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Person

Mike McCabe

Nationality:

American
Born:

1960
Occupation:

Co-Founder and Former Executive Director, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign

Wisconsin Gubernatorial Candidate (2018)
Political Party:

Democratic Party
Spouse:

Marilyn Feil

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Michael “Mike” McCabe is a Democratic Party activist and the former founding executive director of the left-leaning Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a position he held for 15 years. He has led several left-of-center nonprofit advocacy groups that have pushed for policies including government-run healthcare, universal basic income, and energy policies to address climate change. 1 2 3

McCabe claims that Blue Jean Nation, a platform he founded in 2015 as he was considering a 2018 campaign for Wisconsin governor, was inspired by Blue Jeans in High Places: The Coming Makeover of American Politics, a book he authored in 2015. McCabe lost a Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial primary bid on August 14, 2018 4

Early Life and Career

McCabe was born in Stoughton, Wisconsin in 1960 and initially lived in Evansville. However, most of his childhood was spent on a 200 plus acre farm in Curtiss, Wisconsin.5 He spends an entire chapter in his book recounting his experience in Clark County6 and made his announcement speech for governor at the farm in Curtiss where he grew up.7

Prior to establishing the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, McCabe held several policy positions. Among other positions, he worked for six years as communications director and legislative liaison for the Madison school district, as a newspaper reporter and legislative aide for three Republican members of the Wisconsin State Assembly, and as a Peace Corps volunteer in the West African nation of Mali.8 In the early 1980s, he ran a statewide civic education program for the Taxpayers Alliance.8

McCabe has previously run for public office as a Democrat, running in a Democratic state Assembly primary in 1998. He lost to now- U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (D-WI).9

Wisconsin Democracy Campaign

Also see Wisconsin Democracy Campaign (Nonprofit)

In 1995 McCabe helped form the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which claims to specialize in tracking the flow of campaign donations in state elections. 10 Beginning as a staffer, he took over as director in 1999.10 Under McCabe’s leadership, the Campaign advocated for more government financing of political campaigns and additional limits on campaign speech. 10

McCabe was viewed as having very little appetite for compromise, with one observer noting that when approaching campaign finance proposals, “Mike was more of that school of thought that if it wasn’t [all-or-nothing], reforms wouldn’t have a chance to reform again.”10 McCabe’s philosophy often placed the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign to the left of other left-of-center Wisconsin advocacy groups such as Wisconsin Common Cause. 10

Despite denouncing outside groups that impact legislation without disclosing donors, as executive director McCabe accepted funding from the Foundation to Promote Open Society associated with philanthropist George Soros.11 McCabe publicly defended accepting the grants from Soros’s group in an appearance before the Wisconsin Supreme Court in late 2009.11 In addition, while often decrying the influence of lobbyists, McCabe himself registered as a lobbyist on behalf of the Democracy Campaign as recently as the 2013-2014 Wisconsin state legislative session. 12

While serving as director of the “nonpartisan” organization, McCabe was referenced four times in a 2013 speech by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) at the Fighting Bob Fest!, an annual gathering of Wisconsin progressives that celebrate the legacy of Wisconsin progressive stalwart Bob La Follette.13

Blue Jean Nation

After leaving the Democracy Campaign, McCabe started Blue Jean Nation, an advocacy organization that claimed to “house the politically homeless.”14 Despite claiming in its creed “both major political parties are failing America,” under McCabe’s leadership Blue Jean Nation has a decidedly Democratic lean.15 Pursuant to the Blue Jean Nation’s Common Creed, there is not a desire for three parties, but “at least one that truly works for the people.”15 In order to carry out that mission, McCabe selected several Democrats to sit on the Blue Jean Nation’s board of directors. Five out of eight board members were former Democratic candidates for office.16

“Book of the Nation”

The “Book of the Nation” is McCabe’s 2015 book Blue Jeans in High Places: The Coming Makeover of American Politics. 6 While McCabe does reserve some judgment for Democrats, it is clear his real aim is to discredit Republicans while encouraging Democrats. In one of the oft-quoted lines from his book, he notes “[w]e have one party that is scary and another that is scared.”6

Wisconsin Gubernatorial Campaign (2018)

McCabe was a candidate for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination during Wisconsin’s 2018 gubernatorial election. He lost his bid for the nomination on August 14, 2018.4

