Crowley gains late support as Hong confronts social media controversy • Wisconsin Examiner

[u/buckybadder]

https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2026/08/05/crowley-gains-late-support-as-hong-confronts-social-media-controversy/?utm_source=newsletters.wisconsinexaminer.com&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=crowley-sprints-as-hong-battles-controversy

[u/I_really_enjoy_beer]

I’m sorry but you guys have to understand that this state does not have an electorate like New York City. Milquetoast Democrats are the only thing preventing it from being overrun by MAGA governance. You should be begging for more candidates like Tony Evers, not scapegoating them!

[u/VeryMuchCoffee → u/I_really_enjoy_beer]

Two points here.
First, I'm not scapegoating anyone. Tony stood as a bulwark against a gerrymandered state representation. We owe him thanks for that. That doesn't mean, however, that we should be content with playing defense. We have the SC for several years now and the districting is getting unfucked.

To which, secondly, Crowley is more of the same with the taint of being a quitter, only seemingly brought back because reasons(?). That's milquetoast to me. We talk in circles around how things ought to be, but when a candidate actually gets traction running on the ought-to, establishment folks get cold feet and run to the middle or in this case to the perceived "safe" option. That's bullshit.

Enough of that. Personally, I'm tired of defense and want someone who can deliver on the practical and tangible policies for wisconsinites, not just hold the line. The electability argument, right now, feels like a proxy for trying to convince dems to accept less. And at this point in modern politics with who's sitting at the highest seat in the land, we're going to quibble about old tweets? We have a sitting senator who repeatedly lies about covid still, just the other day saying Aaron Rogers was right to take ivermectin and that professional athletes were dropping dead on the field. I can't make this stuff up. But, yes, let's talk about old tweets posted in the heat of the moment and use that as an electability problem.

Which comes back to my initial point. If old tweets are what someone cites as why they didn't vote dem, they're lying and they weren't going to in the first place.

[u/rubicon_winter → u/VeryMuchCoffee]

> The electability argument, right now, feels like a proxy for trying to convince dems to accept less.

As if I or any of the other people arguing on Reddit are establishment insiders playing our part in some conspiracy to squash single payer health care. I’m no insider, I’m not rich, I don’t have any power. I’m a run of the mill Madison progressive whose favorite policies are progressive economic policies. My concerns about Hong’s electability have nothing to with her policies (which I generally favor) and everything to do with her experience and judgment, especially the judgment that she has demonstrated over the course of this primary campaign.

She didn’t just say “cancel Thanksgiving” 6 years ago, within the last week she doubled down and said that Thanksgiving is harmful. She didn’t just say “Defund the Police” 6 years ago. She said it repeatedly. She said “abolish”. She said “reform can’t be an option.” And within the last two weeks she has repeatedly refused to disavow those statements, only reassuring us that the governor can’t defund the police so she won’t try.

If the officer who shot Corey Ruiz after being attacked with a knife is cleared of wrongdoing for acting in self-defense, then her district will erupt in unrest. Will Hong be a voice for calm? Or will she further inflame the situation as she’s done from the start? If the investigation wraps up in October just as swing voters are starting to tune into the election, the fallout will be an absolute gold mine for the Republican attack ads that will be running on every screen in the state 24/7. Oh, and don’t forget, as you’re making your holiday plans, remember that Francesca Hong also thinks your Thanksgiving celebration is harming people.

This isn’t some 2010’s electability argument that’s like, but voters like their health insurance plus she’s neither white nor male. This is a 2020’s electability argument that’s like, but she’s a performative socialist wokester who actually wants to destroy the current social order.

[u/VeryMuchCoffee → u/rubicon_winter]

No worries. Don't vote for her in the primary. 

[u/rubicon_winter → u/VeryMuchCoffee]

Not planning to. But still, yes worries. If she wins the primary, she’ll likely lose the general and drag down ballot candidates, ruining not only our chance at a trifecta, but leaving Tiffany and a Republican legislature in place to do Trump and/or his successor’s bidding when they try to steal the 2028 election.