The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com.
“Trump (has) become the first president since Grover Cleveland in 1888 to have been defeated after one term, only to win the subsequent election four years later” (Dan Balz, Washington Post). However, Cleveland’s presidency quickly unraveled. The 1893 depression was catastrophic for farmers and the working class. Incomes collapsed and unemployment soared. Cleveland vetoed a farm-relief bill saying: “though the people support government the government should not support the people.” He later deployed the U.S. Army to violently crush the 1894 Pullman strike. Workers had been protesting the slashing of their wages.
Cleveland was no friend of farmers or workers. And in winning the White House, flipping the Senate and perhaps keeping control of the House, Trump and Republicans will follow the path of Cleveland. Cruelty and stupidity will reign supreme. Needless to say the Democratic Party has serious longstanding problems. Rural-urban working class voters continue to defect to Trump and Republicans. Our appeal for their support is falling flat. No foolish or self-destructive blaming of Biden or Harris will erase these facts.
The economy, inflation, hefty doses of racism-sexism, waiting too long to control U.S. borders and demagoguery led Trump and other Republicans to victory. But Democratic panic should not lead to overstatement. In Wisconsin, Trump won by only about 30,000 votes. No landslide. But it’s clear that Trump and the GOP increased their margins among rural-urban working class voters, including Latinos. Economic issues and fear trumped all else.
There is hope in Wisconsin Democratic wins and defeats. Foremost, Senator Tammy Baldwin was reelected, defeating an empty-suit and out-of-state tycoon. She’s no out-of-touch liberal. Baldwin knows it’s always the economy: standing up for made-in-Wisconsin and retiree pensions, protecting health care coverage and Social Security and never forgetting farmers and rural Wisconsinites. All state Democrats should take a lesson from Baldwin. There’s more.
Rebecca Cooke, Democratic candidate in the 3rd Congressional District, is another political leader who gets it. She and her team ran a brilliant grassroots campaign. Cooke grew up on a dairy farm and identifies with rural-urban working class people. She didn’t demonize Trump voters, but listened respectfully to their economic concerns. Cooke’s advocacy was practical: helping regular folks who need decent well-paying jobs, lowering prices, health care and retirement security and protecting family farms from ruin.
Cooke almost defeated do-nothing out of control GOP incumbent Derrick Van Orden. He won by only about 11,000 votes. Moreover, Cooke did well in multiple 3rd CD rural counties, running ahead of Harris. Cooke is not going away. She told Wisconsin Public Radio: “We’ve pulled people off the sidelines, people who don’t always see themselves reflected in the political process … .” Cooke will continue fighting for regular folks in the 3rd CD. I’m certain Wisconsin will continue to hear from Cooke.
More hope: Democrats gained 4 seats in the state Senate and 10 seats in the state Assembly. Don’t give in to despair. Learn from our mistakes. I believe in America, including Wisconsin. Think 2026 congressional midterms.
— Kaplan wrote a guest column from Washington, D.C., for the Wisconsin State Journal from 1995 – 2009.
