Paul Soglin: Waxing America

Reasons To Vote In The Wisconsin Primary

In the Democratic primary:

• Chris Larson's challenge of Jeff Plale in the SD-07. Vote for the one not supported by Scooter Jensen.
• The 77th AD free-for-all. Waxing America's proprietor Paul endorsed Hesselbein; I would have to bring George Washington to help decide, but don't live in the 77th. Prediction: less than 100 votes separating Hulsey, Hesselbein and Wade.
• The Lt. Governor race. Nelson brings badly needed outstate support to the ticket and seems the one to beat. Sanders has worked hard, at least here in Madison.

In the Republican primary:

• Dave Westlake could use some help fighting the money of the Fortunate Son-In-Law, who he called "...just plain dangerous for Wisconsin."
• Not sure which would be worse, "Governor Walker" or "Governor Neumann." Still can't say for sure who is the weaker candidate of the two; hopefully that one that wins the primary. If you think you know who Tom Barrett would beat more easily, consider committing "panky."
• The Lt. Governor race. Just say it out loud and shudder: "Governor Kleefisch."

If you are still unsure in which party's primary to vote, let George Washington decide.

- Barry Orton

Consider Voting In The Wisconsin Republican Primary

Here are three good reasons to vote in the Wisconsin Republican primary if there are no real important Democratic primary races in your area:

• T. Wall (or at least an agent for him) is still mad and sort of back in the Senate race as a write-in candidate. Recent statements by Fortunate Son-In-Law Ron Johnson on China's business climate and climate change and those awful government payments have made the GOP fear every time he's near an open microphone without a handler.

• "Fairly Conservative" Cindy Kilkenny suggests that there could be "possible primary panky" and that Dane County Democrats help support Mark Neumann beat that guy trying to box his way out of a paper bag, and, in the process, humiliate the WISGOP and Reince Priebus. Waxing America is not sure what exactly "panky" is, but Cindy makes it sound like fun.

• You can vote against Lt. Governor candidate Rebecca Kleefisch, who the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports "says she would rely on her conservative Christian principles and interpretation of the Bible when making decisions as a government official." Any of the other four Republicans running would be far better.  (Dave Ross, the mayor of Superior, would be our choice, as Waxing America is biased towards mayors.)

- Barry Orton

Surprise! "Fortunate Son-In-Law" Ron Johnson Took Government Help To Expand Business Set Up By Father-In-Law and Also Failed To Graduate From High School

"Tea party" favorite Ron Johnson, who is trying to leverage his marriage to the "shrink-wrap princess" to unseat Senator Russ Feingold, had better be kept away from microphones for the rest of the campaign. WKOW-TV yesterday broke the story that, despite Johnson's insistence that ""I have never lobbied for some special treatment or for a government payment," his company (Pacur, Inc., named for Pat Curley, Johnson's brother-in-law and the real founder of Johnson's business) took a $2.5 million loan at a highly favorable interest rate in the form of an industrial revenue bond from the City of Oshkosh in 1985.  D'oh!

The whole WKOW interview is here. No real surprise that Johnson is saying one thing and actually did another; that's normal for this candidate. Here's the curious part:

He attended Edina High School but he did not graduate, saying he was told by officials there that he could go straight to college. According to school records he did graduate with distinction from the University of Minnesota in 1977 with an accounting degree.

Since when did the University of Minnesota eliminate the requirement that its students graduate from high school? Did Edina education officials really say "Don't bother completing your high school requirements; go straight to college" to young Johnson?  Or is this another example of Ron Johnson's version of "American Exceptionalism" where exceptions are made for those with connections?

UPDATE: There was also a federal grant that helped build a rail line to the Pacur plant. WKOW had this today:

A railroad line to Senate candidate Ron Johnson's plastics factory was built with the assistance of a federal grant.

According to documents from the Oshkosh city clerk's office, an Urban Development Action Grant in the amount of $75,000 was used to build a rail spur to Pacur, a plastics manufacturing company owned by Johnson.

The city resolution approving the grant was passed on March 15, 1979, the year the Oshkosh factory was built.

The money for the line went to Wisconsin Industrial Shipping Supplies, owned by Johnson's brother-in-law, Pat Curler. Months later, WISS changed its name to Pacur and the plant opened.

A federal grant this time, not a local government bond or loan. The Fortunate Son-In-Law took a terrible "government payment."

So some federal money to build a rail line is good, as long as it helps the private sector and doesn't carry those inconvenient people.

