A Plethora Of Pages, A Dearth Of Ideas

I'm pretty sure that even a group as intellectually lax as the McLovin Institution wouldn't pay by the page.

If they don't want people to call their candidate stupid, why do they do stupid things in his name?

Election Reax- Eleven On The Top Of My Mind

1. Nice turnout, Evansville. I heard we were close to 600 before 7 PM. That's around 43%
2. Wow. I almost feel bad for Brett Davis. He took a deep breath and jumped feet-first into the Milwaukee radio crazy pool and still had his career handed to him by a member of the Liberal Media (everyone in TV is Liberal Media, right?) If he'd stuck to his principles he might have been electable in November. Now Scott Walker has a millstone around his neck by the name of...
3. Rebecca Kleefisch who has promised to consult her Bible before making any decisions as Governor Lite. The Good News is she'll never be able to make many decisions from that chair. The bad news is she's one heartbeat from taking over. If you like Scott McCallum you'll love Becs. Or something like that.
4. Coattails weren't worth much. Brett Davis tried to ride in on the Tommy! train without much success and Pompadour Paul Ryan's hand-picked candidate in the 44th, Ken Brotheridge, moved back into Wisconsin only to run fourth in the primary.
5. In a race in which I had no favorites it was a shame to see Bill Truman run second. He deserved a shot against Sherman.
6. Jeff Plale finds out that the environment matters and that Wisconsin isn't West Virginia. Both good lessons.
7. Memo to Cousin Bill in Sauk County; It's only 44 votes out of 8800. Demand a recount. Soon.
8. There's no substitute for money. RoJo makes the case for Original Intent by trying to return office-holding to only rich white guys and drops four and a half million dollars of family money doing it.
9. Implied in the Governors race, the Republicans made it clear that they are strongly anti-competence by rejecting Scott Feldt for Treasurer.
10. No matter how strong Kurt Sclicht ran in winning the 27th he still was nearly 2-1 behind Tony Wickersham in the 4 precincts in Rock County. There's a huge lesson there for an organization smart enough to hear it.
11. Congrats to Jennifer Keach. She'll do well in a second term.

Either Walker Is A Master Of Shady Dog-Whistle Politics Or He's A Clueless Putz. You Pick

Let's see, the racist retweet was supposed to be a mistake.

The ad with the boxing gloves and going the distance with a man who faced a severe beating in the aid of a grandmother and a one-year-old was supposed to be inadvertent.

So how does Walker choose to commemorate the National Day of Remembrance for the thousands killed in the worst terrorist hijacking of all time?

That's right. The Candidate Without a Clue didn't think that maybe, just maybe, using a hijacking metaphor might be seen as being in poor taste on September 11.

There was more honest emotion this afternoon under the festival tent when the crowd rallied round the flag and sang God Bless America than Walker could ever hope to incite with his clumsy use of the media. We don't need this nimrod in office anymore.

Scott Walker's Cryptic PR

Following on the heels of the Walker Campaign's ridiculous linkage of back-bench Congressman Mark Neumann with First-time Female Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi with stick puppets and their desperate robocalls by robofixture Flyin' Jim Sensenbrenner on Walker's behalf comes this latest release from the beleaguered camp.

Ahh, but the strawberries that's... that's where I had them. They laughed at
me and made jokes but I proved beyond the shadow of a doubt and with...
geometric logic... that a duplicate key to the wardroom icebox DID exist, and
I'd have produced that key if they hadn't of pulled the County out of action. I,
I, I know now they were only trying to protect some seasoned politicians...

There has been no response from the Barrett campaign about Walker's delusions of adequacy. Stay tuned.

Scott Walker's Big Brown Bag O'Desperation

Remember those heady days of Summer when Scott Walker thought he was running against Tom Barrett for Governor? Or when he was tripping lightly over thoughts of shadow boxing Jim Doyle's record?

Yeah. Those days are gone. Walker, never a strong long-range planner, lost sight of his primary opponent and suddenly finds himself locked in a real competitive race instead of the coronation he thinks he deserves.

In the past week Walker has sent out, not one, but two high-zoot glossy direct mailers trying to link Mark Neumann's record on a single vote with (Ladies, sit down, lest ye feel faint) Nancy Pelosi. Oh, nevermind that the bill passed with something like a 3-1 margin. Nevermind that support was bipartisan for the bill. Walker thinks that simple name-calling will sway the voters of Wisconsin.

I think he's accomplished that mission. Voters are coming out of the woodwork to announce their support for Neumann while Walker supporters find themselves reeling under the weight of the sheer ineptitude of a campaign that planned for a cakewalk and found themselves in a street fight.

