It’s standard pundit operating procedure to end the year on a sour note. We’re supposed to write that the last year was a disaster and that next year promises more of the same. To do otherwise is to invite ridicule from readers. Cynicism is always the safest route.
So at the risk of being accused of naïveté let me say that 2018 was great and next year will be even better.
Next year we can start putting “former” in front of “Governor” when we write about Scott Walker. The long nightmare is over, more or less. The Republicans just never seemed to run out of really bad ideas and in a few weeks Gov. Tony Evers will be there to stop them. Things might not get a lot better any time soon, but they’re not going to get any worse and, in contrast to the horrors of the last eight years, I’ll take it.
We’ll have to wait for 2021 for Evers to stop the worst idea the Republicans will have: the legislative redistricting maps they will draw after the 2020 census assuming that they will keep their gerrymandered majority until then. But Evers’ very presence in the East Wing will guarantee much more fair maps for 2022 that will likely ultimately be drawn by a court. Then the Democrats will have a fair shot at taking back the Legislature and if Evers can get reelected, starting in 2023 (only four short years away), we could start to make real progress again as a state.
But even in the meantime, Evers has two big chances to make some positive changes. In addition to redistricting, there are only two bills that must be passed in the next four years: the biennial budgets next year and in 2021. Expect Evers to introduce budgets that Republican leaders will immediately describe as “dead on arrival.” They’ll pass their own budgets. Evers will veto them. They’ll negotiate and Evers will get some of what he wants. Then, of course, he holds the most creative veto pen in the nation, which he can use to his advantage.
Make no mistake, what the Republicans did to limit Evers’ authority in their lame duck session was reprehensible, but at best they could only tinker on the margins. The governor’s real powers are protected in the state constitution.
The next reason to be happy is that we can also start referring to Attorney General Brad Schimel in the past tense. All attorneys general are political within bounds, but Schimel was a pure political hack who never once failed to serve the interests of his party. His goofy “Kicking Ass Every Day” coins, on which he wasted taxpayer money, were just an indication of how out there and out of touch the guy was.
No doubt incoming Attorney General Josh Kaul will be spending much of his first year in court trying to reverse the power grabs imposed on his office by the Republicans in their lame duck session. He’ll probably prevail, but in any event he retains substantial power to be a check on legislative Republicans. Having said that, I would be disappointed if at some point he didn’t find it necessary to do something that his fellow Democrats didn’t like. Going against his own party would prove that once again we had an attorney general who put the law above politics.
Still more reason for comfort and joy comes at the local level where Madison is likely to have a real mayor’s race in the spring. A handful of serious candidates with refreshingly varying backgrounds are taking on incumbent Paul Soglin. While Soglin’s seventh place finish in the August gubernatorial primary doesn’t necessarily translate to the mayor’s race, it is a pretty solid indication that his challengers might have a chance.
Regardless of who comes out on top, a vigorous primary and general election will be a great thing for the city, provided the media actually covers it. To this point, I’ve been disappointed at the lack of coverage on the race. And I’ve also been a little bit surprised that none of the candidates seems to have really caught fire yet.
While that could be because the state elections were taking up all the oxygen, the danger is that even after the first of the year all of the action around Evers’ cabinet appointments and his budget could still be a big distraction.
So, as a local pundit, I will do my part to keep my eye on city issues and the mayor’s race in 2019. Every four years we get this chance to have a detailed debate and to think deeply about the future of our city. Let’s not let it pass.
Hey, call me naïve but I’m happy. It has been a good year and next year will be even better. Really.
