Blogging Blue

First of all, there’ll be no gnashing of teeth or whining here.

Am I disappointed in how things turned out last night? Hell yes, but such is politics. Sometimes your side wins and sometimes they lose; that’s just the reality of our political system.

While I’ve made no effort to hide my dislike for Scott Walker and the job he’s done as Milwaukee County Executive, I wasn’t terribly surprised he won, because Lena Taylor ran one of the worst campaigns I’ve witnessed since I became interested in politics. At times she seemed disinterested, and at others she seemed clueless, and I can’t help but wonder if she was really the best liberal candidate out there to run against Scott Walker.

And sure, I’m disappointed Louis Butler lost to Michael Gableman, but my disappointment has less to do with Gableman’s ideology - though I do disagree with his judicial philosophy, to the extent that he has one - and more to do with the kind of negative and unethical campaign he ran.

While last night had its share of disappointment, there were also some positives. The “Frankenveto” is no more, and that’s definitely a good thing. The “Frankenveto” allowed for tremendous abuses by Republican and Democratic governors alike, and I for one am glad to see it go. Besides, our governor will still have some of the broadest veto powers in the nation without the “Frankenveto.” Another high point was the re-election of Lisa Neubauer to a full term on Wisconsin’s Second District Court of Appeals, defeating newly conservative wannabe Bill Gleisner.

Closer to home, I’m glad to see Pat Jursik won a full four year term on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors without any opposition, and I was happy to see Tom Zepecki elected to another term as South Milwaukee’s mayor. Pat and Tom have done well during their time in office, and they definitely deserved another term in office.

On the eve of Wisconsin’s spring election day, I’m going to make a few picks.

Wisconsin Supreme Court: This is a no brainer. Michael Gableman has run one of the most disgustingly vile and dishonest campaigns in as long as I can remember, and in doing so he’s exposed himself as supremely unqualified and unfit to sit on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court. Louis Butler has shown himself to be a more than capable jurist, and he deserves a full term on the Supreme Court.

Milwaukee County Executive: There’s no denying Lena Taylor has run a poor campaign, but putting aside the quality of her campaign, she’s the only reasonable choice for Milwaukee County Executive. Scott Walker’s had plenty of time to deliver on campaign promises past and present, and I daresay his tenure as Milwaukee County Executive will be remembered as one of broken promises and incompetence.

Milwaukee County Supervisor, District 8: Pat Jursik is running unopposed, and for good reason. She’s done a good job in her short tenure as Supervisor for the 8th District, and she deserves a full four year term.

Veto Referendum: I’m voting yes. Wisconsin’s “Frankenveto” has been abused by Democrats and Republicans alike, and even if the referendum passes, our governor will still have some of the broadest veto powers of any governor in the United States.

Milwaukee County Circuit Court: Both Rebecca Dallet and Jeffrey Norman seem qualified, but having met and spoken with Rebecca Dallet, I believe she has the temperment and smarts to be an asset to Milwaukee County on the Circuit Court.

All Politics posted an entry earlier tonight highlighting the differences between Lena Taylor and Scott Walker as election day draws closer. What I found most interesting was this particular blurb:

Taylor also criticizes Walker over escapes and walk-aways from the work-release center. Walker puts the blame on judges, saying greater care was needed in who is sentenced there.

I find that particular blurb to be most interesting because it really highlights Scott Walker’s management style: when something goes wrong, blame someone else. Scott Walker’s assertion that judges - and not he as the County Executive - are to blame for poor management and security procedures at the Community Correctional Center is absolutely ludicrous.

What’s more, Walker has provided further proof that his hypocrisy and willingness to lie knows no limits, as evidenced by this ad:

Sure, it’s a mildly amusing take on the ever-popular Apple ads, but what I found most amusing about the ad is Walker’s assertion that he’s diverted money from parks and transit in order to enhance public safety - an assertion that flies in the face of the cold hard reality of things in Milwaukee County. After all, if Scott Walker’s been putting so much money into public safety, how does he explain multiple escapes from county facilities, one of which ended in a murder?

Recently, a commenter by the name of “Confused Lena” - who seems to have a hard time staying on topic - posted an replyto an entry I wrote about Scott Walker’s broken promises as Milwaukee County Executive. What struck me about the comment - besides the fact that “Confused Lena” was apparently too confused to stay on topic - was the fact that for every video they have of a liberal like Lena Taylor showing even the slightest bit of confusion, we lefties have more than our fair share of videos of conservative folks showing just how dazed and confused they can be.

Take, for example, our esteemed President, George W. Bush, who during his time in office has shown a propensity for making it clear just how dazed and confused he really is.
Read the rest of this entry »

First of all, a tip of the hat to Michael Mathias at Pundit Nation for this story.

The race for Milwaukee County Executive between State Senator Lena Taylor and incumbent Scott Walker promises to be one of the most hotly contested races in Wisconsin in 2008, so it shouldn’t come as any surprise that both candidates are going to pull out all the stops in order to win the race. However, what is surprising is just how low Scott Walker’s most vocal supporters are willing to sink in order to see him re-elected. In an editorial written for GM Today, WISN radio host Mark Belling, one of Walker’s most vocal and reliable media surrogates pulls out all the stops and asserts that Lena Taylor is a gang member. Commenting on a bill that would raise the age at which some juvenile offenders could be charged as an adult, Belling noted:

t’s not surprising that the bill is sponsored by some Milwaukee County Democrats like Sen. Lena Taylor, as they are chronically soft on crime and sympathetic to their increasingly influential gang bosses.

