Those of us in living in Madison will have a meaningful choice for Mayor next spring. The State Journal reports that money is building up in the coffers of the two contenders.
Mayoral candidates amassing big money: Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and challenger Ray Allen are already massing big campaign war chests for what could be a very expensive spring election. … "This is going to be the most expensive race in Madison history," Pasha said, adding that his candidate could spend between $300,000 and $350,000.
It appears long time players from the Republican side are aiding Ray Allen's bid to be a Republican Mayor of “The Most Progressive City in America”.
GOP stalwarts behind Allen? The invitation for the June 29 event asked potential donors to contact either Mary Hegi or Dan Morse, both of Gateway Ventures. Morse is working for the Magnum campaign along with Gateway President Phil Prange, a high-profile Republican fundraiser who was a key figure in former Gov. Tommy Thompson's campaigns.
Incumbent Dave Cieslewicz has aggressively pursued a socialist inspired makeover of Capital City with the planning, advice and assistance of the UW Madison Sociology Department. The reality of Mayor Dave’s utopian New Urbanist vision is that individual freedom is subordinate to government defined lifestyles, and the American Dream of house, yard and car is actively disparaged to convince people that life in storage boxes with city service dependency is for their own good.
Dave Cieslewicz: Cities are good. Whether the issue is providing quality public services, reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, providing affordable housing or creating family-supporting jobs, cities offer policies that can work for America. That was the conclusion from the first meeting of the New Cities Project, a national conference I initiated with the help of UW-Madison professor Joel Rogers and his Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS).
The Ray Allen website appears to have benefited from professional coaching, as he is fine tuning a message to play to the rising discontent with the heavy handed lifestyle makeover the current administration is forcing on traditional Madison.
Ray Allen: Our city is a wonderful place to live, but that quality of life is being threatened by a city government that has the wrong priorities. With basic city services being cut or neglected, local property taxes increasing more than three times the state average, and leaders who place more value in social policy experiments than managing our city, it is time to get back to what made Madison one of the top places to live in our nation.
When I say the latest effort is an improvement of the message I am referring, of course, to his coming out statement earlier this year.
Candidacy Announcement: "I don't think anyone who is in the mainstream of politics can support George Bush. I didn't vote for him. George Bush and I disagree on everything from No Child Left Behind to the war in Iraq," said Allen.
The sad truth in Madison, as it is almost everywhere in America, is that marginal Republicans are still considerably better than true believer Democrats.
