I have been a constant supporter of Senator Tammy Baldwin, but she is making a very wrong turn in her campaign by deciding not to be with President Joe Biden when he visits Madison on Friday. I am truly saddened by the political statement she is making.
Not for the first time do I comment on a politician asking voters to have faith in their leadership abilities but then show weakness by making a less-than-artful political move. Such is the case with Baldwin who will skip the chance to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the leader of the free world. Some will argue this is smart politics following the presidential debate last week in Atlanta. I strongly differ. Not being on stage with the president in her home state is a dismal display of the sorrowful state of our politics.
Let me be gut-honest and say the absence of Baldwin alongside our president is simply not a classy way to act. Regardless of politics, you should always stand with your friends. There comes a time when you say, whatever the effects, I will not turn my back on the leader of the free world. The president is coming to my state, and by God, I will be there with him.
I read a great deal of history and always find visits from a president to generate robust enthusiasm that creates lingering memories. I love the account of how President Grover Cleveland went fishing in Maple Bluff in 1887. I suspect if we traveled back into the newspaper files there are stories of beaming residents pressing close. We may have partisan points of view about issues and policy but when the president visits there should stir within us a deep sense of respect for the office while knowing that we are witnessing a page of history.
That may seem quaint and even corny to those reading this blog post. But I suggest what we need, perhaps more than anything else at this point in our history, is a healthy dose of the old-fashioned way we once conducted our politics in the nation.
We all know that Biden had a highly troubling debate last week and the path forward for his candidacy and the consequences for the Democratic Party are top-of-the-fold topics in newspapers. But this is where leadership kicks into high gear. Baldwin should show voters she will not be intimidated from doing what is right. When a president visits your state, and you are either a state leader or candidate you show up, shake hands, wave to the crowd, and delight in the moment just as the cheering voters in the audience are doing. After all, a visit by a president is a very American moment.
Baldwin could send a strong message that the shallow end of the political pool with their threats of using photos of her with the president is exactly the type of politics that has gotten us to this place we are today, and why a change is much-needed. The opposition may attempt some mud-slinging but Baldwin could state clearly with her presence on the stage she is a strong woman and not about to be cowered. She could show faith in the voters to not fall to mean-spirited politics.
If we are sick of the type of politics now taking place then we need to stop repeating them and instead anchor ourselves to the ideals that history demonstrated once led us forward as a state and nation.
I am genuinely sad that Tammy Baldwin will not make that effort.
