Alex Lasry
CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) There was an article earlier this month in The Guardian, a British newspaper that covers American politics. The theme was that promising minority Democrat candidates – almost all woke and on the far left- are facing a tougher path to political office because they’re being primaried by limousine liberals.
One of the cases cited by commentator Steve Phillips was the democrat primary for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin, where he described Mandella Barnes as a vastly superior candidate to challenger Alex Lasry. Barnes is black and super-woke; Lasry is the white, Jewish millionaire son of the co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks. At 35 years old, he’s right out of central casting for limousine liberals. His dad was a huge Goldman Sachs client, so that’s where his son got a job out of college. His father donated a half-million dollars to Barack Obama’s campaign; that got his son a job at the White House where he accomplished nothing of note.
And then Lasry dropped out of the race. Maybe he actually did believe the narrative that young millionaires were holding back candidates who were truly down for the struggle. There is a growing narrative among the liberal-left that candidates like Lasry need to step aside for candidates like Barnes. The thinking is part-racial; monied white candidates have an unfair advantage. The other component is that Democrats need more street fighters, not bonus babies from the corporate suites.
The only problem is that the narrative is wrong. It’s Lasry who’s the stronger candidate. He has none of the baggage that Barnes has of not paying taxes, buying two condos while on Medicaid, and lying about his college degree. Lasry could at least spin a narrative of being pro-business and a champion for the working class.
The great falsehood is this: No one is entitled to political office. Election Day victories are earned. Votes are won by campaigning, and being the preferred choice of your constituents. The idea that one type of candidate has to get out of the way for another is flawed. What does it lead to? The other side winning.
Chris Conley
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