OPINION:
A tax-and-spend liberal from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the schools are some of the worst in the nation — that is the person Democrats have nominated for governor in Wisconsin.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley pushed through the largest sales tax in the state, raised property taxes and still has a deficit in his county budget. Despite the spin in the media, he is not a moderate.
County Executive David Crowley was hand-picked by current Gov. Tony Evers — the guy who gave us here in Wisconsin a 400-year increase in property tax increases. That is a sad truth, because property taxes on a typical home in Wisconsin went down during my time as governor.
As far as county leaders go, David Crowley is the undisputed tax-raising king in Wisconsin.
Mr. Evers chose Mr. Crowley because he and the Democratic establishment believed that state Rep. Francesca Hong could not win. They rushed to resurrect the once-dead Crowley campaign with loads of campaign cash.
Mr. Crowley was a community organizer for ultra-liberal Sen. Russ Feingold, Wisconsin Democrat. He worked for liberals in the state capitol and ran as a liberal for the state assembly.
And he continues to embrace these same radical ideas as a candidate for governor.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel quoted him saying, “To be honest with you, there’s not a lot of policies we really differ from” when he was asked if he would implement any of Ms. Hong’s policies.
In other words, David Crowley’s agenda is Francesca Hong’s agenda, just without the social media post about canceling Thanksgiving. We might not be able to afford the holiday with his high taxes, but at least he will not cancel it.
What caused this upset? The Marquette Law Poll seemed to accurately predict Ms. Hong’s total vote count. What they got wrong was that nearly every undecided vote went to Mr. Crowley. Two things drive that theory.
First, Ms. Hong’s campaign imploded at the end. After making it through the only primary debate, the Hong campaign started booking its candidate on national shows. Unlike democratic socialist candidates who won primary elections in Michigan and Minnesota, though, Ms. Hong had never run a statewide race and was untested when facing adversity. It showed.
Previous internet posts started to emerge showing Ms. Hong’s extreme positions. One mentioned her push to cancel Thanksgiving. Instead of defending her position, she backed away. Then she said that she cooked on Thanksgiving, but that some people were troubled by it.
Finally, she said it was her favorite holiday.
Traditional Democrats, particularly those who were previously undecided, watched these cringeworthy interviews and saw a loser. Mr. Evers poured fuel on her dumpster fire and said she was unelectable.
This, along with a ton of cash for last-minute ads, helped convince enough voters to give Mr. Crowley a less than 1% margin of victory.
Unlike in Michigan or Minnesota, in Wisconsin, the establishment prevailed in the primary. Still, the democratic socialists should count this as a victory for themselves because Mr. Crowley acknowledges that Ms. Hong’s policies are his policies.
And watch for Ms. Hong to run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Ron Johnson when it is up for grabs in 2028. Socialists never give up. This is why we cannot back down from fighting against democratic socialism.
So how did we get to this point in our society? Years of unbalanced, liberal indoctrination in our schools is having an impact on younger voters — and so is the lack of teaching on American history and basic economics.
The latest Gallup Poll shows that pride in our country is at an all-time low. It is driven by young people. Proficiency in American history eight-grade-students from four years ago was only 13%.
These Americans have grown up and they don’t know the truth about how great the U.S. is or that communism and democratic socialism have never worked anywhere in the history of the world.
It is up to us to tell them the truth. Plus, we need to show young people that more government is not the answer to their concerns. Polling done by Young America’s Foundation shows that younger voters consistently rank cost of living as their top concern — way above other issues.
Democratic socialists are trying to take advantage of these legitimate concerns. The failures in Venezuela are a real-time reminder that democratic socialism always fails. Market-based solutions will help bring about real relief from high costs for things like housing, food and energy.
We just need to tell young people the truth. Long-term, that is the only way to counter the momentum of democratic socialism.
• Scott Walker is a columnist for The Washington Times. He was the 45th governor of Wisconsin and launched a bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. He lives in Milwaukee and is the proud owner of a 2003 Harley-Davidson Road King. He can be reached at swalker@washingtontimes.com.
Follow the author
Please read our comment policy before commenting.