Behind Francesca Hongs flighty campaign is a hateful movement and its landing on the right ears
“We need more witch poems written by fabulous asians.”“We need more algorithms written by immigrant trans folk.”“We need more supreme court decisions written by activist p.o.c.[people of color].”“We need more speculative fiction written by indigenous latinx.”In a Sheboygan, Wis.
café, a series of posters assert as much before following up with a haunting question.“What are you doing to help make that happen?”On Saturday night, attendees of an event hosted by the establishment could answer with their chin up: they’re going to elect Francesca Hong governor.A democratic socialist member of the state Assembly and the prohibitive favorite to succeed Gov.Tony Evers as the Democratic nominee for his office come Tuesday, Hong has featured in headlines for all of the wrong reasons over the last few weeks.In a much-maligned November 2020 tweet, she called on officials to “Cancel Thanksgiving.”“If it takes a worldwide pandemic for us to realize we should stop celebrating colonialism and the original superspreader event that killed Indegenous [sic] folx and women so be it,” declared Hong, then 32.Needless to say, she picked the right place for Saturday’s get-together.Still, while the lawmaker’s risible social media history and untidy clean-up efforts have been the subject of much mockery, Hong is well-positioned to capitalize on the rage of a fist-clenching electorate ready to show up to the polls to punish, not build.From the stage, Hong submitted that “what’s been missing from our politics for far too long is creativity, joy and commitment.”A few moments later, she repeated the plea, this time identifying “joy, positivity and unity” as the foundations of her movement.If only.Hong’s message is a resentful, revanchist one — and it’s landing on the right ears.The first question she fielded at the Sheboygan town hall was about what she would do to progressives’ favorite boogeyman: Elon Musk.
Answer: “I will use every tool i...