Following the news of her inevitable defeat, Mary Burke delivered her concession speech to a crowd of disappointed supporters Tuesday night. It was, in a word, brilliant. She demonstrated passion, determination, humor and a touching poignance that would have even tugged at the emotions of those who opposed her most. She appeared smart and in control, but most importantly, she looked like a leader, a leader willing to fight and claw to defend her democratic values. All of this led me to ask: Where the hell was this during the campaign?
I firmly believe that the votes were out there to defeat Scott Walker. People in this state have had enough of the lies and divisiveness that have come out of the governor’s first term, but who can blame them for not being willing to vote for a candidate they were never properly introduced to. Two nights ago, Mary Burke showed the voters of the state of Wisconsin who she was, but it was too late.
Why weren’t more speeches like this made during the campaign? And if they were, why weren’t they more publicized? Instead of seeing a strong, passionate challenger who was ready to vigorously work to restore the rights that many Wisconsinites have had stripped away over the past few years, we saw someone who was almost robotic and appeared unable to get excited over anything. We saw a candidate that was so detached from the organization of her own campaign, she allowed a plagiarism scandal to not only occur, but to effectively take her off message for well over a week. Finally, we saw a Democratic base that was screaming to be mobilized, be largely ignored during significant portions of the campaign.
Maybe Burke just wasn’t the right nominee though. Maybe there is someone out there who was capable of beating Walker, and Burke just isn’t that person. Personally, I don’t believe that. Mary Burke is a Harvard-educated woman with governmental experience (limited, but experience nonetheless) who helped to manage one of the most successful companies in the history of the state of Wisconsin. Now, there are certain intangibles that go along with running for public office as well: among them are charisma and public speaking abilities. This is where Gov. Walker is particularly strong. It is also where Burke showed serious weaknesses during the campaign, but I’m not convinced that she is completely inept in this category. For some reason, though, she never allowed herself to demonstrate that during the race.
At the beginning of her speech, Burke quoted Vince Lombardi: “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up” (easier for a guy with a regular season winning percentage of 73.8 percent to say). That’s a great sentiment, but there’s one problem. Burke was knocked down the entire campaign, and did not bother getting back up until it was already over. Ultimately, Mary Burke proved to me and the rest of the state Tuesday night that she was right for Wisconsin. For the first time in 13 months, she finally looked us in the eye and said: This is who I am, and this is what I want to do for you. Who knows, maybe if she showed us this earlier we would have seen a different result on election night. All we know for sure is that Scott Walker is sitting comfortably in his seat in the governor’s office, hunched over and chuckling like Mr. Burns. And Mary Burke is, well, I guess it doesn’t really matter anymore.
Max is a junior majoring in political science. Do you agree or disagree with his take on the election? Send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
