Former Mayor of Madison Advice to Dems: "Compromise and Civility." Have we learned nothing?

Dave Cieslewicz (chess-lev’-ich), former mayor of Madison, epitomizes why the Democratic Party sucks. Check out the headline of his recent opinion piece in Madison’s free weekly newspaper, Isthmus.

A new approach for Democrats: The left can retake government with compromise and civility.

I can’t imagine a more weak kneed, ludicrous and destructive conclusion. That's right, compromise with an uncompromising Republican tea party juggernaut? Civility? Look at the Republican temper tantrum (here and here) directed skillfully at their recall loss in Racine. Pretty civil huh?

Cieslewicz at least got one thing right, kinda:  

Thanks for the help Dave.

Too many independent voters view the Democrats, my party, as nothing more than a collection of special interests. AFSCME. The teachers union. The trial lawyers. Never mind that the Republicans are just a collection of special interests with even less in common with them. Big corporations. Wall Street. Extreme social conservatives. For some reason, the Democrats get stuck with the special-interest label more than the other guys.

For some reason? Anyone ever listen to wall-to-wall conservative talk radio? Can anyone find local liberal talk radio hosts, besides Sly in the Morning in Madison? Wausau has 1230, the Voice with a daytime schedule of liberal talkers Hartmann, Miller, Rhodes, and Schultz, but conservative talk thereafter. The Racine area has a liberal talk HD channel, but HD is rare on car radios.

But Dave Cieslewicz gave us more of the same defeatist, agenda losing pablum. 

What's needed is a third way. Here's what it might look like: It would speak the language of the middle class, the language of compromise and civility. Militant rhetoric just scares the bejesus out of people.

Like the militant rhetoric 24/7 on conservative talk radio via Mark Belling, Vicki McKenna, Charlie Sykes and Jeff Wagner? That scared conservatives so much they turned out in droves to out vote Democrats in key counties in the state.