Mandela Barnes: The Democrat who Hates Democracy
As 2025 comes to an end, Mandela Barnes officially thinks he has the juice to win a general election in 2026. This frustrates me as a journalist, but I guess I’ll just have to drink through it. Truman Capote was a great journalist, and alcohol solved all of his problems (except one.)
Snark aside, this is not an article that anyone should have to be writing. Barnes' presence in this crowded primary has already sucked up a lot of the oxygen in the room, without adding anything substantial to conversation. An opinion writer for the Journal Sentinel even issued a statement of their own, warning people to not let name recognition sway voters in the primary too much.
After losing a very winnable race in 2022 against Ron Johnson for Senator I had HOPED he would just disappear, and be replaced by a Democrat who actually has something meaningful to offer Wisconsin. Back in October prominent Black Newspaper The Milwaukee Courier wrote a wonderfully well considered, and kind piece about why we do not need this man in the race. You should read it!
The Pernicious Avoidance of the Primary Process
Wisconsin Democrats have this technique for getting their moneyed candidates through the primary process wherein they ignore it completely and focus their campaign on the general. I have accused Tony Evers of having done this in 2018, but even if you accept that was a strong primary where every candidate had an equal shot it is undoubtedly Mandela Barnes' strategy in 2025. Unlike in the Evers race, he isn’t pretending that isn’t what he is doing, he is just saying it. “I have respect for, I am friends with the people who are running, but my focus is on Tom Tiffany."
This is a lie of course, Mandela Barnes does not “respect” the other people in the primary, and is just saying that he does without putting that into action. By using his popularity with the democratic voter base in Wisconsin he is talking over his “friends” who are in the race with him, which is not particularly friendly. This plays into the second part of the statement doesn’t it? He isn’t focused on this primary, and why should he be if he can simply disengage from the process and be handed the party nomination.
The other Democrats are doing the actual work of raising money, talking to voters, and connecting with community organizations to build ground level support. The latter two of these are the most important of course, and that Milwaukee Courier article specifically calls into question Barnes political instincts for not having done that since his grand loss to Ron Johnson in 2022. “And what’s more telling: instead of spending the past two years organizing here at home, building bridges, and proving he learned from that loss, what we’ve seen is a campaign-in-waiting with no clear rationale other than a desire to try again.”
Mandela Barnes does not “respect” his opponents, he does not respect the voters in Wisconsin, and he does not respect the democratic process. Primaries are such an important part of an election. They are where new ideas take shape and where constituents will have the most voice in the entire process. Every voter to the left of George W. Bush understands the importance of voting blue when November comes around, but the primaries are where voters are given more direct input on the direction a party’s candidate will go.
The final thing I think is important to reflect on with Barnes callous statement, and I mean all of the disrespect in the world here, but who the fuck is Tom Tiffany? Obviously it seems as though he is the heir to the Republican nomination, and yes he has served time in the legislature. But he isn’t really important.
He is just the latest noname to cash in on Trump loyalty, and fork over the money to be the Republican candidate. Surely if Tiffany becomes the Republican nominee it will become important to out organize, debate and whatever else Mandela Barnes thinks “focusing on Tom Tiffany” means. It just isn’t really pertinent to the needs of people in Wisconsin today. Barnes is inflating the power of Tom Tiffany to avoid building a cohesive message around how he will deliver for working people in Wisconsin.
Defending Democracy
“We are at a moment right now where people are asking themselves why can’t the Democratic Party defend this assault on democracy . . . and I would submit to you that if you can’t draw the line at genocide, you probably can’t draw the line at democracy.” This Ta Nehisi Coates quote is not about Mandela Barnes, but it might as well be.
Barnes' big plan is to raise $50 million this election cycle. This will allow him to outspend himself from the last time he ran but also indicates he cannot wait to collect money from corporate donors. Devin Remiker, the Chair of the Wisconsin State Party, certainly believes in spending “enough to win,” and Barnes is indicating that these are also his priorities. He plans to do so by taking money from chief among the genocide lovers AIPAC.
Meanwhile he is talking a big game with Democrats new favorite word “affordability.” Where does he think this corporate money comes from? These corporations are the ones making life so expensive! If you go to his website you will be immediately confronted to donate money and a popup that says “we are funded by grassroots support.” His policy page sucks, and doesn’t provide details for any of his proposals, but it does include language about taxing billionaires despite taking their money. He calls his platform the Wisconsin Way. Folksy.
That wonderful Courier article from earlier points out “So who’s asking for Mandela to run again? It’s not the people here in Milwaukee. It’s national Democratic donors and operatives in Washington and New York trying to rerun the same experiment.”
Mandela Barnes is the Shining Example of Democrats Inability to Learn Anything
The best case scenario for a Barnes candidacy is that he becomes a lightning rod for discussing how centrists have enabled fascists to gain power in this present moment. He might split the vote with other Evers political fail son Sara Rodriguez, and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. This gives the change candidates like Francesca Hong or Kelda Roys the chance to cruise ahead in a split primary.
Realistically we don’t live in the best case scenario very often, so the actual danger of this man waltzing into a primary that he is choosing to ignore is that he sweeps the August election with his money and name recognition, and then proceeds to fumble in November. Unlike past conjecture about centrist candidates and their inability to seal the deal, Barnes has the unique opportunity of having the same electorate he had last time in the election that he lost. We have every reason to believe he will biff this one as well.
