Midterm results a sign that sanity and normalcy may have returned to Wisconsin politics
The invitation to participate in the Main Street Agenda town hall as part of a panel discussion was too great of an opportunity for me to pass up. I have always felt passionately about current events, politics, and our country. In fact, my first visit to Wisconsin was to knock on doors for George McGovern, and I wasn’t even old enough to vote!
The panel was comprised of people with differing political viewpoints about their top issues going into the midterm elections. We planned to discuss our views in a productive way. Unfortunately, our time for that was pretty limited. Nevertheless, post-election, I’d like to share some of my thoughts.
My three top issues during the town hall were, "the future of our democracy," "climate change" and "health care." For now, I’d like to address the first one. My fears for our country were based on the election denialism, lies, vile rhetoric, anger and, of course, the attack on the U.S Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, which left me truly wondering about our future.
Were we going down the path to autocracy? In addition to the usual issues that concern all of us, democracy was indeed on the ballot. On Nov. 8, the citizens of the United States spoke and said that our fragile system of government was still alive and worth fighting for. I was thrilled that turnout was high for a midterm, and that most of the extremists lost.
We still have more challenges for our democratic elections, particularly in Wisconsin. On election night, I heard a pundit refer to Wisconsin as the least democratic state in the country due to our extreme gerrymandering. When half of the state’s voters have disproportionately small representation in our Assembly and Senate, as well as in Congress, something is wrong.
We have the politicians picking their voters rather than the voters selecting their representatives. I would love to see a non-partisan commission set up our districts, as is done in 14 other states. Additionally, recent voter suppression efforts such as the removal of all ballot drop boxes and changes to the acceptance of absentee ballots has undermined participation. We should be encouraging all kinds of voting by making it easier to vote. Perhaps having all mail-in voting, such as in Colorado and Oregon, should be considered.
I am proud and hopeful that sanity and normalcy have returned to our politics. I’d like to see family and friends once again discuss issues with each other and tamp down the angry rhetoric. I’d also like to see politicians do the same and not stoke that anger. Maybe that’s wishful thinking, but for now that’s what I’m holding on to!
Karen Dean of Shorewood is a retired substitute teacher, small business owner and active volunteer for a number of organizations most recently the Shorewood Business Improvement District and the Milwaukee Repertory Theater.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Concerns about future of democracy topped midterm election issues
