Libertarian Librarian

For those of you outside of my fair state of Wisconsin, this November we're having an election for Governor. The incumbent is Democrat, Jim Doyle-- just finishing up his first term. His Republican challenger is Mark Green, previously a U.S. Congressman from the Green Bay region of Wisconsin.

I'm not a big fan of Green's. He strikes me as an empty suit with little or no leadership ability, and his time as a member of Congress isn't really very good training to be the chief executive officer of the state. And he really is far too lock step with Bush for my comfort.

But quite frankly Jim Doyle has made a mockery out of the state's reputation for clean government. Just in today's Milwauke Jourtinal there are these articles:

• A former top aide in the Doyle administration gets an 18-month prison term for steering state travel contracts to a company that contributed large sums to Doyle's campaign.
• Strange hijinks with another state contract wherein Mark Marotta, currently Jim Doyle's re-election manager, intervened in the bidding process for the creation of a new housing development at UW-Milwaukee. After all was said and done, the $60 million+ project wound up going to a company that had made large donations to the Doyle campaign.
• And still more about the sudden change in state election laws that tc blogged about recently, and which I felt was not as tc portrayed. After reading the article, and particularly the emails (particularly the one on page 3) in question, I feel pretty good that my take on the situation was pretty darn DOBA. A lawyer for the Doyle adminstration didn't just lobby the State Elections Board for a ruling that favored Doyle and greatly damaged Green, he told them what to do. There isn't even any pretense that this is just a suggestion-- Maistelman lays out exactly what the Doyle campaign wants to see happen, calls the three Board members he's corresponding with "we", and states that he's keeping the other Democratic member of the Board "out of the loop" because then they don't have to conform to state Open Meetings regulations. He also states that the Democratic Party and the Governor's Campaign will provide the Board members "cover" if there is any fallout from their decision. Shockingly, the ruling from the Board is nearly word for word what Maistelman told the Board members he wanted. I'm sorry but I am appalled and disgusted both for the "gaming of the system" demonstrated here, and by the brazenness with which it is accomplished. Maistelman doesn't even bother trying to disguise his intentions.

And that's just today. There remains questions about the sale of the Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant last year. Originally, the Public Service Commission rejected the sale of the plant. Later, after the company that wanted to buy the plant made $41000 in contributions to the Doyle campaign, the PSC reversed its decision, with the two Doyle appointees changing their vote from nay to yea.

There remain questions about the sweetheart deals Doyle negotiated with the state's Native American tribes, all of whom were huge contributors to Doyle's campaign. Fortunately, the Supreme Court over-ruled the "in perpetuity" portion of that deal-- and I say that as a fan of Native American casinos. But things change, times change, and "in perpetuity" deals are ridiculous.

And, though this is not specifically campagin related, there remain questions about a state sponsored web site that encourages Wisconsin residents to get their drugs from Canadian pharmacies. At a minimum, the web site undercuts Wisconsin pharmacies and U.S. pharmaceutical companies. At a maximum, Doyle may be advocating for the citizens of his state to commit a crime.

Although our President can't remember how the "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me" saying goes, I can. I can also recognize a pattern when I see one.

Jim Doyle is a debacle, and if Wisconsin votes him back into office, it will be "shame on us" for being foolish enough to believe his disavowals and rationalizations.

Labels: Politics