McCabe claimed that he was popularly “drafted” to run. 17 As proof, he cited a letter from Wisconsin activists—Wisconsinites Unite to Draft Mike McCabe for Governor—which included several teachers, professors, public employees, and a member of the Green Bay chapter of Black Lives United.18

Despite McCabe claiming to have never been a member of a political party, he declared his candidacy for Wisconsin Governor as a Democrat in Fall 2017. This prompted a public fight with the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, which insisted that membership lists would only be released to candidates who were active party members.19 McCabe has refused to pay the minimal $25 fee to join the party, instead relying on his filing of a Declaration of Candidacy as proof of his party membership.19 McCabe’s campaign manager used the public spat to compare McCabe’s candidacy to that of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT), claiming “DPW is making the same mistake the DNC made in 2016. They apparently haven’t learned a thing from what just happened last year.”

While McCabe emphasized the theme of principle over party, noting along the way his commitment to not accept any campaign contribution over $200, to not live in the governor’s residence if elected, and to take a salary one dollar less than the average Wisconsin salary, his platform included several recognizable progressive policy positions. Among other things, he emphasized “geyser economics” whereby “prosperity gushes up, it does not trickle down,” substantially boosting the minimum wage, promising “BadgerCare should be there for all Badgers,” setting a goal for Wisconsin to be “the first in the nation to be fully powered by renewable energy,” ending “taxpayer-subsidized private schooling” (otherwise known as Wisconsin’s Parental School Choice program), and committing to spending more on the state’s university system than its prison system.20

Activities

We Are Many-United Against Hate

In 2017, McCabe began serving as a strategic advisor and board member of We Are Many-United Against Hate and in 2019 was named its first executive director. 21 22

In October 2019, McCabe and Masood Akhtar, the founder of We Are Many-United Against Hate, co-published an op-ed which accused President Donald Trump of inciting violence while advocating in favor of gun control policies including red flag laws, gun licensing requirements, magazine capacity restrictions, and restrictions on gun purchases. 3

The op-ed also advocated for additional policies including universal basic income, government-run healthcare, increased funding of existing welfare programs, reducing the number of crimes punishable by incarceration, requiring health insurance to cover mental health programs as an alternative to incarceration, and for abolishing United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 23

Our Wisconsin Revolution

From 2020 to 2021, McCabe worked as the first executive director of Our Wisconsin Revolution, a local left-of-center advocacy group founded and organized by supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). During the 2020 presidential election, McCabe claimed the organization had organized campaigns to support left-of-center policy initiatives he alleged would draw Republican voters away from supporting then-president Trump. In addition, a 2020 report by the Washington Examiner alleged that McCabe advocated for the organization to support policy proposals similar to Sen. Sanders’ 2016 campaign platform. 21 1

350 Wisconsin

In 2021, McCabe began working as an agriculture policy and practices team member for 350 Wisconsin, the local state branch of 350.org. 21 In March 2023, McCabe wrote an article on the group’s website advocating in favor of policies supporting “regenerative agriculture” in order to address climate change. 2

Additional Views

In February 2020, McCabe wrote an article in The Progressive claiming that “poisoned culture” was responsible for increased support for stricter immigration laws while alleging it was responsible for decreased support for climate change-related policies. 24

In July 2024, McCabe was interviewed on the John and Gordon Show podcast. Discussing his own political views, McCabe claimed, “It’s unfortunate that the Democratic Party being so afraid of being labeled socialist, not realizing that Milwaukee grew dramatically under socialist leadership.” 25 He further claimed that the city of Milwaukee, “was at its best, in its glory days, under socialist mayors. But now, the Democratic party is afraid of being labeled socialist.” 25

