Greater of two goods?
Not this time.I dream of the day when I can look at a ballot and have a hard time choosing because both candidates have a lot to offer. But for this upcoming election, it is back to the same lesser of two evils approach.
Governor -- Jim Doyle. In spite of the labels and attacks on his integrity, Doyle has managed to take a horrendous deficit left to him by Thompson and McCallum and improve the State's economy. No big turn around, but that would have been near impossible. The fact that he didn't watch the deficit simply grow into a larger hole says a lot considering the Legislature seemed ready to do that. He has supported business growth (to the shock of his own party), raised a pitiful minimum wage, and steadfastly blocked the moral/wingnut legislation (concealed carry, anti abortion moves, etc.) Green has done little to distinguish himself as anything other than a cookie-cutter Republican and has little grasp on the facts behind issues (non-embryonic stem cell research, moving DWD to Milwaukee, no specific economic package).
Notice how the labels and negative charges are missing from the above? That's because they are both guilty of underhanded tactics, taking questionable donations, and giving the appearance of influence peddling. Frankly, I don't like either of them -- but Doyle has what it takes to do the job and that's got to be good enough for me.
Attorney General -- JB VanHolland. Surprised? Don't be - here is a case where my middle ground potlitics really shows. Falk has been at the forefront of left-winginess and comes off as the stereotypical Madison arrogant leftie. JBVH, though Republican, has not pushed a radical agenda and appears to be a more level headed, mainstream thinker. What we lose in environmental protections by getting JBVH, we will make up in not having frivolous lawsuits that I forsee Falk pursuing.
Assembly -- Janis Ringhand. Davis has shifted from an independent thinking legislator with a "R" tag, to a foot soldier of the Jensen/Gard brigade. Too bad - he had looked promising a few years ago. Janis looks to be a mainstream Dem and I personally know the conviction and talent she has in consensus building. She deserves the opportunity to put that to work.
posted by Walton @ 6:17 AM
2 Comments:
I've got to disagree on JBvH. He's said that abortion is homicide in his eyes. He's said he'd ignore environmental law to concentrate on "locking 'em all up." And his "send the brown people home" commercials, replete with Star Wars type soundtrack, just rub me the wrong way.
Falk is probably more to the left than I'd like but JB is way, way, way too far to the right.
Fortunately for me, I don't watch much TV so miss alot of the election ads.
I too am concerned about JB's proposed "lack of attention" to environmental and consumer concerns. Unfortunately, we have two candidates who seem to think the AG gets to pick and choose which laws to uphold. Falk all but promised to ignore immigration and alien residency laws at the immigration rallies in Madison last Spring. While I am sympathetic to the plight of the population, I don't want an AG that thinks she or he can reinterpret or ignore the laws on the books. That's for a Legislature, Governor, or Supreme Court Justice to handle.
I don't really care what JB's personal views on abortion are as there aren't any actions he can currently take as an AG to uphold those views. Same goes for Falk's view on the Marriage Amendment - while I agree with her - it has nothing to do with her role as an AG except that she might in an odd position of trying to defend it if it does pass. The sad fact is that we have candidates who feel compelled to push issues that have nothing to do with the office they are running for just so they can please their base.
I'm voting for the one who looks like they will do the best and most efficient job of managing a large bureaucracy with an eye to getting results for less -- because that is the real issue about elected State Administrators such as Treasurer, State Education Superintendant, and Attorney General. They are elected to enforce the laws as they pertain to their jurisdiction -- not to pontificate their political beliefs.
I also am nervous about having an AG that is very close to the Governor. One thing I liked about Peg was that she was determined to keep both Republicans and Mr. Doyle under scrutiney when it came to abuses of office. That is going to be a missing role of whichever person becomes the next AG.
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