Another incident in the Democratic caucus of the Wisconsin State Assembly has now defined the legacy of Chairman Mike Tate as he is now one of the most radical political leaders in Wisconsin history.
This past week, State Rep. Pedro Colon of Milwaukee’s South Side made a very scathing and defamatory remark towards State Rep. Steve Nass of Whitewater who had to miss a floor vote due to the passing of his mother. The statement came as the Assembly moved to have a floor vote involving disciplinary actions of Rep. Jeff Wood.
This latest incident shows that Chairman Tate allowing this reckless conduct to continue is not tolerated and has no place in our state’s policy debate. The comment from Rep. Colon was very uncalled for at a time when Rep. Nass and his family are grieving the loss of their mother. Despite, Rep. Colon issued an apology, we feel and agree with Rep. Nass that an apology is not enough and this is a very unforgivable action. All of us at Mike Tate Watch extend our thoughts and prayers to Rep. Nass and his family along with our deepest sympathies.
We consider being a State Party Chairman, the equivalent of a local brand manager. But, when you have a Brand Manager like Chairman Tate that has done nothing to right the ship, then you have serious issues and people will not think highly of your brand. Since Mike Tate became Chairman, the following incidents happened under his watch:
- In September of 2009, used racial slurs in a campaign fund-raising e-mail towards attendees of the Milwaukee Taxpayers Tea Party.
- Allowed the entire Democratic caucus to be divided when it came to crunch time on Race to the Top funding. This resulted in Wisconsin having one of the worst grades in the nation for Race to the Top.
- The Wisconsin State Journal reported that Barbara Lawton dropped out of the race for Governor due to a condescending culture that forced her exit out of the race. Despite Mike Tate was never mentioned, you can tell Chairman Tate allowed the condescending tactics to happen.
- Did not hold accountable Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan for being an improper affair with a lobbyist who works for the Payday Loan Industry.
- Recently on April 14, 2010, Matt Seaholm the Campaign Manager for Sean Duffy called for the Chairman’s resignation after it was found that the DPW used ethnic slurs to attack Sean and Rachel Campos-Duffy in a press released issued by Graeme Zielinski, the party’s Communications Director.
With these past incidents under the Chairman’s watch, we call on Chairman Tate and other Democratic Party leaders in the State Legislature to hold Rep. Colon accountable for his conduct. We feel that Rep. Colon should be punished to some extent for his conduct.
If the Chairman lets this incident slide, this is another example of why the people of Wisconsin are harshly rejecting the policies and conduct from Chairman Mike Tate. This may be another reason why the Democratic-controlled legislature has already earned the lowest approval rating ever from the St. Norbert College poll and why the people are anxious for November 2nd to send a message at the ballot box.
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