As Michael Mathias noted, Belling’s choice of words is curious, given that Lena Taylor is the only lawmaker among those cited by name whom Belling chooses to associate with gang bosses, and she also happens to be the only lawmaker of those cited by name who is African American. Anyone who has paid attention to Belling’s bellicose squawking throughout the years knows he’s not afraid of a little race-baiting from time to time, but his assertion that Lena Taylor is somehow beholden to “gang bosses” is vile, despicable and simply uncalled for, and I’ll be curious to see how Scott Walker responds to Belling’s comments.

I know the right-wing squawk brigade here in Milwaukee makes their living on saying and writing things that most normal folks find to be objectionable - lest we forget Jessica McBride’s attempted comedy bit bringing up the murder of 4-year-old Jasmine Owens in a fake interview with Journal Sentinel columnist Eugene Kane or Mark Belling’s comments referring to hispanics as “wetbacks,” resulting in his suspension. It’ll be interesting to see Senator Taylor’s response to Belling’s comments, because I’m sure she’ll have something to say about being thrown in with gang members.

capper over at folkbum’s rambles and rants has a great writeup on all the promises Scott Walker has broken during his tenure as Milwaukee County Executive, but the one that really sticks in my mind is this nugget from his own reform plan: Will not serve for more than one full term (no longer than 2008)

Of all the promises made by Scott Walker, it seems to me this promise not to serve more than one full term is the most important, and not just because I’d like to see him out of office, but because it goes to the heart of Scott Walker’s integrity. Sure, he could argue he couldn’t achieve some of his other promises due to outside forces - such as the County Board - but his promise not to serve more than one full term is something Scott Walker has full control over. As such, Scott Walker should live up to his word and not seek another term, because in doing so he’s exposed himself as a liar who simply cannot be trusted.

I hope Lena Taylor makes a point to bring up Walker’s promise not to serve more than one full term, because I’d love to hear his explanation for why he’s chosen to break a promise he made to the voters of Milwaukee County in 2002.

EDIT: If I had read the All Politics Watch blog, I would have noticed Lena Taylor’s already fired a shot across the bow, saying Walker Walker broke a 2002 campaign promise when he announced he’ll seek a second full term in office next year.

Earlier today, State Senator Lena Taylor announced she is running for Milwaukee County Executive, confirming what’s been one of Southeastern Wisconsin’s worst-kept secrets. Even though her announcement is less than twelve hours old, Taylor’s already begun picking up support from prominent Democrats, with Governor Jim Doyle calling Taylor a “great candidate.” In addition, State Democratic Party Chair Joe Wineke has said he plans on endorsing Taylor within the next few days.

I think this is going to be one of the more entertaining races to watch during the 2008 election season, with Taylor and incumbent County Executive Scott Walker holding starkly contrasting positions on many of the issues that will no doubt be at the forefront of the race. Walker and his supporters will no doubt attempt to paint Taylor as a “tax and spend liberal” - and in fact that drumbeat has already started over at Badger Blogger. To be honest, if I were a conservative - and thank God I’m not - I’d be worried about Lena Taylor running against Scott Walker, because I’m willing to bet she’s going to be able to mobilize City of Milwaukee voters to cast their votes for her, and without a significant amount of votes from the City of Milwaukee, Scott Walker can kiss this race goodbye. If I were Lena Taylor, I’d spend some time talking about Scott Walker’s record of deception, from his promise not to run in 2008 to his veto of a voter referendum on taxes, after he previously said he supported referendums. Scott Walker’s a liar and a terrible County Executive, and I I think Scott Walker’s got little chance of prevailing.

However, if there’s an upside for Walker in losing to Lena Taylor, at least he’ll have plenty of free time to plan his run to succeed Jim Sensenbrenner as the U.S. Congressman for the Fifth Congressional District.

All I can say is I hope so.

Michael Horne of Milwaukee World has already reported State Senator Lena Taylor announced her candidacy to unseat Scott Walker at Fighting Bob Fest, while Greg Borowski of All Politics Watch is reporting no official announcement has been made. While she may not have declared herself a candidate for County Executive yet, I think it’s just a matter of time before Sen. Taylor jumps into this race. Other possible candidates have already begun to make it clear they have no intention of running, which leads me to believe they might be “taking one for the team” so Taylor can run the kind of campaign that’s going to be necessary to beat Scott Walker.

To be honest, I’m salivating at the possibility of Lena Taylor running for County Executive against Scott Walker. I think Lena Taylor’s just the kind of person that Milwaukee County needs as our next County Executive. Scott Walker’s going to have a heck of a time beating Lena Taylor, especially as his support continues to dwindle. Between his veto of the sales tax referendum and his broken promise not to run for more than two terms in office, Scott Walker deserves to be shown the door.