Emerge Wisconsin aims to elect Democratic women
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20120129/GPG0101/201290588/Emerge-Wisconsin-aims-elect-Democratic-women?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s
6-month program covers election basics
APPLETON — Wisconsin has never sent a woman to the U.S. Senate or elected a female governor, and just more than a quarter of the seats in the state Legislature are held by women.
Emerge Wisconsin is working to change that.
Modeled on a national program, the Madison-based nonprofit is training a generation of progressive Democratic women how to run for public office and win.
The program "helped me to consolidate the campaign structure, and it helped me to be more effective in my message," said state Rep. Penny Bernard Schaber, D-Appleton, who completed the training alongside state Sen. Jessica King, D-Oshkosh, in 2007.
The six-month program covers everything from building a field operations team to the fine print of campaign finance, and each class is limited to 25 women, who must apply for a spot in the program.
I hope the Emerge Wisconsin folks are not only prepping our candidates, but also vetting them to make sure they hold Democratic values dear and are not just more Blue Dogs.