Engagement is the secret sauce that powers any group of people who accomplish amazing things together. The power of engagement decided the American Revolution when a Continental Army of ordinary men, mostly farmers and merchants, defeated one of the great military powers in the world; and the power of engagement catapulted Donald Trump to an unlikely second term as President of the United States just last year. Engagement materializes when something people care about seems possible and it’s clear to them that their personal investment will make a difference in bringing it about.
The Republican Party of Wisconsin has an engagement problem. The conservative voters of Wisconsin are restless and disgusted with what we have to work with. The Republican Party leadership and elected officials are making a big mistake by not recognizing the people are in the mood for disruptive change. Across the state there have been encouraging signs that grassroots conservatives are not going to roll over and do as they’re told. At the County and District level, new leaders are being elected to replace the old guard in defiance of the recommendations of the entrenched leaders. Newly elected leaders are making it clear they are not going to go along to get along.
The April 1 Supreme Court election defeat brought new waves of criticism of Republican leadership. In 2023, the state Party shifted to a full-time paid Chair using the rationale that winning elections is a full-time job. Brian Schimming is the first paid Chair of the Party and, while I could not find his salary, I did find that Ben Wikler, his Democratic counterpart, makes about $200,000 year. Schimming is likely getting comparable executive level pay. Calls for his resignation were one of the responses to the abysmal election showing.
Two weeks ago, the Wisconsin Republican Party Executive Committee made an epic strategic blunder to quiet the growing noise coming from the rank and file. They adopted two new by-laws to enable the Executive Committee to remove leaders at the County, District, or Executive Committee level who they decide are violating the code of conduct and “undermining the party’s mission of electing Republicans to office”. They claim their purpose is to “enhance transparency, accountability, and governance” within the Party structure but it’s clear they are trying to stifle dissent. They don’t seem to understand that freedom requires the spirited debate of ideas and that includes strenuous, sometimes heated, disagreement. In an encouraging prelude of the defiance to come, the Milwaukee County Republican Party immediately issued a statement on the new by-laws: “The first responsibility of every citizen is to question authority”.
The specifics of the new removal procedure expose what is really going on. Those who can initiate removal proceedings include not only members of the Executive Committee of the Party, but also elected state legislators from either House. Many conservative voters throughout the state have had it with the non-responsiveness of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu and many other senators and assemblymen to their constituents. We are fighting back by electing people at the County and District level who will openly push for a new direction and are not afraid to publicly challenge the Party machine. The Party has handed those who are likely to be criticized a powerful new weapon…the power to remove locally elected Party leaders from office in complete disregard of the will of the people who elected them.
Dirty tactics are not new to the Republican Party of Wisconsin. It was just last August that Robin Vos, who controls the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee, was linked to a dark money smear campaign that spread lies and slandered candidates who were more interested in responding to the will of their constituents than working for Robin Vos. Some of the County and District level leaders who were willing to speak out publicly against this campaign are now at risk of being targeted for removal by these new by-laws. How hypocritical that one of the objectives in the Republican Party of Wisconsin Constitution is “To maintain control of the Republican party of Wisconsin in the hands of grassroots Republicans”.
There aren’t many things that can corrupt people faster or more completely than the irresistible allure of power. The supporting evidence is in full view across America in political parties, career politicians, the branches of government and government agencies. Wisconsin is no exception. Citizens have developed a healthy disgust for government at all levels. They are weary of hearing the same talk and seeing very little walk.
The Republican Party of Wisconsin will not win elections without an engaged electorate. Effective leaders inspire followership. They do not fear the will of the people or the noise of disagreement. Suppressing dissent is a tactic to force compliance. Suppressing dissent will never produce engagement.