Walker's newest mailer calls Neumann a "seasoned" politician, apparently in hopes that people will forget Walker's 16 years of suckling on the public teat. Look past the fact that politics been berry, berry good to Scott Walker and that he's seasoned enough to have managed himself an in-ground pool. Not too bad for a college drop-out. But what does Walker's expensive direct mailer tell us? Let's go to the dictionary.

Definition of SEASON
transitive verb
1
a : to give (food) more
flavor or zest by adding seasoning or savory ingredients b : to give a
distinctive quality to as if by seasoning; especially : to make more agreeable
c archaic : to qualify by admixture : temper
2
a : to treat (as wood or a skillet) so as to prepare for use b : to
make fit by experience

So, Merriam-Webster tells us, to be seasoned is to be made fit by experience. Isn't that pretty much the opposite of what Walker intended? Isn't that pretty much the way he and his campaign have operated?

To add to the stink of desperation in the air the Walker campaign is running the much-hated robocalls, this time featuring the voice talents of seasoned politician, Flyin' Jim Sensenbrenner. Sensenbrenner, sounding like he'd rather be eating raw squid than doing political ads, makes the pitch of the party insiders for Walker. There's something especially heart-breaking about getting a man who's been in one office or another for more than forty years being called on to slander a fellow party member for being a "seasoned" politician.

In a little over 100 hours this squalid little story will have been written and we can all move on to the next chapter. But, there is one thing Scott Walker has shown us. Where he's making the decisions it's all about the short-term gains. He doesn't care about the future of his party. He doesn't give a rat's rip about crushing anyone in his mad scramble to higher office. Think twice before giving your vote and your future to this ruthless, conniving man.

The Two Most Terrifying Words I've Ever Heard

Governor Kleefisch

I Guess We Should Have Expected That

If you get caught breaking the law it's probably a given that you'd ask your opponent to not bring it up.

How does the canard go? "I'll stop telling lies about you if you'll stop telling the truth about me."

Senator Kapanke, if you can't stand the heat you shouldn't misappropriate the money. Once you've used the proceeds for your personal gain it doesn't really matter what good your foundation did in the past.

Let's Just Stipulate This Much Now.

At least we can all agree that if Scott Walker gets less than 60% of the Republican Primary vote his campaign has been an abject failure.

First Rule Of Press Releases? Check Your Source

Second rule? Check it again.

How many things are wrong with this sentence?

Republican Party spokesman Andrew Welhouse says he thought the fundraiser
happened because he heard about it on Milwaukee talk radio.

Welhouse thought it happened. He did not Know. But he heard it on a Milwaukee Talk Radio Show. What could go wrong there? In his fevered brain he was sure that talk radio wouldn't lie to him. Does anybody else remember when the parties made news and the radio stations reported it instead of the other way around?

What's the difference between a pack of Cub Scouts and WisGOP? A Cub Scout pack has adult supervision.

Making It Nationally

First it was Jill Bader and her racist retweet that brought the Walker Campaign unwanted national attention.

Now, it's his lack of awareness that the boxing glove thingie might backfire.

A complication in the imagery of this ad: Back in August 2009, Barrett was
severely beaten by a man with a tire iron at the Wisconsin State Fair. Barrett
intervened to protect a woman who was trying to protect her 1-year-old
granddaughter from the girl's drunk father, who in turn then attacked Barrett.
Barrett was hospitalized and has undergone multiple operations on his hand,
which doctors say might never fully recover. The assailant was later sentenced
to 12 years in prison.

Oh yeah, you can add your voice to the call to force Walker to retract his slurs.

Well, Yeah. It Is Kind Of A Big Deal

Dan Kapanke taking money from a 501(c)3 to pay his personal debts is more than an indiscretion. It's a violation of the Tax Code and a fundamental betrayal of trust for all those legitimate organizations that depend on the goodwill of donors for their support.

The DA and IRS should be treating this as a crime at the very least.

"Stop The Uncertainty," The Candidate Cried

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, we were having problems with a Chinese supplier. One group of investors had locked the plant in an attempt to wrest control from another--read, "My"--group of investors. We were told to not worry at all.

Our lead investor calmed us with the news that, "We have paid the Army. If there is no settlement in ten days they will reopen the factory for us."

That must be the level of control Ron Johnson got all wistful for yesterday,

"And his point is, the level of uncertainty, the climate for business
investment is far more certain in Communist China then it is in the U.S. here,"
Johnson said.

Too much "uncertainty" in Free Markets for RoJo. Tell me again why this man is a serious candidate for office.

Where Have I Seen That Picture Before?

Walker's next ad? "I'll take a pipe to everything Barrett stands for"

I'll offer the hapless battler's campaign this new slogan.

"Scott Walker: You think he doesn't
know what he's doing now? Wait until you elect him to
something."