Senator Lena Taylor

by capper

I have written several posts over the last few months expressing my opinion about Scott Walker and the way he has performed (or didn't perform) his duties as Milwaukee County Executive.

Over the past few weeks, I have had the opportunity to see Senator Lena Taylor at appearances, meet with her personally, and have had several conversations with her and her campaign manager, John Zapfel. I have asked Senator Taylor and Mr. Zapfel for her positions on many subjects, ranging from the general approach to how she would perform as County Executive, to specifics of each area, such as the parks, transit, corrections, and social services.
And yes, I even asked her about how she would pay for her ideas (and as the right-wingers will be disappointed to find out, it doesn't involve taxing the daylights out of people).

As time allows, and current events dictate, I will be writing a series of posts comparing Senator Taylor and Scott Walker, both on the similarities and differences in their positions. And as one may have surmised, even though I do have some concerns about Senator Taylor, she is, in my opinion, the far better candidate to lead Milwaukee County out of the path of self-destruction that it is currently on.

As I stated above, I have had the opportunity to meet with Senator Taylor, to see her address an audience live, and to have conversations with her. I found her to be very personable. While she is very vocal on her opinions and can be quite outspoken, she also presents herself as very down to earth and aware of what the average person goes through on a daily basis, including the struggles of child care, family crises, and the challenges of making ends meet.

She is respectful of the people she is addressing, even if they do not always return that same respect. She is very candid and open about some of the struggles she and her family has gone through in the past. She also speaks very lovingly of her mother, her brother and her son, Isaiah. You can compare her speaking style at this site and this one to the jilted, scripted approach of Walker's for yourself.

Senator Taylor told me that when she left Milwaukee to get her law degree in Carbondale, Illinois, she had vowed to herself that she would never return to Milwaukee. She said that she was "sick of all the '-isms'" in Milwaukee. However, after she left Milwaukee, she found that the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence, and that she still cared about Milwaukee and the people that lived here. That is why she came back, and started to work to make things better for everyone.

She also told me that it is her compassion for Milwaukee and its citizens that led her to make the decision to leave a cozy job in the State Senate to come back and run for County Executive. She said that she is aware of the frustration and anger people are feeling as they see the parks deteriorate, bus routes get cut, and the general quality of life going downhill. She also is aware of people becoming angry as Scott Walker continued to pander to his base and break promise after promise to appease his base.

To learn more about Senator Taylor, you can find her campaign's home page here. If you wish to make a contribution, you can do that on this site. If you want to help in other ways, this is the page that will help you join her team.