[Editor’s note: Erik Paulson is the Vice Chair of the Democratic Party of Dane County, but is not writing this letter on behalf of the party.]
On Tuesday, voters in District 5 should choose Analiese Eicher over Michael Johnson.
Making an endorsement in an election where you consider both candidates friends is a challenge, especially if you’d like both of them to continue on as friends after the endorsement. So, I’ll start out with the good news: it doesn’t much matter which one of them wins. In terms of their specific duties — taking votes on issues before the County Board — there is unlikely to be much daylight between the voting records either would amass. Both are solid progressives, and on issues that really matter, like protecting social services and the environment, they will both be reliable members of the liberal majority that controls the board. To my conservative and libertarian friends, I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but by now you must be used to disappointment in Madison elections.
Both candidates are new to elected office and will need to “bootcamp” their first few months to get up to speed (along with every other new supervisor), and there’s no question that both are capable of doing so. Where I find a difference between the two candidates, and why I would make an endorsement, is not in the issues or the depth of the experience both bring, but instead is in the relationship with the constituents they will maintain.
Politics is part performance, and it doesn’t matter if you’re running for an ASM seat and think of your audience in terms of your dorm floor and Facebook friends, or if you’re running for President of the United States and think of your audience as Fox News viewers and the two people who finished ahead of you in Miss Alaska 1984. In all cases, understanding whom a politician is performing for is key to understanding how that politician will act in office. In the case of Eicher and Johnson, there are two very distinct audiences, and what matters to Eicher’s audience gives me reason to support her.
Johnson is well-known in the Madison activist world and in other parts of the state, and has been working on social justice issues that affect people locally, nationally and internationally. All the issues are important: treatment of recent immigrants, labor fairness, affordable housing, and in most cases I agree with his positions. This activist world, in Madison and around the state and nation, is Johnson’s audience. For them, a victory is seeing a bold proposal around their issues, regardless of its eventual passage. While they certainly wouldn’t mind an immediate victory, they take a long-term view and recognize that social change takes time and are confident that they’re on the right side of history. Unfortunately for District 5 residents, tending to the local needs of constituents is not rewarded. Johnson will need to find a balance between the two worlds, and the track record of the District 5 supervisors who have tried to find this balance has not been good. Ashok Kumar, two supervisors back, launched bold proposals but ignored his district. (Wyndham Manning ignores both his district and policy, which is a unique way to find the right balance.) I have doubts that Johnson will be any more successful.
Eicher is also on the right side of important issues. She has leadership experience, through the state and national College Dems and the larger Democratic Party, and this group will be Eicher’s audience. To score points with this audience, the metric will be how well does Eicher engage with her constituents, especially how does she engage and involve students. Incentives matter, and Eicher is specifically rewarded for paying attention to her district. Johnson, in comparison, has less incentive to do so.
After years of neglect, it is high time that District 5 has a supervisor who is focused first and foremost on the district and students. Given that all other things really are equal, Eicher is the best bet to bring this focus back, and is the best choice for the district on Tuesday.
Erik Paulson
PhD student, Computer Science
