No trillionaires need apply!
Political junkies are trying to extract meaning from the results of the WisPolitics straw poll taken this past weekend at the Democrat(ic) state convention here in Madison WI.
Among the seven dwarfs vying to oppose Tom Tiffany for governor, Sara Rodriquez — rumored to be the state’s current lieutenant governor — finished a convincing (and surprising) first. Surprising because the young lady barely moved the needle in the Marquette Law School poll back in March. Maybe she just had the best hospitality room.
Convincing, because delegates at any political party convention are the activists — i.e., people who don’t have a life. Democrat(ic) delegates are more socialist than voters in general just as Republican delegates are more MAGA. All are worker bees — the door knockers and influencers.
The other big takeaway is delegates’ repudiation of Mandela Barnes, who was once lieutenant governor himself and their nominee for U.S. Senate. He got only 7 percent of delegate votes. It is widely bruited about that the party blames Barnes for blowing a winnable race against Ron Johnson four years ago — the same year Tony Evers won re-election. These straw poll results seem to confirm that.
Barnes does better in public opinion polls thanks, probably, to name I.D. He can still force himself on the party in the August primary election. The real winner is Francesca Hong, whose numbers are strong among party activists and the polled public.
Kelda Roys has the teacher unions and you can bet they constituted a sizable bloc at convention (more than farmers or small business owners, for sure), propelling her to third.
Brennan is already up on TV showing him as a loving father — but no livestock, elderly mothers knitting, or old fashioned mixed drinks to stand out from the crowd. We’re guessing Miss Missy Hughes drops out before August.
Attorney General Josh Kaul sidestepped whether he would be comfortable running on a ticket with police defunders like Hong and Barnes. Kudos for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters for pressing the question.
Politics of envy
Democrats have enlisted in Bernie Sanders‘ war on success; some are more confiscatory than others. (The political spectrum) All want to “tax the billionaires.” Which might leave out Elon Musk, since he is now, apparently, a trillionaire. The party is convinced the rich took something that belongs to you rather than actually creating value where there had been none.
Saw a Tesla on Monroe Street wearing a bumper sticker that apologized for its creator, Elon Musk. Yet, that guilty Madison progressive saw value and made his free market choice. As have 156 million investors (twice as many votes as Biden got in 2020!) who poured $75 billion into the initial stock offering of Musk’s Space X.
They all decided Musk is likelier to grow their savings than Washington is. Nobody compelled them. No bureaucrat allocated a share. They looked at a man who lands rockets that used to be thrown into the ocean and rebuilt the economics of online payments, cars, solar panels, satellites, and internet business, and they placed a bet. The trillion [dollars] is the sound of free people trusting the private sector over the state. …
Gavin Newsom complained that families are “struggling to pay for groceries and gas” while Musk becomes a trillionaire. Newsom cannot get a high-speed rail line built and Elon Musk can send and return people to outer space for less money than Newsom’s rail-line project costs — money Newsom could use to help people pay for groceries and gas.
Blaska’s Bottom Line: Tom Steyer poured $558 million and still lost his governor’s race in California! Should have bought a Tesla. So much for the big money argument against Citizens United.
Who has improved more lives?
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