Frustrated by a lack of candidates to challenge Gov. Scott Walker in next year’s gubernatorial election, a group of activists is trying to draft Mike McCabe to run. The group circulated a letter this week, urging the former executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign to run.
The open letter stated: “The people...are hungry for a different kind of leadership. You are the right answer. You are an upright man, not interested in self-enrichment or power for power’s sake, with a feeling for the needs of others and your country. We are aware that you would rather not run for office.”
McCabe later told the Wisconsin State Journal that he is in fact willing to run, but won’t make a decision until after Labor Day. Walker hasn’t announced whether he’ll run again either, but is believed to be leaning toward another term.
A grassroots, independent, take-government-back campaign is just the sort of thing McCabe has been urging people to do for years. In fact, he founded his latest organization, Blue Jean Nation, to help regular folks run for political office.
Erik Gunn profiled McCabe’s efforts in February 2016 for Isthmus. McCabe told Gunn that one of his goals was to put government back in the hands of citizens, rather than be controlled by the wealthy and corporations.
“We’ve lost the capacity to organize locally with people that we really know,” McCabe said. “And to reach out to people who we know but who may not agree with us, and then find common ground with them. That’s true citizenship.”
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