This most recent election cycle was not a positive one for principled progressives. The representation of Madison’s local leftist party, Progressive Dane, on the Common Council was cleanly chopped in half, its number of seats dropping from 6-to-3. While the moderate Democratic establishment will now be happy to push aside a broader “social agenda” in favor of “basic services,” anyone who casually follows local politics knows what this really means: Advocacy for marginalized groups — people of color, poor people, working people, tenants, the homeless, students — will weaken and Madison’s progressive reputation will become even more undeserved.
To take but one example, the recent bus fare increase, loudly championed by Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, would have been impossible had more progressives — i.e. supporters of public transportation — sat on the council. The 50-cent, or 33 percent, increase is now widely acknowledged as having been unnecessary given the falling gas prices and the Metro’s unexpected multi-million dollar surplus. It will likely end up counterproductive as well, as the increase in prices will decrease ridership, and eventually revenue as well. But most importantly, the monumental increase will disenfranchise poor people and undocumented immigrants — who can no longer obtain a drivers license in Wisconsin — forcing them to choose between getting to work and basic necessities.
The last council vote on the increase was a close one, with 11 voting in favor and eight against. The opposition was exclusively comprised of the Council’s diminishing progressive bloc, including the six members of the PD caucus and two allies — including student alder Eli Judge, District 8. The mayor’s behavior in pushing for the increase is now infamous among local political insiders — even threatening the positions of the Transportation and Parking Commission for disagreeing with him and repeatedly spreading misinformation about the Metro’s financial situation. Regardless, the increase happened because there simply weren’t enough allies of public transportation and economically disadvantaged people on the Council. Now that the number of progressives has even further decreased, we can expect such attacks on public services to intensify, to the detriment of the disenfranchised.
As astute observers have noted, the strength of the left — as opposed to the moderates — in Madison is always cyclical, so the political scenery will undoubtedly reconstruct itself in the coming years, right alongside the development in the downtown area. Still, this time around, stalwart progressives underwent a setback at least partially due to an unexpectedly vociferous backlash from what must be called the city’s establishment. Nowhere was this clearer than in the District 2 alder race, in which incumbent Brenda Konkel was narrowly defeated by political newcomer Bridget Maniaci.
The District 2 alder race unambiguously had less to do with Maniaci — whose political credentials consist of her one-year internship at the Mayor’s office and membership in Hoofer’s — than with Konkel’s eight-year record on the Council. An unabashed ally of the homeless, tenants and transparent government, Konkel was targeted for defeat by the city’s powerful interests — most notably the Mayor, landlords and the Police Union, who spent thousands of dollars attacking her in student newspapers, on billboards and through slanderous campaign literature. In the end, the moderates and reactionaries achieved victory. Maniaci, who identifies as a “pragmatic progressive” (whatever that means), must be feeling proud for allowing herself to be used by the cops and business interests to unseat one of the council’s most distinguished proponents of social justice.
Local politics offers a wider opening for progressives to advocate for their issues, which is precisely why an independent, grassroots party like Progressive Dane is able to sustain a presence in Madison and the surrounding community. The focus for the left must be local. Anti-war demonstrations and protests against the corporate bailouts certainly have their value, but in absence of any mass social movement (something which cannot be manufactured, even by the most intelligent and committed activists), such actions will not have any immediate, tangible affect.
The local political scene, especially with an infrastructure like PD, enables the possibility of measurable progressive change — even if on a smaller scale. PD and other progressives have been successful on issues as diverse as increasing the Madison minimum wage to creating a sister-county relationship with Andr?s Eloy Blanco, Venezuela. Keeping the focus local allows even a small group of dedicated people to fight for appealing ideals of equality and justice, while still partaking in the relevant political debate — something which is exponentially harder to do on a state and especially national level.
The impetus for UW and Madison progressive-activists to focus on university and city/county politics is, in light of the recent conservative backlash, now greater than ever. The cops and landlords will be relentless in pushing their agenda in the city, and it is now especially crucial that progressives be at least as aggressive in advocating theirs.
Kyle Szarzynski ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in history and philosophy.
