She absolutely can win that district. Had the DCCC not pulled funding from Brad Pfaff to shore up failing NY candidates, Van Orden wouldn't even be in Congress right now. Democrats need candidates that represent their districts across this country, and aren't just MSNBC party line toadying wannabes. Rebecca can be that somebody and can do a great job for Wisconsin. Strongly encourage voting for her and contributing to her campaign.
Excellent analysis! Cooke is definitely the right candidate for Dems in this district. We need to find people like her everywhere and contest every district that is even remotely competitive.
I do worry that Van Orden will be very difficult to beat. His record is extreme ... but sometimes it's possible to paper over an extreme substantive record with popular cultural vibes (after all this is Trump's electoral super-power). Van Orden has a compelling biography as a 20+ year veteran Navy SEAL, for whose service I and all Americans owe an immeasurable debt. And even his drunken yelling incident can be spun positively for him - here's a guy who risked his life on multiple tours of duty, and now he sees some privileged young staffers lying around the Capitol like they own the place!?!?!? Now, his conduct was totally inappropriate and unbecoming of his office ... but if he frames it as I lay out here, I suspect the public will side with the veteran (rightly America's most beloved group) over the young elite college-educated staffers (possibly America's most hated group). So he could end up being MORE popular as a result, by giving voice to the anger that many (most?) Americans feel towards college-educated elites.
Nominating a reasonable moderate Dem with real rural credibility perhaps gives us more of a chance - but we should not understate the magnitude of the challenge in this district.
100% correct. I wrote about her and the WI- 3rd District here last summer: https://purpleusa.substack.com/p/where-dems-need-to-do-better
She absolutely can win that district. Had the DCCC not pulled funding from Brad Pfaff to shore up failing NY candidates, Van Orden wouldn't even be in Congress right now. Democrats need candidates that represent their districts across this country, and aren't just MSNBC party line toadying wannabes. Rebecca can be that somebody and can do a great job for Wisconsin. Strongly encourage voting for her and contributing to her campaign.
Excellent analysis! Cooke is definitely the right candidate for Dems in this district. We need to find people like her everywhere and contest every district that is even remotely competitive.
I do worry that Van Orden will be very difficult to beat. His record is extreme ... but sometimes it's possible to paper over an extreme substantive record with popular cultural vibes (after all this is Trump's electoral super-power). Van Orden has a compelling biography as a 20+ year veteran Navy SEAL, for whose service I and all Americans owe an immeasurable debt. And even his drunken yelling incident can be spun positively for him - here's a guy who risked his life on multiple tours of duty, and now he sees some privileged young staffers lying around the Capitol like they own the place!?!?!? Now, his conduct was totally inappropriate and unbecoming of his office ... but if he frames it as I lay out here, I suspect the public will side with the veteran (rightly America's most beloved group) over the young elite college-educated staffers (possibly America's most hated group). So he could end up being MORE popular as a result, by giving voice to the anger that many (most?) Americans feel towards college-educated elites.
Nominating a reasonable moderate Dem with real rural credibility perhaps gives us more of a chance - but we should not understate the magnitude of the challenge in this district.