A lot of strange things have been known to happen when the Legislature is in session, but coups aren't usually among them. That changed this week when Assembly Democrats deposed one of the more levelheaded and respected lawmakers in Madison, Rep. Shirley Krug, for reasons that are neither clear nor, in our estimation, justified.
Political parties have the right to choose whomever they want as their leaders, of course.
But the sudden ouster of Krug has left many observers baffled and the party leadership vulnerable to criticism that it's not as open to dissent and divergent opinions as it sometimes lets on. From a strictly Democratic perspective, Krug's ouster also threatens to hamper party unity at the very time when some Democrats fear the party already has become Balkanized. But by dumping Krug, the first woman to lead Assembly Democrats, in favor of Black, Democrats leave themselves open to accusations that they're turning their back on balance and diversity - in terms of gender, geographic representation and political philosophy. Both Krug and Riley, to their credit, were champions of Milwaukee's pioneering school choice program. Black vowed that he's not going to turn his back on Milwaukee.