Ernie Wittwer to Chris Larson: “You have finally crossed the line.”

Last week I wrote about how Democratic State Senate Minority Leader Chris Larson had endorsed Pat Bomhack in a contested Democratic primary in the race to replace retiring State Senator Dale Schultz, instead of staying out of the race and letting voters decide on their preferred candidate.

In making his endorsement of Bomhack, Larson opined that Bomhack was the better candidate, saying Bomhack had the work ethic and the attitude that would help him win, and while that subtle attack on Ernie Wittwer didn’t seem to bother Wittwer, Larson’s subsequent snub of Wittwer at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s 2014 convention sure did.

Democratic Minority Leader Chris Larson, who has endorsed our primary opponent, actually had the temerity to skip the mention of Ernie as a primary candidate in the 17th District at the State Democratic Convention this weekend. The following was our reply to Larson.

Chris Larson:

You have finally crossed the line. It may not be important in Milwaukee and Madison, but the people in rural Wisconsin still believe in a representative form of government. Your endorsement of a candidate in a primary election in the 17th District makes it clear that you have no respect for our form of government or the people that live in this District. Your brazen disregard for appropriate political decorum makes you no better than the Koch brothers and shames the Democratic Party.

You can be assured that people of the 17th District, who have been marginalized by you, will not forget that your only interest is big money, while their interest is in electing someone who actually cares about this District and the people who live here.

Hard as you try, our citizens will not let you conspire against a candidate. Democracy is still alive and well in rural Wisconsin.

It looks like things are heating up in the Democratic primary in the 17th State Senate district, and it will be interesting to see if Democratic voters choose the Democratic Party establishment’s hand-picked candidate in Pat Bomhack or a grassroots activist in Ernie Wittwer.

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2 thoughts on “Ernie Wittwer to Chris Larson: “You have finally crossed the line.”

  1. The party is a pyramid, with the activist members at the bottom and their local leaders part way up, forming the base of a smaller pyramid of statewide organization. This level is the County Chairs Association. Ernie Wittwer is a county chair and member of the CCA. The top of the pyramid consists of the Administration committee and off to the side the Caucuses of the legislature.
    The activist members are given something to do in between campaigns by the phony process of passing resolutions to the party platform. No candidates are bound to, or run on them as planks in their campaigns.
    The CCA members are given something to do in their meetings around the state, but no one at higher levels pays them any attention either.
    The fact that activist members can be ignored by leadership is the basis of the party, which extracts work with no give and take on strategy or tactics.
    The fact that an activist who seeks to create a positive, strong, and effective local party, like Ernie can be ignored as he takes the giant step to run for a critical office is also normal; it happens every cycle to several candidates in rural areas.
    The efforts of rural folks to organize the most critical parts of he state are undercut regularly by the urban based leadership, our input is not desired.
    In fact, real policy is made in the caucuses of the legislature, where principles are traded off for expediency.

    Why should any of us be surprised? we saw this in the choice of Mary Burke, in the ditching of Healthy WI, in the caving on redistricting when we had the majority, et al.

    I am sad to see this happen to my county chair, fellow activist, and friend, Ernie Wittwer.

    I’m mad enough to leave the party, and I have.

    Tom Crofton

  2. But will they still get your vote? BHO did not get mine. Baldwin was a toss-up, Pocan has been steadfast against the TPP.

    Nice comment, thanks for sharing it.

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