Kari on 
I am a Democrat. I live in Wisconsin. As a result it has been part of my DNA for most of my life, that I love me some Dave Obey. Over the years I have met him, got to know him (our parents were social), and it turns out I really like the guy. Both as a policy maker and as dude. The dude part is often more important to me. But, now I have to begin to wonder if the time is done for Dave, and his power base in Wisconsin as a king maker.
You see we are starting to see reports that former Congressman Obey is considering a run. We have heard rumors that he is courting a member of Middle Wisconsin to run against Rep. Galloway in the recall. And today I read a newspaper story that former Congressman Obey is not ruling out a run against Governor Walker in the recall.
That is great, I am not ruling out climbing Mount Everest this weekend, but I am not hiring sherpas either.
I wonder if the dependence that the State of Wisconsin Democratic Party had on former Congressman Obey while he was in office has led to a Democratic atrophy of sorts?
I understand this is a rather one sided political discussion, but I am a Democrat after all, so I have no idea if Republicans have this sort of stuff going on. Not that I do not care, I just was not thinking about the party of the right today. No offense meant.
I openly wonder if the sort of influence exerted, or attempted by former Congressman Obey is healthy for my party, much less the state. I like him, and know he is a man who I share many ideas with, but I wonder if Democrats would be better served to use a resource like him to develop a county infrastructure.
So, what do you think? Aside from the faithful, does former Congressman Obey carry any cache with you as a member of the public?
Speaking of running against Senator Gallaway…
if there is a recall effort, does anyone know where I can find the information I need if I wanted to take this oppurnity to try to run?
(Not as a Dem or a Rep… but as one of those elusive Independents)
John -
“If there is a recall effort”? There was one and it generated 134% of the votes necessary to force an election. Unless you choose to believe (as Galloway seems to do) that greater than 1/3 of them were phony there will be an election.
I assume that you are thinking of running because you think Galloway should be replaced. In that case running as an independent would be counter productive because it would split the anti Galloway vote. If that were to be the case and you ran as an independent, causing Galloway to win by splitting the anti Galloway vote, you would come away with a great deal of baggage for a future run. The GOP would remember that you ran against Galloway and the Dems would remember that you ran and split the anti Galloway votes. And, because of the intense emotions involved this is not fertile ground for an independent. The GOP will close ranks and vote for Galloway and the Dems will do the same to vote against her.
If you are serious about running for office in the future (and you have often said you are) the smartest thing to do is to keep quiet and stay far, far away from this one.
Yes, there is a recall effort. I should have chosen my words better. If there is a recall election would have been better said
And I do agree that I would expect that there are more than enough signatures, I don’t feel comfortable using the word “when” until it is officially official
I also agree it is best to sit this one out and make my first run at the assembly level, not the senate
However, I would be negligent to myself if I did not allow myself to ponder the possibility
You make a valid point that one possible outcome could be that a viable independent (not claiming I consider myself viable, At least not yet anyway) would split the anti Galloway vote ensuring her victory. However that is a very us vs them statement
In my daily dealings with people, I meet many that are not happy with either extreme and would welcome a choice in the middle
Also, normally an independent once elected is someone neither side wants to play with. But a senate with an even number of democrats and republicans, a tie, neither with a majority…. Now that lonely independent finds them self in a pretty good position of power.
The odds of me making a run at this seat IF said election is held is less than 5 percent. But having 3 different people telling me I should, planting that seed, that my friend doesn’t hurt
+1 one vote for John.
I don’t agree with the recalls (I only think recalls should occur if the elected official refuses to perform their duties or does something illegal), but if one happens, then I’ll vote in it.
I’d like to see someone like John in office because I agree with a lot of things he says. I’d rather have him move into the City of Wausau and run for mayor to fix our huge amount of local issues, but that doesn’t seem like it’s going to be feasible.
I agree with very little the party line Democrats and Republicans want. Their extreme fringe members call all the shots for them and they follow blindly, never questioning their masters. It’s unfortunate that the two party system has such a stranglehold on the government system.
