Why I Support Mike Tate

Last week Mike Tate, Chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, announced that he was running for another two-year term. I supported him when he ran for his first term and I still support him now.

I was as outraged as anyone after the November election but I’ve tried to channel that outrage into something productive rather than simply finding someone to blame. Frankly it was a national wave election and many of the normal rules simply don’t apply. I don’t think it is particularly useful or fair to judge ultimate performance based only on electoral wins and losses in such an unusual cycle. I personally believe that these circumstances especially require a more substantive look at the track record.

Here are just a handful of the facts that I simply can't ignore:

$5.4 million were raised for the coordinated campaign

2.4 million phone calls were made and 1.3 million doors were knocked on by party volunteers. In fact Wisconsin Democrats filled more shifts this fall than any other state party in the nation.

214 Full-time staff were on the payroll and were working in 54 offices statewide.

Outreach to students was successful as they made up 15.5% of the electorate in Wisconsin and that was the highest number in the country.

DPW has ZERO DEBT coming out of this mid-term election.

The number of paid party members is quickly approaching its highest level in 20 years.

Membership revenue has increased by 81.75% from 2009.

Democrats certainly have experienced a painful election this year but everything does not begin and end with this one election cycle. It is also very important to remember that there is a big picture to take into consideration. It is with that big picture in mind and because of the above listed successes, that I once again support Mike Tate to continue as the chairman for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.