Ron Kind: Affirmative Action Case (or, Why a Woman will be the Next Governor of Wisconsin)

That's right: the handsome, athletic, Harvard-educated, middle-aged, white dude Congressman from La Crosse is Wisconsin's biggest affirmative action case this week ... and here's why:

There's really no other way to start this off but to admit that I know very little of Ron Kind's world. His district is on the other side of the state and I get very little information from that corner of Wisconsin. This is completely my fault since, short of Prairie du Chien falling off a cliff and doing a bellyflop into Iowa, I probably wouldn't care about anything in Western Wisconsin. Nothing personal, I just don't have any ties there.

That said, I'm still kinda surprised to hear Ron Kind's name being bandied about as a potential Democratic nominee for Governor. Kind may have his sights set on the gig for all I know, but why on Earth he would want it is beyond me. He's a congressman, and a fairly popular one at that. He strikes me more like the type of guy who would lie in wait for a senate seat. (BTW, I would love to see Kind-Paul Ryan senate race someday.) Maybe he wants it, maybe he doesn't -- I can't say for sure.

But I do get the impression that his name is being floated about because there is, shall we say, a dirth of sack among the potential Democratic contenders. I don't like playing the "gender card" but in this case I think there exists a certain degree of sexism at play in both how this story is being told and what people are expecting from potential candidates. Both Falk and Lawton seem to be afterthoughts in many of the media accounts I've caught thus far (except for Rob Mentzer, who's been Lawton Watching for some time now) and I can't help but wonder if various observers are including Kind just to get some gender balance in the discussion.

You know, because a woman could never realistically be Governor...

This is really a mistake that I believe has a lot do with Wisconsin lacking much female representation historically. Yes, there are Reps. Gwen Moore and Tammy Baldwin, both of whom are deft and able leaders, but they represent areas of the state that are distinctly unlike the rest of Wisconsin. Women are under-represented in the state Senate and Assembly and tend to get steamrolled (Judy Robson) or are crazy (Lena Taylor) or are embarrassments to their districts and elected body (Mary Lazich). Peg Lautenschlager is about the closet thing women in Wisconsin have had to a credible state-wide candidate in the past and, well, you know the rest of that story.

So in a way Wisconsin is kinda conditioned to brush off women as real threats to defeat male candidates for higher office, but in this case it would be a mistake to do so. Kathleen Falk is nothing if not tenacious. She knows how to throw a punch and will do it too. That will come in handy if she runs against Walker, who shows no signs of running anything but a negative campaign that is constantly on the offensive. Barb Lawton is an effective retail politician who can work a room with the best of them and knows when to turn on the charm.

Here's the bottom line: If you want to win Wisconsin these days, you have to win Wisconsin's women. Period. Both Falk and Lawton know this. If Walker is aware of this he sure does have a funny way of showing it. Obviously, Falk and/or Lawton would appeal to women by virtue of being women themselves -- and Walker would be in a position where he would have to ease up on his attacks lest women start to coalesce around his challenger, whom they perceive as being picked on by one of "the good old boys." That means Walker is suddenly put into a position that requires tight-rope walking, something he has shown little talent for in the past.

Women in Wisconsin are desperate for a leader of their own and they'll jump aboard the first candidate they see with the talent to play with big boys. Falk and Lawton are two tough broads that can crack skulls with the best of them. Anyone who underestimates them does so at their own peril.