Fair Wisconsin Has A Credibility Problem
Simply put I am dismayed at the process that played out with the endorsements made recently by Fair Wisconsin. I am also concerned about the public relations aspect of Fair Wisconsin.
On Wednesday I called Fair Wisconsin after hearing from several sources that an endorsement problem concerning the spring election had taken place within their organization. I wanted Fair Wisconsin’s side of the story for a blog post that needed to be written.
The person who answered the phone at Fair Wisconsin told me no one was there who knew about the process. I then asked to speak with the Executive Director. I was told she was out. As such, I left a polite message, and think my parting words were “thanks for all you do.” After all, Fair Wisconsin serves a purpose. In other words, she had every reason to know I am a sincere blogger.
It is now Friday and I still have had no response from her. Frankly, it is now too late. At this point, I am not about to allow for an addition or update to the post that has ranked at #2 for over 24 hours, and has had a substantial number of hits.
My concerns over the way the political endorsements were handled has not abated.
All this leads me to again state what I wrote earlier this week about Fair Wisconsin.
“The political acumen of this organization has been called into question in the past, and this latest blunder will only add to the discourse.”
Last evening I chatted with a small group of friends. Included was one donor to Fair Wisconsin who was so upset that he vowed never to send money again after discovering that Madison mayoral candidate Paul Soglin was not even contacted with a questionnaire for an endorsement.
The question remains as to why Fair Wisconsin felt endorsements at the local level were so important that it needed to proceed at all?
Secondly, how a process that is really quite easy to accomplish was so botched?
Third, how public relations efforts and outreach by Fair Wisconsin was so totally mishandled?
Some serious and also public address to these matters need to be undertaken as the credibility of Fair Wisconsin has now been called into question by their very own actions.
All in all, a very sad and needless state of affairs.
Please excuse my posting anonymously; it’s not my usual practice, but I think you’ll understand given the rest of my comment.
Fair Wisconsin has a sordid history as an organization all too willing to subvert its mission for political expediency, and has often been little more than a tool of various factions within the Democratic Party.
A good example is the ’06 fight against the marriage amendment. It probably could have been defeated, as it was in other states, had Fair Wisconsin focused on a broad public campaign. But under current DPW chair Mike Tate’s leadership, the organization’s real focus was a get-out-the-vote effort for Gov. Doyle’s reelection campaign. So Fair Wisconsin’s efforts were focused almost exclusively on campuses, where it did a fantastic job, at least for Doyle.
Follow the money is always good advice, but in this case looking at the employment history of Fair Wisconsin’s current leadership might be more informative…