Uh oh, I have apparently annoyed David Blaska, specifically he objects to my comment about Dane County Executive candidate Zach Brandon:

Lukas Diaz’s commentyesterday that “Zach Brandon is a Dave Blaska Democrat.”

Unfair? Well, I have a little evidence, check out this column from Blaska:

Ald. Zach Brandon is taking a $95,000 a year job with the Doyle Administration in the Commerce Department. Good for him. Madison’s loss, as it were.

Or another example in Mr. Blaska’s own words (good company right?):

Here’s a copy of an email sent to the three most common sense alders on the Common Council:

To: Zach Brandon, Thuy Pham-Remmele, Jed Sanborn

Oh and also, David Blaska seems real impressed by buzz words:

Who else but a Blaska Democrat would announce his candidacy for Dane County Executive without once using terms like “Greenspace” or “conservation acreage?” The word “environment” is uttered just once. Oh, blessed relief! Are we in end times? Is this the rapture?

Instead, Zach Brandon mentioned the word “jobs” 13 times in his prepared remarks Tuesday.

Job Job Job Jobity-Job

Pardon my cynicism, but every politician talks about jobs. What matters is their plan. Zach Brandon didn’t give a lot of details in his speech…maybe he’ll talk about his record at the Commerce Department where ostensibly he spent time doing something related to the economy and jobs. I mean right?

A politician saying “jobs” over and over again is essentially meaningless without any sort of plan.

Also in response to a few other of Blaska’s points:

So irate was Progressive Dane that it had infiltrated the local Democratic Party to deny Brandon his party’s endorsement in his 2007 re-election bid. Even though he was unopposed!

As someone who was at that Dane Dems meeting i would like to point out several things:

1. There is a progressive wing of the Dane Democratic party. Really. Seriously, there is. Is anyone surprised by this? Some members of the progressive wing are Progressive Dane members (I have dual membership*), others are not.

*I don’t see any problem with being a member of both parties. I mean, Russ Feingold and Tammy Baldwin are Democrats, right? That’s good company to be in you know.

I still can’t believe that some people think that that meeting was some sort of scandal. Well I guess I understand why Mr. Blaska would think progressives supporting progressives is scandal but…

2. During the meeting in which the Dane Democrats voted down endorsing Zach Brandon, there were several other contentious endorsements and at some point, every candidate, regardless of faction, had someone get up and speak on their behalf, every candidate that is, except for Zach Brandon.

Oh yeah, and during that meeting, Zach Brandon’s affinity for appearing on right-wing talk radio was noted. That didn’t go over well with Dane Dem members. In a development that should shock no one, being Vicki McKenna’s favorite Democrat* is not actually helpful in a room full of Democrats.

*Yeah, she said that. If you’re wondering what Vicki McKenna I’m referring to, it’s this one…What side is Mr. Brandon on again?

3. A big tent can be a good thing I think, but do Democrats want to be in the same tent as Vicki McKenna and David Blaska? Nothing personal guys, I’m sure you’re fun to hang out with and all, but you know, would the Dane GOP want to be in the same tent as say, Rep. Tammy Baldwin? I’m thinking no.

Side Note: I don’t think that Mr. Blaska was at this Dane Dems meeting either, but in the meeting when we were voting for the Dane Dem county chair (Wayne Bigelow vs Russel Wallace), by far the biggest applause line of the night was when Wayne was listing his accomplishments as county chair and he noted David Blaska electoral defeat for county board re-election. Thunderous applause from both camps.

Side Note Part II: The Wisconsin State Journal Editorial Board, which endorsed Scott Walker for Governor, is a big Zach Brandon fan.

Side Note Part III: I think it’s untrue that I’ve never had anything nice to say about Mr. Blaska. His blog is a must read because he’s not a blogger who happens to be conservative, but because he is a conservative activist, who happens to have a blog. That is a subtle but important difference.

For example, some time ago, Mr. Blaska made a very optimistic prediction about the conservative chances at retaking the Dane County Board. That prediction turned out to be incorrect.

Now, Mr. Blaska has been called out on this incorrect prediction (rightly so I might add), but I can’t help but wonder if Mr. Blaska was concerned with being accurate or did he make such an optimistic prediction because at that moment, he thought that someone on the conservative team needed to say something like: Hey, we’ve got a chance at this…

…even if in his heart of hearts, he wasn’t quite that optimistic. His blog is important because it isn’t driven merely by observations, but by what a leading Dane County conservative thinks he should be saying (He’s been talking about education a lot lately, just to warn you).

So even if you’ don’t agree wtih David Blaska, I would recommend that you read his column because he is pushing the conservative line, right there for you to read. You know, like trying to signal to conservatives who their candidate is, while denying doing any such thing.