References

  1. Conniff, Ruth. “Our Wisconsin Revolution’s New Director: We’ve Got to Create a New Kind of Politics.” Wisconsin Examiner, January 8, 2020. https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2020/01/08/our-wisconsin-revolutions-new-director-weve-got-to-create-a-new-kind-of-politics/.
  2. “350 Parts per Million.” 350 Wisconsin. Accessed December 15, 2024. https://350wisconsin.org/350-parts-per-million/.
  3. Wise, David. “Masood Akhtar and Mike McCabe: 12 Steps to Strike Hate at Its Roots.” WisPolitics, July 18, 2022. https://www.wispolitics.com/2019/masood-akhtar-and-mike-mccabe-12-steps-to-strike-hate-at-its-roots/.
  4. “Michael McCabe.” Ballotpedia. Accessed November 12, 2018. https://ballotpedia.org/Michael_McCabe
  5. “Meet Mike.” Mike McCabe for Governor. Accessed February 17, 2018. http://www.governorbluejeans.com/about_mike_mccabe_for_governor.
  6. McCabe, Mike. Blue jeans in high places: the coming makeover of American politics. Mineral Point, WI, USA: Little Creek Press, A Division of Kristin Mitchell Design, LLC, 2015.
  7. “McCabe Announcement Speech.” YouTube. September 19, 2017. Accessed February 19, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZIRh6dfYx0.
  8. “Meet Mike.” Mike McCabe for Governor. Accessed February 19, 2018. http://www.governorbluejeans.com/about_mike_mccabe_for_governor.
  9. Jessie Opoien | The Capital Times. “Wisconsin governor candidate Mike McCabe wouldnt be first to govern in blue jeans.” Madison.com. October 04, 2017. Accessed February 19, 2018. http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/election-matters/wisconsin-governor-candidate-mike-mccabe-wouldn-t-be-first-to/article_e2f84eaf-c048-516c-8037-f16e76198252.html.
  10. Gunn, Erik. “The believer.” Isthmus | Madison, Wisconsin. February 04, 2016. Accessed February 19, 2018. http://isthmus.com/news/news/mike-mccabe-wants-to-remake-american-politics/.
  11. Bice, Daniel. Liberal billionaire helping fund media groups in Wisconsin. Accessed February 19, 2018. http://archive.jsonline.com/watchdog/noquarter/127706658.html/.
  12. “Eye On Lobbying.” Licensed Lobbyist. Accessed February 19, 2018. https://lobbying.wi.gov/Who/LobbyistInformation/2013REG/Information/6365?tab=Profile.
  13. “Mike is Quite Right.” YouTube. December 15, 2017. Accessed February 19, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=18&v=johekK-qtQ0.
  14. “About Us.” Blue Jean Nation. Accessed February 19, 2018. http://www.bluejeannation.com/about/.
  15. “Our Common Creed.” Blue Jean Nation. Accessed February 19, 2018. http://www.bluejeannation.com/creed/.
  16. “Our Board of Directors.” Blue Jean Nation. Accessed February 19, 2018. http://www.bluejeannation.com/our-board-of-directors/.
  17. “What started all this.” Mike McCabe for Governor. Accessed February 19, 2018. http://www.governorbluejeans.com/what_started_all_this_mike_mccabe_for_governor.
  18. “Wisconsinites Unite to Draft Mike McCabe for Governor.” Paul Linzmeyer, et al. to Mike McCabe.
  19. Jessie Opoien | The Capital Times. “Wisconsin governor candidate Mike McCabe at odds with state Democratic Party over voter list access.” Madison.com. November 01, 2017. Accessed February 19, 2018. http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/election-matters/wisconsin-governor-candidate-mike-mccabe-at-odds-with-state-democratic/article_80030d3a-6dcc-5c69-abbb-ad2331ca4327.html.
  20. “Principle over party.” Mike McCabe for Governor. Accessed February 19, 2018. http://www.governorbluejeans.com/principle_over_party_mike_mccabe_for_governor.
  21. “Mike McCabe.” LinkedIn. Accessed December 15, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-mccabe-a101189/.
  22. “Mike McCabe Chosen as We Are Many–United against Hate’s Executive Director.” Madison365, August 21, 2019. https://madison365.com/mike-mccabe-chosen-as-we-are-many-united-against-hates-executive-director/.
  23. McCabe, Mike. “A 12-Step Program to Kick America’s Addiction to Hate and Violence.” We Are Many United Against Hate, October 15, 2019. https://www.united-against-hate.org/a-12-step-program-to-kick-americas-addiction-to-hate-and-violence/.
  24. McCabe, Mike. “Wisconsin Leads the Way, for Better and Worse.” Progressive.org, February 27, 2020. https://progressive.org/latest/wisconsin-leads-the-way-for-better-and-worse-mccabe-200227/.
  25. Mike McCabe on Vertical Thinking, Wisconsin Progress, and Socialism.” Spotify, July 17, 2024. https://open.spotify.com/episode/14Z5goalduU84mGYDLMDcZ.
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