When I was in grad school, we’d often drink and play poker. One of the more experienced players got upset when other players tried to paw through the discard pile at the end of the round to see if another player had the cards they thought they did. He called this “rabbit hunting”, and I admit that I liked to do it. So, fair warning, I’m going to rabbit hunt about Francesca Hong.
The received wisdom on Hong is that she deserved to lose because she just wasn’t a strong enough candidate. Josh Marshall, among others, has accepted this. Being the rabbit hunter that I am, the more I see that, the more I want to see if it’s true. So I dug up a serious Hong interview. It was on July 13, and she’s interviewed by JR Ross, a reporter who clearly knows Wisconsin politics.
Given Marshall and other writers’ statements, I expected some mis-steps. What I saw was the woman who paid attention in class, did all her homework, and knew her shit. The host asked detailed questions about education, healthcare and public safety. Hong not only had the facts at hand, she also named legislation that she or colleagues had introduced to address the issues that were raised by the interviewer. Her answers were often not what centrists would want to hear: she wants to abolish charter schools, she wants to take a hard look at non-for-profit hospitals to see if they still deserve their non-profit status, she wants to have a higher marginal tax rate for millionaires, and she wants to regulate private equity and AirBnb in areas where housing is scarce.
I’ve cued up the video below to the question where the interviewer asks about her about her previous comments about a world without prisons. As far as I’m concerned, she handles it perfectly. She begins by saying that safety is a human right, and after giving a strong answer, with a smile, she says, “I think attacking a dream is a little unfair”.
If this is a bad way to handle some older social media posts, show me a good way.
Hong is obviously a political talent. When I watch this interview, I see someone who should be welcomed into the Democratic Party.
I will write more about the polls in Wisconsin and Michigan, but the fact that Crowley, Hong’s opponent, and El-Sayed are neck-and-neck or close in the polls is probably because Democrats are licking their wounds after a tough primary, not because they’re going to lose. Still, if Crowley loses, no forgiveness for Tony Evers and every other Democrat in Wisconsin and the rest of the country who worked to push her out. This kind of talented person definitely had a chance to win.
