John Nichols: Maya Cole's no closet conservative

Capital Times, March 30, 2006
By John Nichols

Paul Wellstone has been dead for a long three years, and yet there is rarely a national political debate that does not cause me to think: What would Wellstone do?

The late Minnesota senator was an epic political figure, who fought not just against right-wing Republicans but against those in his own Democratic Party who would warp it into a pale reflection of the GOP. Wellstone's willingness to challenge the accepted political "wisdom" of the moment often put him at odds with folks he expected or at least hoped would be his supporters.

Madison School Board candidate Maya Cole, a graduate of "Camp Wellstone," the candidate training program developed by the former senator's family and friends to train a new generation of rabble-rousing contenders, knows that feeling. She's a passionate progressive who has poured her energies into struggles to stop the war in Iraq, reduce gun violence, defend voting rights, challenge racism and reorder economic priorities so that society will be more just.

John Nichols: Maya Cole's no closet conservativeBy John Nichols

Paul Wellstone has been dead for a long three years, and yet there is rarely a national political debate that does not cause me to think: What would Wellstone do?

The late Minnesota senator was an epic political figure, who fought not just against right-wing Republicans but against those in his own Democratic Party who would warp it into a pale reflection of the GOP. Wellstone's willingness to challenge the accepted political "wisdom" of the moment often put him at odds with folks he expected or at least hoped would be his supporters.

Madison School Board candidate Maya Cole, a graduate of "Camp Wellstone," the candidate training program developed by the former senator's family and friends to train a new generation of rabble-rousing contenders, knows that feeling. She's a passionate progressive who has poured her energies into struggles to stop the war in Iraq, reduce gun violence, defend voting rights, challenge racism and reorder economic priorities so that society will be more just.

A lot of her energy over the years has gone to Mothers Acting Up, a terrific national advocacy group that declares itself to be "dedicated to mobilizing the gigantic political strength of mothers to ensure the health, education and safety of every child, not just a privileged few."
John Nichols: Maya Cole's no closet conservative
File photo
Maya Cole

In a strong endorsement of Cole's candidacy, Juliana Forbes, a co-founder of Mothers Acting Up, says, "I have a great deal of respect for how she tirelessly works to protect the health and well-being of children, in an enthusiastic manner, without being divisive or combative. Maya is exactly the kind of person all school boards want to have: passionate, articulate, tenacious and able to collaborate with diverse perspectives."

Yet, in the local discussion of her candidacy during this year's race for the School Board, Cole has frequently been portrayed as a conservative contender not because she has taken right-wing, anti-public education stands but because she's backed by current School Board members Ruth Robarts and Lawrie Kobza, who have frequently challenged school district administrators and dissented from the board's majority. The hits have come so hard that one of Cole's neighbors, who has known and liked her for years, asked me the other day whether she was a closet conservative.

Cole has reacted with good humor to rejections of her candidacy by groups with which she has worked. She's clearly an in-it-for-the-long-haul activist and she can take it. In addition, she is up against another candidate, Arlene Silveira, who brings good progressive credentials to the contest even if Silveira and Cole disagree on some issues.

Progressives can and should divide up as they choose in this year's School Board races and no one should take these words as a criticism of Silveira, whom this paper has endorsed on the basis of her long experience with and deep commitment to the schools. But a dose of realism needs to be added to this debate.

People need to remember that education issues are complex and often emotional, not least because parents are deeply engaged with questions about how their children can and should learn. Good people differ on how best to approach curriculum, construction and spending issues.

A fine example of how these differences play out came during the debate over federal No Child Left Behind legislation. When these education reforms were debated by Congress in 2001, most Senate Democrats, including Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton, enthusiastically supported them. Kennedy even appeared with President Bush at the bill signing. Among the handful of opponents of the legislation was a senator who worried that too much emphasis was being placed on testing, and too little on making sure that teachers could use all their skills to educate children.

That senator, Paul Wellstone, turned out to be right. And today his concerns are echoed by the Democrats who in 2001 shunned him.

The point here is not to suggest that what Maya Cole is saying this spring will be proven right or wrong. Rather, the point is to suggest that she's a bright, new progressive who has been willing to wade into the political fray. And she deserves credit and respect for that.

Cole is being criticized by a lot of Madison progressives this spring. But my sense is that, if she stays involved with local politics, as she certainly should, many of those who shun her now will eventually be singing her praises.

John Nichols is associate editor of The Capital Times. E-mail: jnichols@madison.com

Posted by Lucy Mathiak at March 30, 2006 9:01 AM
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