Editor’s Note: Last week I reached out to each of the five candidates for DPW Chair and asked each of them to send me a guest blog for Blogging Blue outlining why they were the best candidate for DPW Chair. What follows is Joe Wineke’s response.
Joe Wineke for DPW Chair
May 30, 2015
I write to ask for your support to be the next chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. All of the candidates running for this position are good people, but if you look at who has the most experience, the best record of winning elections and the best ability to hit the ground running on day one, I strongly believe that I am the best candidate.
Let’s start with experience. I have been a member of the Democratic Party for 34 years. I have served on a City Council, the State Assembly, the State Senate, as Political Director of a state-wide labor union, as a Division Administrator for the State of Wisconsin and as the Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin from 2005-2009. I don’t need on-the-job training for this position. I can start moving this Party forward on my first day in office.
Message matters. I strongly believe that one of the biggest weaknesses that our Party has had in recent years is a lack of a strong message. I will change that. I believe that the DPW needs to play offense again. The GOP has become a party of reactionaries that have sold out to extreme right wing interests in recent years. I will call them on it. We need to simplify our message and focus on a handful of key issues, like economic fairness, public dollars going to public schools and equal rights. I want to be the Aaron Rodgers of the Democratic Party, scoring victories by strong messaging and making the Republican’s defend their disastrous record.
I am the only candidate in this race that has a long history of recruiting candidates at all levels of government. I have actively recruited candidates for well over 20 years. In 1993-1994, I chaired the State Senate Democratic Committee. As chair of that group, I fielded candidates against every single Republican in the State Senate. It was a tough year for Democrats in 1994, but we were one of only three State Senate’s in the country that did not lose seats. As Chair of the DPW, we fielded candidates in nearly every legislative seat. The results were spectacular, as we won the State Senate back in 2006 and the State Senate back in 2008. Compare this record with the 2014 election, where Democrats left 31 out of 60 Republican Assembly incumbents off with a free ride. That won’t happen again with me as chair.
I will build a much stronger media presence in this state as chair. When I chaired the Party, we sent out a regular news clipping service to our members. We also regularly sent out talking points on issues, including sample letters to the editor. We no longer do this, but will immediately if I am elected. We will also make better use of social media. With the Presidential election coming up and the fact that the Senate matchup between Ron Johnson and Russ Feingold is the number one target in the nation, we will need a chair who has a strong media background. I have given literally thousands of speeches and media interviews over the years. I am a regular guest on Wisconsin Public Radio and have debated the best the GOP has thrown against me. My opponents have not.
I have long and strong ties to organized labor. In my 16 years in the state legislature, I compiled a 95% voting record on labor issues according to the AFL-CIO. I worked as a Political Director for a state-wide labor union and also did work for WEAC and the Laborers’ as well. Support for organized labor runs strong in my family, as my grandfather, father, mother, wife and son were or are members of a labor union. I have been endorsed in this election by the United Steelworkers, the Laborers’ the Plumbers, the Operating Engineers and the Building and Construction Trades Council of South Central Wisconsin. No one else in this race have a close affiliation with labor.
Finally, it is about winning elections again. The number one job of a political party is to win elections. I have by far, the best record of doing so. I personally have run for public office 21 times. I have won 17 of those races. In addition, when I chaired the DPW, we enjoyed our greatest string of electoral victories in the past 25 years, electing Barack Obama, Jim Doyle, Herb Kohl and Steve Kagen and winning majorities in the Wisconsin State Assembly and the State Senate. Compare my record of winning elections with my opponents, and the choice is clear.
The 2016 election cycle is one of the most important election periods this Party will ever have. Either we can begin the Comeback of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, or we will continue to fall further behind, condemning the people of this state to the reactionary policies of Scott Walker and his GOP cohorts. I have the experience and record to help us begin our comeback.
Will you join me?
Sincerely,
Joe Wineke
Facebook: Joe Wineke for Democratic Pary of Wisconsin Chair
Website: joewinekefordemocraticpartychair.com
Phone: (608) 577-4965
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