Three Losers and a Runner

Ever since the election of Walker, we have been told that the sky will collapse over the state of Wisconsin.  With the implementation of Act 10, we were supposed to see larger class sizes, huge teacher layoffs and declining student performance.  Legislation was passed that would have disenfranchised thousands and tens of thousands of possible voters, so we were told.  More recently, Walker and State Republicans restructured the sex education bill that evidently causes teens to have more unprotected sex.  In short, Democrats, unions and teachers want you to believe we elected a dictator in 2010.

If the state is on the verge of becoming a third world country, I would have thought the primary ballot for the Democrats would be the strongest ever.  My assumption was that if the state is heading in a bad direction, the Democrats could find a person the public will love.  Instead, the state is presented with three candidates that Wisconsin has already rejected numerous times and one who has rejected the state.

Loser #1 – Tom Barrett will attempt to run for governor for the third time in the last 10 years.  In his two prior attempts, he was beaten first by his own party in the primary and then by Scott Walker in the 2010 general election.  Prior to his first attempt at Governor he was a US Representative in Wisconsin’s former 5^th district, which was phased out and won by Jim Sensenbrenner.  Since 2002 Tom Barrett has been Mayor of Milwaukee.  As mayor, Tom Barrett was unable to handle the City of Milwaukee budget on his own and required the help of Walker’s Act 10.  Currently he is advocating for a fiscally irresponsible train to be built in downtown Milwaukee, hopefully it will look better than the poop he has allowed to float onto beaches.

Loser #2 – Kathleen “I Love Unions” Falk has entered the race as the darling of Madison liberals.  Like Barrett, she has also made attempts at state government, including a poorer performance than Barrett in the 2002 Democratic primary and a loss to JB Van Hollen in the 2006 Attorney General election.  Between 1996 and 2012 she held the position of Madison County Supervisor.  A county that I believe has 15 Republicans living in it.  In her last year as County executive, she raised taxes 8% and over the course of her county executive career she raised the tax levy $59 million.  Did I mention she is endorsed by all the major unions? She has stated she will not sign a budget without the repeal of Act 10.  This means the only solution is to raise taxes (something she is familiar with) in order to ensure all Wisconsin teachers can afford their Netflix subscriptions.

Lose #3 – Doug La Follette, for those of you not aware, he is the Wisconsin Secretary of State.  No one is really sure what he does and over the last couple decades there have been calls for the elimination of that position.  In 1974, he won his bid for Secretary of State and has been there ever since.  However, in Wisconsin we hate unemployment and as such Doug continues to get re-elected, usually running unopposed.  His first attempt at politics came in 1970 when he ran unsuccessfully for US Representative and lost in the Democratic Primary.   Since then he has attempted to advance his political career; however, the people of Wisconsin appear to believe he has reached the apex of his abilities.  In 1978, he was unsuccessful in his bid for Lieutenant Governor, in 1988 ran unsuccessfully against Herb Kohl in the Democratic Senate primary and most recently in 1996 he unsuccessfully ran for US Representative again losing in the Democratic primary.

The Runner – Kathleen Vinehout is a dairy farmer from Western Wisconsin, which holds a special place in my heart because my Grandfather was dairy farmer from Western Wisconsin.  Farming is tough and I have always been impressed with the work ethic of a farmer.  However, to my knowledge, my Grandfather never skipped the state when his job got difficult.  Unfortunately, in an act of anti-democratic partisanship Senator Vinehout vacated her seat for a non-approved vacation to the lovely state of IL.  As governor (assuming she can beat 3 losers), will she run from the capital every time she is presented with legislation she doesn’t like?  Will she divert tax dollars to build a Democratic safe house in IL?  These are questions that must be asked.

If Governor Walker has torpedoed Wisconsin as the Democrats want us to believe, is this the best they can offer.  The people of Wisconsin have voiced their opinion on Barrett in 2010, Democrats haven’t even been able to support Falk statewide, La Follette is as high politically as Wisconsin feels comfortable and Vinehout isn’t dependable to show up for work.  If Democrats were hoping to garner support, they picked weak ballot.