How do Democrats win state-wide elections while the Republicans dominate in local legislative seats?  You’ll hear the false story of Gerrymandering as the main reason.  A little history disputes that narrative.  Going into the 2010 election, Democrats controlled both houses of the legislature and the governorship.  In 2010 Republicans won 60 seats in the Assembly and 19 seats in the Senate.  It’s important to note that in the Assembly 10 Democrat incumbents lost re-election and in the Senate 4 Democrat incumbents lost in a map that was drawn before the “gerrymander” argument became the comfortable excuse for losing elections.

I’d like to proffer another reason for the statewide results — a division of fellowship among Republicans that isn’t evident with Democratic voters.  The political left has built a coalition of subgroups around the hatred of the political right and its values and there is very little public infighting among the groups.  When talking with the different factions the Democrats aren’t a Kum-Ba-Yah organization, but one thing you don’t see is public infighting within the party.  How the Democratic party keeps a lid on the disagreements is a feather in their hat.

Sadly, the Republican party has divided itself around peripheral issues.  The Republican party formed as a coalition of Whigs, Free Soilers, anti-slavery Know Nothings, as well as others, including Democrats who were against slavery.  Though there were differences among the groups, the central focus of defeating slavery held the coalition together.  Republicans and conservatives have lost the large vision which solidifies the Democrats, winning statewide elections and controlling the political discourse. 

For some unhealthy reason, the mini coalitions in the Republican party have decided that a circular firing squad and name-calling are more important and self-righteous than the ultimate goal of winning elections and controlling the political discourse.  If their preferred candidate doesn’t win, enough conservative voters decide to sit out the statewide elections only voting in “local” elections and the dismal state-wide results bear this statement out.  The negative attacks in Republican primaries are beyond the pale and exemplify the fake hierarchy of who’s more conservative. 

This crazy infighting has also affected fundraising.  While the Democrats have done an outstanding job of soliciting funds from donors across the nation, Republicans have not had the same success.  A resounding mindset on the conservative side is one similar to Roman Emporer Ramses the Great when it came to the Jews and building bricks, we ain't giving the party any money but we want better results from you.  Didn't work out well for Ramses and it hasn't worked for Republicans either.

Where has the focus on the ultimate goal gone?  Will Wisconsin right-of-center voters ever be able to humble themselves to reach the ultimate goal?  Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”  Maybe that should be the ambition of every die-hard politically active conservative.