- Barry Orton

T. Wall on Ron Johnson: "Is This the Kind of Senator We Want?"

T. Wall still can't get enough off his chest about his failed race for the Republican nomination to challenge Russ Feingold. While almost nothing he posted here will endear him to the GOP, he saves his best shot for "Tea Party" and Republican Party of Wisconsin favorite son-in-law Ron Johnson, who Wall implies is not an "honest candidate."

...I realize that Johnson says he'd spend every penny of his fortune to win, but what that really means is the voters have a candidate who wants it too bad. That's someone who wants desperately to be Senator rather than doing it for the right reasons. Is this the kind of Senator we want?

Ouch.

- Barry Orton

Wisconsin State Journal Editorial Muddies Great Lakes Drilling Fracus

The WSJ gives Ron Johnson a "do-over" on his Great Lakes oil drilling mis-statement so as to be able to characterize commercials from both Johnson and Feingold as "mud-slinging." Chris Walker at Dane 101.com puts the whole mess in context:

The characterization of Feingold as a mudslinger is unfair, if you define slinging mud as being a baseless attack on another candidate. Feingold's accusations against Johnson are definitely merited, given the fact that Johnson said he would support drilling for oil where the oil is (alongside the fact that Johnson has strong economic ties to BP and believes the oil giant is being treated unfairly).

The Wisconsin State Journal is wrongly labeling Feingold a mudslinger for bringing up facts that are...well, facts. And those facts couldn't be any clearer: Ron Johnson supports drilling where the oil is, even when asked if that includes the Great Lakes region. It's not slinging mud when it's the truth, and the Wisconsin State Journal should appreciate that fact, not deride Feingold for bringing it to the voters' attention.

Waxing America called the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel out on this same issue:

Question: When does "yeah" at one point mean "no" subsequently? 

Answer: When Ron Johnson, the Republican Party's anointed primary candidate for US Senate, says "yeah" in a response to a WisPolitics question about whether he supported drilling for oil in the Great Lakes, and then issues press releases and TV ads saying he's against it. See Xoff here, here, and here.

Question: How does Johnson get away with it?

Answer: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial page helpfully ignores the "yeah" and selectively quotes Johnson to make his position(s) less contradictory, and then blames both Johnson and Feingold for slinging mud.

Why?

Answer: Johnson's campaign must be supported for its entertainment value (and its unlimited advertising budget).

- Barry Orton

No Real Race in Wisconsin AD-76

In the competitive 77th Assembly District, I saw three of the five Democratic candidates campaigning simultaneously at the Westside Community Market last Saturday (Bret Hulsey, Dianne Hesselbein, and Fred Ward) for the seat open due to Spencer Black's retirement. Another candidate, John Imes, has been working the Market for weeks, and I'm told that Green party candidate Ben Manski has also appeared.

In contrast, the 76th AD, where I live, has an excellent incumbent, Rep. Therese Berceau, who is not being seriously challenged by anyone with political experience. But there is an interesting candidate running as an independent, Torrey Jaeckle, who seems to have "Tea Party" positions on school choice, abortion, economics, taxes, and much else. Good old Ayn Rand and Milton Friedman are quoted throughout his positions, and Jaeckle, who helps run a business his grandfather started and his father built, seems to believe all that free market, minimal government and low taxes stuff like his hero Ronald Reagan. Formerly a registered Libertarian, he's for raw milk sales, concealed carriage of guns, and medical marijuana.

We'll see if he shows up at my door or at the Westside Community Market. Let's not tell him yet that he hasn't a prayer of winning.

- Barry Orton

Ron Johnson Tapdances on Great Lakes Oil Drilling; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Applauds His Pirouettes

Question: When does "yeah" at one point mean "no" subsequently? 

Answer: When Ron Johnson, the Republican Party's anointed primary candidate for US Senate, says "yeah" in a response to a WisPolitics question about whether he supported drilling for oil in the Great Lakes, and then issues press releases and TV ads saying he's against it. See Xoff here, here, and here.

Question: How does Johnson get away with it?

Answer: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial page helpfully ignores the "yeah" and selectively quotes Johnson to make his position(s) less contradictory, and then blames both Johnson and Feingold for slinging mud.

Question: When are Lake Erie and Lake Ontario not part of the Great Lakes?

Answer: When Ron Johnson's TV response ads claim that Russ Feingold was the only Great Lakes Senator to vote against banning oil drilling in the Great Lakes, when, in fact, New York's two Senators, Schumer and Clinton, voted no along with Feingold, all three because the bill's Great Lakes protections were too weak.

