Should Tony Evers run for a third term? Let's have the conversation.
Talking about the future for Tony Evers and Wisconsin Democrats all across the Civic Media network and beyond.
The Recombobulation Area is a thirteen-time NINETEEN-TIME Milwaukee Press Club award-winning opinion column and online publication founded by longtime Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. The Recombobulation Area is now part of Civic Media.
Earlier this week, I published an opinion column on why I think Tony Evers should not run for a third term as governor. The response has been rather interesting, and by and large, reactions have been a whole lot more positive than I’d anticipated (even if it did ruffle a few feathers, as well as generate some rather bizarre responses from right-wing media).
If you missed it, you can find the column here.
The first part of the column is available for free, with the larger essay-style argument available for paid subscribers only.
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Since the column was published, I’ve been all over the Civic Media airwaves and beyond discussing the piece and having the conversation. We’ll round up all of those here for you to parse through.
First, on Tuesday, regular Recombobulation Area contributor Angela Lang, the executive director of Black Leaders Organizing for Communities (BLOC), filled in as host of “The Maggie Daun Show” (4-6 p.m. every weekday!) and I was there to co-host, along with Matt Rothschild.
Along with talking about my piece on Evers — for much of the second hour of the show — we also talked about Angela’s column that she co-wrote with State Rep. Darrin Madison of Milwaukee, who also joined the show.
Read their column here…
… and find the full show here on Civic Media (Hour 1, Hour 2), and embedded as podcasts and YouTube livestreams below.
Here’s one more clip from Tuesday’s show:
On Wednesday, I joined “The Todd Allbaugh Show” (2-4 p.m. every weekday!) to talk about the column.
Here’s one clip from the show.
Find the full show on Civic Media here, and listen or stream below.
On Friday, I joined “Matenaer On Air” (9-11 a.m. every weekday!) for an especially lively discussion of the column with my good friends Jane Matenaer and Greg Bach.
Listen here on Civic Media, or stream below.
I also joined Ben Cominos on “Outside the Box” on WHBY in the Fox Valley to talk about the column (and a little bit about Aaron Rodgers going to the Steelers).
Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. In 2024, he became the Political Editor of Civic Media. He’s also written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 23 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.
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First, I think virtually every major political position that any political party is vying for in America should have a robust primary. It gets new ideas out to compete with the old, new people to compete with the old, and allows the voters a real choice about who should represent their party.
Having stated that, I think Tony Evers has done a very good job as governor. Especially so, considering that he’s had to deal with an intransigent, belligerent, and extremely hostile gerrymandered state legislature that is obviously jealous that their “my way or the highway” legislation and budgets can’t be simply foisted on Wisconsinites by a “rubber stamp” governor. While he’s not a young man, he’s definitely younger and a lot more cogent than the nutcase that was just elected president (although that really doesn’t say much), and he keeps endorsing, supporting & even pushing for legislation that would help Wisconsinites, and vetoing much that is harmful. Could he be more outspoken, and a more forceful advocate for his good ideas? Yes, but that’s not a function of age. It’s simply his personality to be more low-key.
Finally, perhaps there’s a better, stronger candidate available. I’m not an expert about who in the Democratic Party that might be. But until a definitely better (and perhaps more dynamic) candidate actually does appear, I’d strongly support Mr. Evers. He’s done well for Wisconsin and Wisconsinites, and I have every reason to believe he’ll continue to do so in a third term. If Tommy Thompson can be elected four times, I see no good reason why Tony Evers couldn’t be elected three.