‘Moderate’ Dem gubernatorial candidate embraced DEI budget tool, Green New Deal-style policies

David Crowley gets pitched as the sensible one in this race, the guy who isn't a self-described democratic socialist, and by Wisconsin Democratic primary standards maybe that's technically true. But scan the actual record and the "moderate" label starts to look like a marketing choice more than a description. Racial-equity budgeting in Milwaukee County. Net-zero climate targets that read like they were lifted straight from the Green New Deal binder. That's not center-left governance, that's the same agenda with a calmer speaking voice attached to it.

This is the trick that keeps working on voters who tune in late. You put a democratic socialist on one side of the ballot and suddenly anyone standing next to her looks like Joe Manchin. Crowley doesn't have to moderate his actual policies, he just has to not be Francesca Hong. The press does the rest, running headlines about the "moderate alternative" without ever pricing in what his budget priorities actually say about how he'd govern the whole state.

Wisconsin voters deserve better than a label doing the work that a record should be doing. If equity-weighted budget tools and aggressive decarbonization mandates are what Crowley believes in, fine, he should run on that and defend it. Calling it moderation because the other candidate is further left is just relabeling the same product with a friendlier sticker.