Question: When Ron Johnson later claims that "he did not think he ever heard the Great Lakes portion of the question," why doesn't the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel or WisPolitics call him on it?

Answer: Johnson's campaign must be supported for its entertainment value until November.  Dave Westlake is too dull and too consistent on conservative issues, and the Tea Party folks seem too willing to go over the cliff with their Republican "kingmakers" and talk radio blowhards.

- Barry Orton

Wisconsin Republican Poll Deliberately Omits Mention of Neumann and Westlake

I had the privilege yesterday of participating in a telephone poll conducted by the Republican Party of Wisconsin. A live person called my landline and asked me some general questions about my political leanings and my likely votes in the 2010 election for Governor and Senator.  All normal except:

• The wording of basic questions like my opinion of the effectiveness of the stimulus legislation was skewed heavily towards Republican positions.
• I was not asked whether it was likely that I'd vote in the primary or general elections.
• I was not asked any of the normal socio-economic questions that allow the results to be adjusted to account for under-polled groups.
• The question about the Governor's race only mentioned Scott Walker and Tom Barrett, not Mark Neumann.
• The question about the Senate race only mentioned Ron Johnson and Russ Feingold, not Dave Westlake.

If Neumann won't listen to his former backer, Jim "kingmaker" Klauser, and just quit the race and send Klauser back his money, the Republican Party of Wisconsin will simply act as if Neumann does not exist. As for Westlake, a nice, humble guy who actually believes those "tea party" nostrums his supporters spout, for the GOP, politically he really does not exist.

Maybe this is the year that some Wisconsin Democrats decide to participate in the Republican primary.  It might be hard to vote for Neumann given his awful political history, but a vote for Westlake could feel good and send a message to the Republican Party of Wisconsin.

- Barry Orton

Ron Johnson Wanted To Limit Liability Of Catholic Church; Opposed Child Victims Act

So Republican Senatorial hopeful Ron Johnson has a bit of a political past after all. Last January, at the suggestion of a Green Bay Catholic official, Johnson testified against the Child Victims Act before the Wisconsin Senate Judiciary Committee. Johnson, a Lutheran who served on the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay's finance council, feared that: "This bill could actually have the perverse effect of leading to additional victims of sexual abuse, if individuals, recognizing that their organizations are at risk, become less likely to report suspected abuse." 

Dan Bice broke the story today in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Peter Isely, the Midwest director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the Catholic Church has been more likely to cover things up if it is not faced with court action.

"He's just wrong," said Isely, who was not aware that Johnson had testified.

...The proposal would have eliminated the statute of limitations for future victims of child sex abuse and opened a three-year window for past victims.

It was opposed by the insurance industry and church organizations, including the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, which argued the bill could bankrupt it. The measure had the support of several police organizations, social workers and Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm.

The Child Victims Act bill did not pass.

Ron Johnson should ask Rep. Matt Flynn (D - 4th District) how taking the Catholic Church's side on this issue worked out for him politically.

- Barry Orton

T. Wall Drops Out; Feingold Left With Opponents With Even Less Political Experience

It looks like developer Terrence Wall won't chance another political defeat, and is dropping out of the Republican primary race. Ron Johnson, the Great Hope from the "Tea Party" wing of the Wisconsin Republican Party, now looks like the easy winner of the primary, unless Dave Westlake's blaze orange army rises up and bites Johnson's ankles. Last week, of course, Dick Leinenkugel did the right thing by the GOP and dropped out, having been tainted by the Democrat cooties he picked up from his service as Commerce secretary in the Doyle (gasp!) administration.

T. Wall's tax avoidance pumpkin farm could have been a liability in the general election, but probably helped him win the hearts of some of the Republican faithful. However, the piddly 18% he managed to attract at the Wisconsin Republican convention last week probably reminded Wall of the two times his neighbors in Maple Bluff decided others would serve them better on the Village Board, and he came in last. Or the time the Village Board decided (4-1) not to appoint him to an open seat. But at least Wall's actually thought about holding public office, even if voters decided it was not such a good idea.

So we're left with a guy who made lots of money in plastics and has never run for or held public office, but can spend lots of his cash on advertising trying to convince Wisconsin voters not to like Russ Feingold, and a guy who didn't make lots of money and has never run for or held public office, but dresses in a way that reminds voters of deer hunting. 

I still like Russ Feingold, his record, and his chances for re-election. It's good that there won't be two inexperienced rich guys dumping money into absurd Feingold-bashing advertising in the primary; just one will be doing it in the general.

- Barry Orton