Tuesday’s primary was supposed to be exciting, one that would make national news. The Government Accountability Board projected a record 28 percent voter turnout. Instead, the number was an underwhelming 19 percent. There were few close races, and even fewer surprises here; Delaware and New York were much more remarkable. But the Wisconsin primary still yielded some interesting results and definitely set the stage for a close (and probably nasty) general election come November.
On the Democratic side, there was really only one surprising outcome, and that was Tom Nelson winning the lieutenant governor nomination. Nelson, chosen in 2008 as the majority leader in the State Assembly, is certainly qualified to be the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor. First elected to the Assembly in 2004, he has had the time to build up a strong support base. His election, then, makes sense. What was surprising about this race was Henry Sanders’ performance.
Sanders had an excellent campaign infrastructure going into the primary. His campaign was prominent; at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin Convention over the summer, he looked to be the most active player. A major component of Sanders’ target voting base, however, was young people. As many readers will probably remember, Sanders’ volunteers were busy chalking campus right up till the election. The disconnect between projected voter turnout and actual voter turnout could well have been caused in large part by young voters – i.e. college students – not showing up to vote. Young voters make up a considerable block of voters, but we are notoriously unreliable.
The other Democratic primaries were rather unremarkable. The major candidates (Feingold, Barrett) either faced no challenge or minor ones. On the other side of the aisle, there were a few more contested races, notably the gubernatorial primary.
Tom Barrett consolidated Democratic support a long time ago, but GOP voters coalesced around two candidates, Mark Neumann and Scott Walker. Walker, a Tea Party candidate, defeated Neumann, a wealthy businessman and former Congressman in a close contest. Walker’s win fits in with the national trend of anti-establishment candidates running on an adversarial platform winning primaries.
In fact, Walker’s biggest challenge going forward may not be convincing voters to choose him over Barrett, but rather convincing Neumann supporters to vote for him. The Republicans had higher voter turnout in the primary than Democrats, which bodes well for them going into November if the momentum remains. If you’re a Democrat, you had better start your Get Out The Vote efforts early to prevent the power shift Republicans are hoping for.
With the primary barely over, campaigns are already gearing up for the general election. Unfortunately, this cycle promises to be particularly dirty since political control could so easily switch parties. Attack ads are already flying fast and thick. Personally, I abhor attack ads. If a candidate cannot give reasons to voters as to why they should be elected, but only say why their opponent is a bad choice, then there is really no choice. These are not worthy candidates; they are just rivals paying exorbitant amounts to lambaste each other over the airwaves.
Putting aside personal political views, I would like to challenge all readers to vote on Nov. 2. Not knowing a lot about politics is no longer an acceptable excuse. There is plenty of time to look up who is running for what office, in either your home district or in Madison. Go online and Google a few names. Do it when you get bored with your homework; it is a wonderful study break. The decisions that are made by these people affect us every day. For voters, it is easy to say that the politicians sitting in Washington D.C., or even in our state capital, are far removed from our lives, from the issues we deal with every day. It is even easy to say they are all so caught up with partisan bickering that they do not care about passing legislation, or tackling important problems.
What is not easy, for many at least, is to take a hard look at their own actions. Politicians may be far removed in some sense from our lives, but how far have we removed ourselves from government? Be engaged. Don’t complain about the state of things without understanding how they came to be that way. Don’t express anger with politicians if you don’t even know who your representatives are. Understand the issues, understand candidates’ positions and think about what you want government to accomplish. Then go vote.
Elise Swanson ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in political science and English.