That was amazing.
But, to reask the question in a new way, does Wisconsin progress in any way by holding on to these icons from the past?
Is Dave Obey relevant?
Yes, of course he is relevant. He’s a walking history book of Wisconsin and Washington politics and policy stretching back from the 1960s to today. His political contacts and acumen are second to none. Dave Obey is also a person of incredibly strong and unwavering principles. None of that makes a person into a kingmaker and there is ample evidence that he is not. But relevant? Absolutely, he is.
Progress comes from remembering the past and taking away the lessons the past has treated us
Progess comes from taking that foundation, and building on the things that worked, and avoiding the things that didn’t – lest we repeat negative history.
Progress does NOT come from lingering on the past.
Is Obey relevant? Well my friend, I guess that depends on your definition of relevant.
For me personally… he ceased to become relevant when he was no longer holding his office. If he is elected again to an office, the relevence will again resurface.
He he relevant for the Dems in general. Yes, he has some relevance… politics is often a much more issue of who you know vs what you know… and he knows people, donors, etc.
However, if you are looking at cult-like leader relevance… where Dems hang on his every word and the candidate he endorses has a step up because he said they should.
Nope… that relevance is gone
Of course Obey is relevant. Otherwise no one would be discussing him. Compare him to Russ Decker. No one is wondering if he is still relevant. He is not. And remember it wasn’t that long ago that he was a very influential member of state government.
Obey’s opinion and insights matter. Whether you disagree with him or not. People feel very strongly about him, both positively and negatively. Let me propose one scenario. If Obey announced today that he was thinking about running against Pam Galloway, would that matter? Of course it would. It would generate a lot more discussion and coverage if he said he was considering it than you did John when you said it.
I think that Dino has overstated Obey’s influence on state politics. By his own admission (Obey’s) he is short-tempered and difficult to get along with – I have some personal experience with this even though I supported him financially to a significant degree. He has made many enemies over the years. And he has not always toed the Democrat’s line. I think a lot of people share John’s belief that Obey wielded his power pretty autocratically and, as his power increased, his likeability decreased. So I’m pretty sure that the Democratic Party of Wisconsin didn’t depend too heavily on Dave Obey. He was, and is, too unpredictable. Recall his decision to retire. He announced it suddenly and unexpectedly and left the Democrats scrambling to find an opponent for Duffy. And many stalwart Dems felt he could have made a greater effort to support Julie Lassa.
I agree with Jim. Obey is a man of high principle. At the same time he is not really likeable to many people. And the older he gets, the grouchier he becomes. If he ran I would support him again and vote for him again because I share his views. But, at the same time, I can easy envision him as the old guy yelling at the kids to get off of his lawn.
All of that aside Obey remains relevant, but he hardly a king maker. And he has not ruled out running against Walker but he is clearly on the record saying that he would only run if the Democrats cannot find a good opponent. And, at the same time, he said that he didn’t have the temperment to campaign very well. I see that as Obey saying that he wold run if no one else would although he probably wouldn’t win. And I think he is right.
So maybe relevant is not the right word.
Clearly there are lots of Obey staffers and the like, lots of people hold up that I WORKED FOR OBEY badge at social get togethers.
These are sort of work-a-day operative style cats.
Maybe influence is a better word. I really wonder what it matters if Dave is considering running against Walker, or if he is courting members of Middle WIsconsin to run against Galloway.
As a Democrat I wonder if holding onto the sacred cow like local parties do is a good thing. Clearly the county parties are at their lowest point of relevance now, some might say they are nothing more than holding places for the campaigns when they come to town.
And have no place developing local anything.
But, that sort of gets us to a losing chasing sort of place.
You look at our local GOP folks…they are out there working HARD every day. Developing young republicans, messaging, etc. They are doing strategic work.
I wonder if holding onto Dave Obey inhibits progress. It does not have to be Obey really, it can be any former powerful person.