Over at the Wisconsin Gazette, Louis Weisberg has a profile of Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele that’s definitely worth a read.
Here’s a snippet:
Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele – millionaire, philanthropist and proud LGBT ally – is that oddest of ducks on Wisconsin’s current political scene. He’s a progressive Democrat who’s willing to deal with Republican leaders on behalf of his constituents. In fact, he actually talks to Gov. Scott Walker.
“In my current job as county executive, it’s kind of my job to have as good a relationship as I can with whoever’s in the majority, so I can get things done for the county,” he says.
Once upon a time, in an America that seems far away, Abele’s bipartisan, pragmatic approach to governance was expected and even praised. But in the most harshly divided state in a nation that’s more partisan than perhaps at any time since the Civil War, “the most corrosive thing … is the punishment that comes with deviating from the orthodoxy,” Abele says.