Barnes is more connected in with the Madison democratic machine than the Milwaukee democratic machine (as opposed to Evers, who is the opposite), but both of them are products of the democratic political machine in Wisconsin, which tends to be less neo-liberal on average than most of the dem party, still alot of union support for the Dems at a state level. It's really six of one, half dozen of the other.

It would be nice to get someone in who is more representative of the whole state and prevent Western Wisconsin's slow descent into far right madness, but I suppose when you are busy dealing with white supremacists and libertarians in the Janesville area, you don't really worry about what is happening in the more rural areas.